Zikes! The Ultimate Mac Mini 4T External Home Drive

[@MacSoundSolutions]

Note: the drives are formatted in APFS then I put them in a Raid 0. I should have said that in the video.😅 don’t hurt me Tony!

[@paulhorn24]

BTW in the reddit /macmini people continue to recommend your videos about moving only the home folder to external, faster storage but some reddit users keep answering that this is wrong and one should boot from external storage like they do. Those people claim it would be risky to only have the home folder on an external storage. But I can‘t understand why it is should be more risky than booting completely from external instead ob booting from internal storage and just having the home folder on external?

[@MacSoundSolutions]

@@paulhorn24 you can't use apple intelligence if the OS is on the external drive. So there is that, each to their own. It works great this way for me and has been part of Mac OS since the first release of Mac OS X to be able to have an external user account.

[@paulhorn24]

@@MacSoundSolutions I think, your solution is very good and those people don’t convince me otherwise. I too recommended your videos and will continue to recommend them.

[@gordonrobb]

drives formatted in APFS, but when you set up the Raid0 what format to you pick for the Raid. I picked the one that was default (can't remember what it is) and then set up a new user. When I moved over the user folders, it said I couldn't use iCloud on external drive. I wasn't getting that when I set it up on single external drive. Any ideas?

[@ahgflyguy]

One thing that people should know about cables, though not applicable to your setup in particular since you don’t have the Pro chip in your mini, is that passive 40 Gbps cables (so, TB3 and TB4 cables that are 1 meter or shorter, generally) are so good they work with Thunderbolt 5 at double the data speed. Active cables don’t get this upgrade because their electronics don’t do the things that TB5 uses. But passive cables are just very good pieces of metal, and TB3 and TB4 passive cables are near the limit of how good we can make them. A bunch of engineers worked very hard to make it so that these older cables would get a free speed doubling. And companies that sell cables are unlikely to advertise the fact that new cables aren’t necessary for most TB5 users. The biggest exception to this is Apple sold (sells?) 1 meter TB4 cables that are active, and thus do not get the free speed upgrade. But their older 1 meter TB3 cables were passive, and so get the speed upgrade. Hooray for the paradox that the more you spent on your cables, the less likely they are to get the speed upgrade.

[@BluePlanetDrone]

Lance, recently came across this video and your channel. Recently got myself a M4 Mac mini and I used your link to buy a Orico 4TB. Unfortunately the discount code didn’t work. I’ve watch several of your other videos and subscribed. I had no idea you could encrypt a drive without erasing the contents. One of the best things I’ve learn in quite a while. Thank you. You produce good content. Keep m’em comin

[@MacSoundSolutions]

@@BluePlanetDrone thanks for letting me know and the kind words, I will contact Orico.

[@itsgmani]

Greatest intro ever. Got my zike drive and orico 2tb today. It’s awesome.

[@MacSoundSolutions]

@itsgmani thanks I had fun making it

[@ThroneofPositivity]

These videos have been gold brother 🙏🏼 I pray the best for your channel

[@micleeso]

When I see your videos go live, I get a little pumped! You’ve got a knack for making calm and entertaining content.

[@MacSoundSolutions]

@micleeso thanks!

[@greghorsman4102]

I appreciate the information on the Zike drives. I've seen this drive in other videos, but you convinced me to pick some up today. Thanks!

[@bobb.9917]

Thanks for this…I never knew what "Raid" was…you teach me so much. I have recently purchased all the parts to build an M4 Mac Mini System w/Apple Studio Display. All of your recent enthusiastic videos are going to guide me thru the process of assembling a fast 4TB system and the migration from my older iMac. THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!!! 😊

[@danwaterloo3549]

This is great, thanks for sharing. Also thanks for your videos on hooking up external drives to mac minis, and changing home directories.

[@6StringPassion.]

Nice work Lance. MacMini M4 is the most impressive value Apple has put out in decades IMO. Perhaps ever.

[@MacSoundSolutions]

@6StringPassion. Agree of course all the extras cost but not as much as what apple charges so it cool you can expand this way.

[@ahgflyguy]

Saw the speed, thought “what’s he doing, the only way to do that over TB4 would be RAID zero”. And... yep. That’s pretty cool. No idea for that kind of speed myself, but that’s fine. Good to know I could.

[@stefan5782]

You have definitely the best videos out there 🥰 Really love it Tony 😅, got the ZikeDrive and a one TB disk, its good enugh my needs for now. Best Regards from Sweden

[@mikepxg6406]

Wow. Great setup. Love it.

