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#1
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external NVMe enclosures with external power supply?
On 2020-04-10 06:35, VanguardLH wrote:
T wrote: Any you guys know of an external NVMe enclosures with an external power supplies? Found some by going to newegg.com and searching on "nvme enclosure". I've used Newegg many times in the past, like for a new build. Go to whatever e-tailer you've used and search them. All the ones I have found are powered through the usb-c connector, which can not supply the 10 watts I need. Do you find any with an external power supply? |
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#2
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external NVMe enclosures with external power supply?
T wrote:
On 2020-04-10 06:35, VanguardLH wrote: T wrote: Any you guys know of an external NVMe enclosures with an external power supplies? Found some by going to newegg.com and searching on "nvme enclosure". I've used Newegg many times in the past, like for a new build. Go to whatever e-tailer you've used and search them. All the ones I have found are powered through the usb-c connector, which can not supply the 10 watts I need. Do you find any with an external power supply? "There are four power and ground contacts each in a USB Type C connector making it able to aggregately carry 5 A of current." (https://www.cuidevices.com/blog/usb-...en-2-clarified) 5V x 5A = 25W USB-C can actually deliver up to 100W but that requires a higher voltage (20V x 5A). USB-C is just the physical spec. How much power it can deliver depends on what logic you connect to it. "In addition to the higher current rating, USB Type C connectors are also rated up to 20 V between the power and ground pins, allowing for 100 W of power transfer." (from above article) Unless you designed your own USB-C endpoint that delivers higher voltage at the max of 5 amperes, 25W is the limit; however, if you're relying on someone else's build, you'll have to find out how much power their controller will deliver that is connected to the USB-C port. I'm sure most respondents figured "NVMe" meant you wanted to reuse some NVMe m.2 memory module(s), but never said just how you planned on connecing the "NVMe enclosures" to anything. One guess is to use a USB connection. An "NVMe enclosure" by itself is uninteresting since it cannot do anything by itself. Assuming you are looking to [re]use some NVMe m.2 memory in an external enclosure and use USB to connect that enclosure to a computer's USB port, you sure you need 10W? https://www.anandtech.com/show/13761...s-ssd-review/9 That shows 7.5W is the max for that device. However, the tables in that article show none of the tested modules got above 3.5W. https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...F2oKQJwxEurDnc Power consumption is a lot lower than 10W. Guess it must be something other than SSD you're connecting to the NVMe connection. Seems you need to find an enclosure that matches the NVMe Gen version (Gen 2, Gen 3, Gen 4) as whatever you're looking to put into the enclosure. If you're using an NVMe SSD inside the enclosure, the m.2 spec limits power to 7W (but I forget over what interval versus a sustained max power rating). Impossible to find solutions when no one but you knows what you are trying to build. Do you know what device you're going to be sliding into some format factor utilizing NVMe (on the device, not necessary the connection) and how you'll be connecting that external enclosure to somewhere else to make it useful? |
#3
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external NVMe enclosures with external power supply?
On 2020-04-10 17:35, VanguardLH wrote:
Impossible to find solutions when no one but you knows what you are trying to build. Hi Vanguard, I am after precisely what I asked for. An external NVMe enclosure that has an external power supply. The usage is to clone drives and to be univesral to any customer that has USB ports (2, 3 or C). -T |
#4
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external NVMe enclosures with external power supply?
T wrote:
The usage is to clone drives and to be univesral to any customer that has USB ports (2, 3 or C). And here, because not mentioned, I thought you were repurposing an old NVMe SSD m.2 drive to put into an external enclosure to allow you portability or removability of that drive, just like with any USB drive. An NVMe duplictor is pricey ($1000 to $3000 USD, or more). Since you'll be going through an NVMe to USB converter in the external enclosure, why does it have to be an NVMe device connected via USB? That external NVMe device won't appear as one, but just another USB mass storage device. Why can't the drive inside the USB enclosure be a flash drive, HDD, or SSD? |
#5
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external NVMe enclosures with external power supply?
On 2020-04-12 05:38, VanguardLH wrote:
T wrote: The usage is to clone drives and to be univesral to any customer that has USB ports (2, 3 or C). And here, because not mentioned, I thought you were repurposing an old NVMe SSD m.2 drive to put into an external enclosure to allow you portability or removability of that drive, just like with any USB drive. An NVMe duplictor is pricey ($1000 to $3000 USD, or more). Since you'll be going through an NVMe to USB converter in the external enclosure, why does it have to be an NVMe device connected via USB? That external NVMe device won't appear as one, but just another USB mass storage device. Why can't the drive inside the USB enclosure be a flash drive, HDD, or SSD? The problem here is if you only have one NVMe slot and need to clone for some reason, say to a larger NVMe drive or because something has started to go wrong with the original. Yes clone over USB3 to an external NVMe carrier, then remove the NVMe from the carrier and install it into the computer's motherboard. I can always CloneZilla to a external SATA SSD or SATA mechanical drive and then remove and replace the NVMe drive and CloneZilla back to it. CloneZilla as it does not expand the partitions and it has a rescue mode. (I use gparted to expand when I am finished.) I am trying to avoid to extra step and the labor cost associated with it. And I do not know what kind of USB the customer's computer will have and add to that, the need for a lot of power to get an NVMe drive not to drop out when under heavy load, I need an external power supply. So far, I can only find external power supplies on dual drive carriers. And I'd really like to spend less than 400 U$D on the external carrier. |
#6
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external NVMe enclosures with external power supply?
