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envoy pro mini anyone?
#37422 11/24/15 11:58 PM
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jchuzi Online OP
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I am considering splurging (Santa is on his way) on a SSD external drive. Envoy Pro mini looks good from here. Does anyone have any experience with it?


Jon

macOS 11.7.10, iMac Retina 5K 27-inch, late 2014, 3.5 GHz Intel Core i5, 1 TB fusion drive, 16 GB RAM, Epson SureColor P600, Photoshop CC, Lightroom CC, MS Office 365
Re: envoy pro mini anyone?
jchuzi #37429 11/25/15 12:46 PM
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The price is pretty good. for me the capacity wouldn't be big enough, and it would bother me to have to have that plugged into my laptop all the time. Maybe for an iMac or Mac Mini it would be more tolerable. Pay attention to the width of the case, it may block adjacent ports - I have ran into that problem more than once with high capacity flash drives. You may be forced to use one of those 4" extensions. And you will have to use it all the time, because you can't just move the drive if you realize you need to plug in something else. (without a restart)


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Re: envoy pro mini anyone?
Virtual1 #37433 11/25/15 02:59 PM
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Originally Posted By: Virtual1
… Pay attention to the width of the case, it may block adjacent ports - I have ran into that problem more than once with high capacity flash drives. You may be forced to use one of those 4" extensions.

I just looked at my Mac mini and the Envoy Pro would definitely block one or even two adjacent USB 3 ports. Thanks for sharing your experience, I too was thinking of ordering one and you have saved me some money.


If we knew what it was we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, would it?

— Albert Einstein
Re: envoy pro mini anyone?
joemikeb #37434 11/25/15 04:20 PM
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Thanks to both of you: I would not have thought of that.


Jon

macOS 11.7.10, iMac Retina 5K 27-inch, late 2014, 3.5 GHz Intel Core i5, 1 TB fusion drive, 16 GB RAM, Epson SureColor P600, Photoshop CC, Lightroom CC, MS Office 365
Re: envoy pro mini anyone?
jchuzi #37452 11/26/15 03:19 PM
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I've made a change in my plans. I just ordered OWC 480GB Mercury Electraâ„¢ 6G SSD and NewerTech Voyager S3. Because of the $9 rebate deal, I also ordered NewerTech StoraDrive. Portability is not a concern for me and this combination gives me the ability to hot-swap drives (I already have several Hitachi DeskStars from my Mac Pro).


Jon

macOS 11.7.10, iMac Retina 5K 27-inch, late 2014, 3.5 GHz Intel Core i5, 1 TB fusion drive, 16 GB RAM, Epson SureColor P600, Photoshop CC, Lightroom CC, MS Office 365
Re: envoy pro mini anyone?
jchuzi #37461 11/27/15 02:45 PM
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Very nice hardware and setup. I have a similar arrangement with spinning drives.

One question comes to mind: are any of the drives you will be using in this configuration backups, clones? If so, the StoraDrive keeps everything in the same location. I'm not suggesting you go off-site with them (although many people do), but at least in a different room? crazy


On a Mac since 1984.
Currently: 24" M1 iMac, M2 Pro Mac mini with 27" BenQ monitor, M2 Macbook Air, MacOS 14.x; iPhones, iPods (yes, still) and iPads.
Re: envoy pro mini anyone?
Ira L #37464 11/27/15 04:34 PM
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Yes, the drives will be used as clones. I never go off-site with them. My TM backup and a clone are located in an OWC Mercury Elite Pro Dual. That clone, currently, will not boot the computer (I had started this thread about the issue, not yet resolved). I hope to be able to determine if the Elite Pro enclosure is the cause of the problem after I receive the order.


Jon

macOS 11.7.10, iMac Retina 5K 27-inch, late 2014, 3.5 GHz Intel Core i5, 1 TB fusion drive, 16 GB RAM, Epson SureColor P600, Photoshop CC, Lightroom CC, MS Office 365
Re: envoy pro mini anyone?
jchuzi #37465 11/27/15 04:47 PM
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Given all your enclosures and drives, I just ran into a feature of Time Machine in El Capitan I had been unaware of. Time Machine allows the user to specify two backup drives and then alternates backing up to one and then the other. Result two approximately duplicate backup sets so if one backup set fails you can use the other. Of course neither is bootable but if you have enough drives, it creates a substantial increase in backup reliability.


If we knew what it was we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, would it?

— Albert Einstein
Re: envoy pro mini anyone?
joemikeb #37477 11/28/15 03:04 PM
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Originally Posted By: joemikeb
Result two approximately duplicate backup sets…


It is the "approximately" that could be problematic for some people. At best each backup is off by about an hour from being identical to the original. Depending on one's needs, this could be OK.


On a Mac since 1984.
Currently: 24" M1 iMac, M2 Pro Mac mini with 27" BenQ monitor, M2 Macbook Air, MacOS 14.x; iPhones, iPods (yes, still) and iPads.
Re: envoy pro mini anyone?
Ira L #37478 11/28/15 03:34 PM
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Originally Posted By: Ira L
Originally Posted By: joemikeb
Result two approximately duplicate backup sets…


It is the "approximately" that could be problematic for some people. At best each backup is off by about an hour from being identical to the original. Depending on one's needs, this could be OK.

Agreed but the only way to do any better would be a RAID 1, RAID 5, or RAID 6 array for the boot drive.


If we knew what it was we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, would it?