[@bobb.9917]

🔥"They're warm….but they're not sizzling!"🔥 😂😂😂

[@rolandschmidt1817]

I've been using the Zike drive for a year. It does get very warm, but I cool it silently with a $3 DC 5V USB fan with a $2 speed controller.

[@fookoo567]

Awesome! Great work Lance!

[@codee-music]

You're a maniac and I love it. Thanks for the helpful advice.

[@Dwayne_M]

Perfect ordered ! your the man !

[@arsenyapspositive9569]

I have similar setup but inside the 27" imac case, so, literally its the 5k m4 imac with 4.25 tb ssd. I had some issues with the stability of my raid0, but looks like it's resolved now.

[@JeffTokayer]

Wow, what a coincidence. I just received my 4tb Orico O7000 nvme from Amazon, and my Zike enclosure just arrived at the airport. Hoping to get it by Monday. I got a great deal on the nvme, bringing the total price to $400 CDN ($280 US). I’m planning on using just one external drive with my M4 Mini. For backup I’m reusing my Qnap NAS, configured as Raid1, with 2 4tb Red drives. This NAS was connected to my now defunct Win PC. I have almost 2tb of data that I’ll have to copy to my Zike. I’m a newbie to Mac, so I still have to figure out how to create an icon for the NAS on the desktop. Also how to create automatic backups to the NAS.

[@paulhorn24]

Several nice tutorials about the macOS on KZbin and the web plus several helpful Websites online.

[@JeffTokayer]

@ Thanks 👍

[@AlienFactor]

I bought the Mac mini m4 so won't be able to but the zikedrive right now but I wanna get one! thanks for all your videos brotha

[@morgan8937]

Just amazing. Thank you

[@kadshahnagibe-cd1se]

Hey Lance, 'don't get high on your own supply'🤪 Love your channel and the Scarface intro.

[@RadAlzyoud]

Very impressive. Well done.

[@Wannes_]

Like on the Satechi USB4 enclosure, you might want to remove the plastic sleeve from the Zikes

[@MacSoundSolutions]

@@Wannes_ hasn’t been an issue maybe come summer, static charges can also be a problem with metal enclosures and ejecting

[@chandebrec5856]

Near the end while you were copying Resident Evil 4 to the Samsung T7, what software were you using to monitor the transfer speeds? Looks like Finder's menus are in the upper left,, so I infer that the software is a utility accessed from the right-side menus.

[@hms350]

What utility is monitoring the Disks (not Blackmagic)? Great piece, tks.

[@MacSoundSolutions]

AmorphusDiskMark it's on the Mac app store

[@MatthiasHamilton]

SO This has to take up two thunderbolt ports on the Mac mini... what if you need to plug in other peripherals?

[@MacSoundSolutions]

www.acasis.com/collections/acasis-new-arrivals/products/acasis-21-ports-40gbps-thunderbolt-4-docking-station?variant=45949061267685 discount coed store wide LANCE15

[@MatthewBlue-yg1wk]

Nice, thx, didn’t find your discount coupons could be applied. I am in Canada, is that why ? What is the point of moving Home folder, just to free up space on boot drive ?

[@MacSoundSolutions]

@@MatthewBlue-yg1wk yes I have the 256 base model, which code on which item I will check it. My internal drive is 256 gig watch this Transform Your Base Mac Mini into a 2 TB Super Mini! DIY GUIDE kzbin.info/www/bejne/b6mzk2ufgNeYgKM

[@MatthewBlue-yg1wk]

@@MacSoundSolutionsgot both discounts working: thx, ordered the zike and the Orico 2tb, $287 cdn for +1.75 TB vs $250 for apple +256 g: works for me !

[@Jon-e3w9k]

I bought one of those MSZ666, which should arrive in few days, thanks to you! I didn't find anymore the Orico O7000 so I bought the e74000 instead. The O7000 has a heatsink which the e7400 doesn't (it has a graphene heat spreader). QUESTION: Do you apply the heatsink on the SSD also inside the Zike drive or only when you put the Orico inside a desktop? Thanks in advance!

[@PawFromTheBroons]

You maniac, love it.

[@bezzell9509]

Great videos for building my new Mac Mini 4! Thank you, Lance. I'm curious - what are the app's you're running at the top bar? Looks like temp and transfer speed, but I'd like to add them to my Mini. Thanks!