On 4/12/2020 3:45 PM, T wrote:
On 2020-04-12 05:38, VanguardLH wrote: T wrote: The usage is to clone drives and to be univesral to any customer that has USB ports (2, 3 or C). And here, because not mentioned, I thought you were repurposing an old NVMe SSD m.2 drive to put into an external enclosure to allow you portability or removability of that drive, just like with any USB drive. An NVMe duplictor is pricey ($1000 to $3000 USD, or more). Since you'll be going through an NVMe to USB converter in the external enclosure, why does it have to be an NVMe device connected via USB? That external NVMe device won't appear as one, but just another USB mass storage device.Â* Why can't the drive inside the USB enclosure be a flash drive, HDD, or SSD? The problem here is if you only have one NVMe slot and need to clone for some reason, say to a larger NVMe drive or because something has started to go wrong with the original. Yes clone over USB3 to an external NVMe carrier, then remove the NVMe from the carrier and install it into the computer's motherboard. I can always CloneZilla to a external SATA SSD or SATA mechanical drive and then remove and replace the NVMe drive and CloneZilla back to it. CloneZilla as it does not expand the partitions and it has a rescue mode. (I use gparted to expand when I am finished.) I am trying to avoid to extra step and the labor cost associated with it. And I do not know what kind of USB the customer's computer will have and add to that, the need for a lot of power to get an NVMe drive not to drop out when under heavy load, I need an external power supply. So far, I can only find external power supplies on dual drive carriers.Â* And I'd really like to spend less than 400 U$D on the external carrier. Special today on NewEgg https://www.newegg.com/orico-tcm2-c3-sv-bp-enclosure/p/0VN-0003-001D4?Item=9SIA1DS91E7169&utm_medium=Email&utm_sou rce=ShellShocker&cm_mmc=EMC-SD042020-_-SD04122020-_-Item-_-9SIA1DS91E7169&tp=i-1NHD-Q7H-1Hk-2FHQbX-2G-BDZN-1c-6Tm-2FHTIY-l4U9TJ63ft-hVlEs&om_rid=2058064551&om_mid=4944&email64=RXJpY0 BCbG9jaC5jb20%3d -- Zaidy036 |
#7
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external NVMe enclosures with external power supply?
T wrote:
On 2020-04-12 05:38, VanguardLH wrote: T wrote: The usage is to clone drives and to be univesral to any customer that has USB ports (2, 3 or C). And here, because not mentioned, I thought you were repurposing an old NVMe SSD m.2 drive to put into an external enclosure to allow you portability or removability of that drive, just like with any USB drive. An NVMe duplictor is pricey ($1000 to $3000 USD, or more). Since you'll be going through an NVMe to USB converter in the external enclosure, why does it have to be an NVMe device connected via USB? That external NVMe device won't appear as one, but just another USB mass storage device.Â* Why can't the drive inside the USB enclosure be a flash drive, HDD, or SSD? The problem here is if you only have one NVMe slot and need to clone for some reason, say to a larger NVMe drive or because something has started to go wrong with the original. Yes clone over USB3 to an external NVMe carrier, then remove the NVMe from the carrier and install it into the computer's motherboard. I can always CloneZilla to a external SATA SSD or SATA mechanical drive and then remove and replace the NVMe drive and CloneZilla back to it. CloneZilla as it does not expand the partitions and it has a rescue mode. (I use gparted to expand when I am finished.) I am trying to avoid to extra step and the labor cost associated with it. And I do not know what kind of USB the customer's computer will have and add to that, the need for a lot of power to get an NVMe drive not to drop out when under heavy load, I need an external power supply. So far, I can only find external power supplies on dual drive carriers.Â* And I'd really like to spend less than 400 U$D on the external carrier. Make your own. Pin-outs are on the web. Cut the power wires on a short good quality high amperage usb3 extension cable and splice in power supply jacks for USB2 and USB3 to power the nvme hub. Eliminate any chance of back feeding power to the comp of course. You can then add a small fan to the enclosure, too. |
#8
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external NVMe enclosures with external power supply?
