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Future-proofing an editing rig with external drives
I set up my editing system when Firewire 800 was still a thing.
I got the last version of an MBP that has three ports: Firewire 800, Thunderbolt 1, and USB 3.
This has worked well, and I now have 4 onsite Firewire drives (also with USB), 2 offsite backup Firewire drives, 1 offsite backup USB drive.
I use Firewire for movies and backups, Thunderbolt for an HDMI connector to a TV, and USB for a connector to a computer monitor.
It seems Apple continues down its path of deprecating old connectors and providing fewer ports on new machines.
I see the need to add a new system in the future and wonder what it will be.
The Firewire drives are slow for cloning and making backups but perfectly adequate for the kind of editing I do.
I’m hoping I’ll be able to use a new MBP or iMac with these drives by using some kind of adapter or hub.
What do you think?
Thanks for your thoughts,
RobertRobert Withers
Independent/personal/avant-garde cinema, New York City
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1 Reply
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[Robert Withers] “I’m hoping I’ll be able to use a new MBP or iMac with these drives by using some kind of adapter or hub. What do you think?”
I think you are correct! We are all in the same boat. I got a new MBP last year and the it doesn’t have a firewire port so I bought a Thunderbolt to Firewire adapter and I’m back in business.
What I have started doing is buying 1TB or 2TB Western Digital MyPassport USB 3.0 drives when they go on sale (1TB for $49 on sale). My 2010 Mac Pro up to my 2015 MacBook Pro all support USB 3.0 so everything is compatible with these drives. I rarely use my old firewire drives anymore.
~jr
http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasstsoftware.com
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