[@MacSoundSolutions]

@bezzell9509 iStat bjango.com/mac/istatmenus/

[@bezzell9509]

@@MacSoundSolutions Installed - Thank you!

[@KennethScottMyers]

Not sure why we are not seeing this method explored with other KZbinrs - you can do this with any two SSD TB4 enclosures. Thanks for sharing.

[@MacSoundSolutions]

And now with two thunderbolt 5 drives I might get to try it soon. Working on it.

[@gordonrobb]

I can recommend iLoud Micro Master speakers. I have them connected by Bluetooth and they are really good.

[@melchora7]

I know this isn't for everyone, but is it possible to boot from your dual drive/raid setup? Great info

[@MacSoundSolutions]

@@melchora7 apple does not support booting off a raide 0 which is funny seeing that’s exactly what they do, I know there is a hack for it.

[@melchora7]

@@MacSoundSolutions Thank you, not ready to do anything yet, currrently Im booting off an external with the M4 Mini and getting about 3100 read/write, so not too bad...

[@leo.girardi]

Did you test to see if an individual drive would get near the lightning 4 max? If so why RAID them at all? Just for a bigger drive?

[@MacSoundSolutions]

@@leo.girardi single gets 3000MBs at best more like 27000

[@mariodallecarbonare8757]

I have a question: What kind of USB cable do you use? I notice significant differences with the ZIKE case.

[@MacSoundSolutions]

Cables make a big difference in using two thunderbolt 4 cables but I get the same speeds with the braided cables Zike gives you, I use this for another drive because they are longer.

[@kenwilkinson9677]

Do you have the two Zikes using two thunderbolt ports and the Acasis in the third thunderbolt port?

[@MacSoundSolutions]

@kenwilkinson9677 nailed it, yes.

[@gordonrobb]

@@MacSoundSolutionsWait, so what are you displays connected to?

[@MacSoundSolutions]

@@gordonrobb to my oled via the Acasis thunderbolt port and to a 1080p via mini hdmi

[@gordonrobb]

@ So I could have TB ports for the 2 Zikes, the 3rd one for my Acasis 6-1 (which allows me to to connect 2 displays)? Hmm. I’m so tempted to do this. And am I right in seeing that your Time Machine raid set up is only 4TB? Is this enough if you have your OS on the Mac Mini, and the 4TB in the Zikes? Sorry for all the questions :)

[@gordonrobb]

Damn, I wish I’d had this video before I decided to buy the Acasis 6-1. I’m only getting 2.5Mb/s on that (compared to 3.5 on a much cheaper enclosure).

[@morgan8937]

Same here. My Acasis 6 in 1 arrived today

[@gordonrobb]

@ I’ve decided on having 2x2TB raid 0 and have the 4TB in teh Acasis doing Time Machine, but having the displays plugged into it.

[@morgan8937]

@gordonrobb Good thinking, should be great. Now considering the same ty

[@OzgurJohn]

which program you are using to see disk writing and reading speed ? (not asking blackmagic)

[@mathewmacias6721]

Out of curiosity can you just go straight to 4t instead of two 2t right out the gate?

[@MacSoundSolutions]

@@mathewmacias6721 yes you won’t get as fast of speeds but my other videos I use a 2T single Zike drive you certainly can go 4T in a single enclosure.

[@gordonrobb]

Quick question, are the Zike drives powered? I've connected 2 Acasis enclosres (Zikes were a pain to get in the UK), but when I connected them, one only connects as USB, I've traced it to the fact that I cant h ave 3 TB drives connected at once, the last one always connects as USB (and is much much slower). I thought my TBU405 Plus was powered, but it's not. Do i need to get a powered hub/dock? :(

[@MacSoundSolutions]

@@gordonrobb my Acasis 21-1 doc is powered the Zikes are not.

[@fatoldclimber]

@@MacSoundSolutions Yeh, further diagnoses showed that you can't have 3 Thunderbolt drives connected. The third one connects as USB. So I needed to order a powered dock that will connect my 3rd Thunderbolt Drive to. It arrives tomorrow. Thanks.

[@itsgmani]

Did you take the plastic off the drives like I’ve seen others do cuz they worry it’s gonna get hot?

[@MacSoundSolutions]

@itsgmani I have not one reason is a static charge can make metal enclosures unmount, I will do a test with it on and off and check the temps.