— Albert Einstein
Re: envoy pro mini anyone?
Ira L #37513 11/30/15 06:02 PM
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Originally Posted By: Ira L
Originally Posted By: joemikeb
Result two approximately duplicate backup sets…


It is the "approximately" that could be problematic for some people. At best each backup is off by about an hour from being identical to the original. Depending on one's needs, this could be OK.

iirc the way it works is you simply designate two different drives for time machine use. It doesn't enforce using them alternately. You can swap at any time and it will use what's attached. (not sure if it backs up to BOTH if they're both present?) Say once a week you take the drive to work and bring the other one home. Or you could have one in the bank vault that only gets swapped every month or two.

I think it lets you add a third or any number of additional drives?


I work for the Department of Redundancy Department
Re: envoy pro mini anyone?
Virtual1 #37536 12/01/15 05:34 PM
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Originally Posted By: Virtual1
Originally Posted By: Ira L
Originally Posted By: joemikeb
Result two approximately duplicate backup sets…


It is the "approximately" that could be problematic for some people. At best each backup is off by about an hour from being identical to the original. Depending on one's needs, this could be OK.

iirc the way it works is you simply designate two different drives for time machine use. It doesn't enforce using them alternately. You can swap at any time and it will use what's attached. (not sure if it backs up to BOTH if they're both present?) Say once a week you take the drive to work and bring the other one home. Or you could have one in the bank vault that only gets swapped every month or two.

I think it lets you add a third or any number of additional drives?


If you physically disconnect one of the Time Machine drives, then your description is correct. But if both are connected, TM alternates hourly between the two, or so I have read.


On a Mac since 1984.
Currently: 24" M1 iMac, M2 Pro Mac mini with 27" BenQ monitor, M2 Macbook Air, MacOS 14.x; iPhones, iPods (yes, still) and iPads.
Re: envoy pro mini anyone?
Ira L #37538 12/01/15 06:05 PM
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Originally Posted By: Ira L
If you physically disconnect one of the Time Machine drives, then your description is correct. But if both are connected, â„¢ alternates hourly between the two, or so I have read.

Ira is describing what I see on my Macs running OS X 10.11.2 beta 5


If we knew what it was we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, would it?

— Albert Einstein
Re: envoy pro mini anyone?
joemikeb #37541 12/01/15 09:23 PM
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Originally Posted By: joemikeb
Originally Posted By: Ira L
If you physically disconnect one of the Time Machine drives, then your description is correct. But if both are connected, â„¢ alternates hourly between the two, or so I have read. (Emphasis added)

Didn't you turn that "dis-functionality" off weeks ago? (TM rendered correctly in Ira's post.)

Last edited by artie505; 12/01/15 11:20 PM. Reason: Fix up

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In Memory of Harv: Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire
Re: envoy pro mini anyone?
jchuzi #37736 12/11/15 12:25 AM
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FYI Jon, I know you already made your decision but in the name of full disclosure, I have more to add to the thread.

After your thread and three or four emails from OWC, I decided that even if the Envoy Pro mini enclosure was too big to fit comfortably in the USB slots on many — maybe most — Macs, it looked too useful to ignore and it arrived this afternoon. V1 was correct in his caution that it might be too wide and too fat to fit comfortably into the USB 3 slot on a lot of different models. However, although I cannot find it listed anywhere in OWC's description, included in the box with the Envoy Pro Mini Ultra-portable SSD is a handy-dandy twelve inch USB pig tail that will fit virtually any USB port comfortably. It works great on my 2012 Mac mini.

Benchmark speed tests on the Envoy show an average read speed of 431.266 MB/Sec and write 374.715 MB/Sec. Compare that to a 5400 RPM HD on the same USB 3 bus at read 174.166 MB/Sec and write 171.864 MB/Sec. I think it is going to serve me well as an emergency drive.


If we knew what it was we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, would it?

— Albert Einstein
Re: envoy pro mini anyone?
joemikeb #37738 12/11/15 12:59 AM
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Thinking back, my Patriot XT which is sized similarly to the Envoy Pro also came with an extension USB cable...maybe 6".

At least the manufacturers are paying attention to details.

Last edited by artie505; 12/11/15 01:17 AM. Reason: Finally got it right

The new Great Equalizer is the SEND button.

In Memory of Harv: Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire
Re: envoy pro mini anyone?
joemikeb #37742 12/11/15 08:48 AM
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I ended up with the NewerTech Voyager S3 USB 3 Dock, an inexpensive interim solution, and the OWC 480GB Mercury Electraâ„¢ 6G SSD. When my birthday comes around in a few months, I plan to splurge on the OWC Drive Dock Dual Drive Bay Solution.

The present dock works really well and the SSD is super fast. In fact, it's faster with USB 3 than my Hitachi DeskStar with Thunderbolt.


Jon

macOS 11.7.10, iMac Retina 5K 27-inch, late 2014, 3.5 GHz Intel Core i5, 1 TB fusion drive, 16 GB RAM, Epson SureColor P600, Photoshop CC, Lightroom CC, MS Office 365
Re: envoy pro mini anyone?
artie505 #37744 12/11/15 12:39 PM
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Originally Posted By: artie505
Thinking back, my Patriot XT which is sized similarly to the Envoy Pro also came with an extension USB cable...maybe 6".

At least the manufacturers are paying attention to details.

I've seen that with MOST of the "fat" flash drives, but I consider it a significant inconvenience to avoid because of the portability I demand in my flash drives.


I work for the Department of Redundancy Department

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