[@JeffTokayer]

Before buying the 4tb nvme, I bought a 2tb nvme. I’m debating if I should return the 2tb, or turn it into a portable USB3.2 drive. Any enclosure recommendations?

[@MacSoundSolutions]

@@JeffTokayer I have the Zike and Acasis it’s good to try and match the speed of the NVMe , if you buy a slow enclosure it kind of defeats the purpose of having a fast NVMe.

[@JeffTokayer]

@ I was thinking of something small for portability. All USB4 enclosures are a bit bulky.

[@MacSoundSolutions]

@ true, small means hot, orico makes some good small enclosures.

[@bluematrix5001]

awesome , how much memory do you have in this mac mini?

[@MacSoundSolutions]

@@bluematrix5001 base model 16 gigs

[@yagoa]

A T7 RAID-0 is also great

[@MacSoundSolutions]

Not nearly as fast

[@yagoa]

@@MacSoundSolutions but the RAID-0 improved 1.9X speed for me, what was your improvement?

[@yagoa]

I only got 1.2X with TB3 NVME RAID, switching to a slower more compatible drive gave me 1.5X lol

[@chandebrec5856]

Lance, did you have too much coffee before 1:23 in the video? You said you made a RAID 0 with the Acasis TBU405ProMAX and two TEAMGROUPs and that got you a 4 (four) TB Time Machine backup, but the video shows two 1 (one) TB SSDs. EDIT: You also say your Orico+Zike drives give you a 4 TB RAID 0 for ~$450, while Apple charges $1200 for 4 TB. But those Oricos are 2 TB each, not 4 TB each, aren't they? With RAID 0, the speed doubles but the total capacity doesn't, right? I know from personal experience that this kind of arithmetic can be confusing, but I'm thinking you saved about $150.

[@MacSoundSolutions]

@@chandebrec5856 if you look 3:37 when I show how to create the raid 0 you can see, all NVMe are 2 terabytes each, the two team groups are 2T each so yes 4 terabyte Time Machine. I guess my amazon pic is a 1 terabyte, late night editing, more like 2 beers than too much coffee. The Zike costs 100 each and the 2 terabyte orico are 130.00 each minus my discount code. So 435 ish for the 2x Zike and 3x orico 2T, compared to Apple 1200….For 4Terabytes raid 0

[@chandebrec5856]

@@MacSoundSolutions OK, thanks, beer-breath ;) I'm now straightened out about how RAID 0 works, and am glad to know that I can halve the size of the NVme SSDs that I was going to order to get my desired storage capacity!

[@johnplainsong9769]

That should be fast enough.

[@edgarbrocke1807]

Subbing because of your intro. Lol

[@paulhorn24]

Carbon Copy Cloner ! SuperDuper !

[@MacSoundSolutions]

@@paulhorn24 i have used carbon copy for years and still do.

[@paulhorn24]

@@MacSoundSolutions I know, I just wanted to get your viewers attention to these Software applications

[@rorywalters1614]

Guys, remember to do one important thing after you format your Thunderbolt/USB4 drive: Turn on TRIM with the Trimforce command in Terminal. If you don’t know what TRIM is and that Trimforce does you can search online to learn about those. Thunderbolt/USB4 is a PCIe connection, so TRIM support in macOS is available but it’s usually off by default(unless it is an internal PCIe connection, internal SATA and Thunderbolt/USB4 PCIe connection usually have TRIM disabled by default). Turning on TRIM will be good for your drive’s longevity and performance.

[@josephk.9567]

im reading that TRIM isn't recommended with APFS

[@rorywalters1614]

@@josephk.9567The internal drive is APFS and it’s TRIM enabled as default.

[@josephk.9567]

@@rorywalters1614 external is most likely formatted as apfs aswell since exfat is unreliable and ntfs is not natively supported

[@MacSoundSolutions]

@@rorywalters1614 TRIM is automatically enabled for external SSDs formatted with APFS on macOS.

[@rorywalters1614]

@@MacSoundSolutionsWell that’s not the case for me. I’m using a KIOXIA EXCERIA G2 in an ASM2464PD enclosure, and I checked it in the system info TRIM wasn’t enabled, so I had to use Trimforce. I used the same model in my Mac mini 2014’s internal PCIe bay and TRIM was on automatically.

[@sativagirl1885]

you can do much better with 400GB ethernet

[@MacSoundSolutions]

@@sativagirl1885 Mac mini can only do 10GbE if the option is installed mini is based on model.