On 2020-04-12 13:17, Zaidy036 wrote:
On 4/12/2020 3:45 PM, T wrote: On 2020-04-12 05:38, VanguardLH wrote: T wrote: The usage is to clone drives and to be univesral to any customer that has USB ports (2, 3 or C). And here, because not mentioned, I thought you were repurposing an old NVMe SSD m.2 drive to put into an external enclosure to allow you portability or removability of that drive, just like with any USB drive. An NVMe duplictor is pricey ($1000 to $3000 USD, or more). Since you'll be going through an NVMe to USB converter in the external enclosure, why does it have to be an NVMe device connected via USB? That external NVMe device won't appear as one, but just another USB mass storage device.Â* Why can't the drive inside the USB enclosure be a flash drive, HDD, or SSD? The problem here is if you only have one NVMe slot and need to clone for some reason, say to a larger NVMe drive or because something has started to go wrong with the original. Yes clone over USB3 to an external NVMe carrier, then remove the NVMe from the carrier and install it into the computer's motherboard. I can always CloneZilla to a external SATA SSD or SATA mechanical drive and then remove and replace the NVMe drive and CloneZilla back to it. CloneZilla as it does not expand the partitions and it has a rescue mode. (I use gparted to expand when I am finished.) I am trying to avoid to extra step and the labor cost associated with it. And I do not know what kind of USB the customer's computer will have and add to that, the need for a lot of power to get an NVMe drive not to drop out when under heavy load, I need an external power supply. So far, I can only find external power supplies on dual drive carriers.Â* And I'd really like to spend less than 400 U$D on the external carrier. Special today on NewEgg https://www.newegg.com/orico-tcm2-c3-sv-bp-enclosure/p/0VN-0003-001D4?Item=9SIA1DS91E7169&utm_medium=Email&utm_sou rce=ShellShocker&cm_mmc=EMC-SD042020-_-SD04122020-_-Item-_-9SIA1DS91E7169&tp=i-1NHD-Q7H-1Hk-2FHQbX-2G-BDZN-1c-6Tm-2FHTIY-l4U9TJ63ft-hVlEs&om_rid=2058064551&om_mid=4944&email64=RXJpY0 BCbG9jaC5jb20%3d Damn! It does not have an external power supply! It would be perfect other than that. Thank you anyway. |
#9
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external NVMe enclosures with external power supply?
On 2020-04-12 13:30, Paul in Houston TX wrote:
T wrote: On 2020-04-12 05:38, VanguardLH wrote: T wrote: The usage is to clone drives and to be univesral to any customer that has USB ports (2, 3 or C). And here, because not mentioned, I thought you were repurposing an old NVMe SSD m.2 drive to put into an external enclosure to allow you portability or removability of that drive, just like with any USB drive. An NVMe duplictor is pricey ($1000 to $3000 USD, or more). Since you'll be going through an NVMe to USB converter in the external enclosure, why does it have to be an NVMe device connected via USB? That external NVMe device won't appear as one, but just another USB mass storage device.Â* Why can't the drive inside the USB enclosure be a flash drive, HDD, or SSD? The problem here is if you only have one NVMe slot and need to clone for some reason, say to a larger NVMe drive or because something has started to go wrong with the original. Yes clone over USB3 to an external NVMe carrier, then remove the NVMe from the carrier and install it into the computer's motherboard. I can always CloneZilla to a external SATA SSD or SATA mechanical drive and then remove and replace the NVMe drive and CloneZilla back to it. CloneZilla as it does not expand the partitions and it has a rescue mode. (I use gparted to expand when I am finished.) I am trying to avoid to extra step and the labor cost associated with it. And I do not know what kind of USB the customer's computer will have and add to that, the need for a lot of power to get an NVMe drive not to drop out when under heavy load, I need an external power supply. So far, I can only find external power supplies on dual drive carriers.Â* And I'd really like to spend less than 400 U$D on the external carrier. Make your own.Â* Pin-outs are on the web. Cut the power wires on a short good quality high amperage usb3 extension cable and splice in power supply jacks for USB2 and USB3 to power the nvme hub. Eliminate any chance of back feeding power to the comp of course. You can then add a small fan to the enclosure, too. That is an idea. Thank you! Hopefully I will find something before having to do that. |
#10
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external NVMe enclosures with external power supply?
In article , Zaidy036
wrote: Special today on NewEgg https://www.newegg.com/orico-tcm2-c3...-001D4?Item=9S IA1DS91E7169&utm_medium=Email&utm_source=ShellShoc ker&cm_mmc=EMC-SD042020-_-SD 04122020-_-Item-_-9SIA1DS91E7169&tp=i-1NHD-Q7H-1Hk-2FHQbX-2G-BDZN-1c-6Tm-2FH TIY-l4U9TJ63ft-hVlEs&om_rid=2058064551&om_mid=4944&email64=RXJpY0 BCbG9jaC5jb20%3d trimmed, without the tracking info: https://www.newegg.com/orico-tcm2-c3-sv-bp-enclosure/p/0VN-0003-001D4 |
#11
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external NVMe enclosures with external power supply?
T wrote:
On 2020-04-12 05:38, VanguardLH wrote: T wrote: The usage is to clone drives and to be univesral to any customer that has USB ports (2, 3 or C). And here, because not mentioned, I thought you were repurposing an old NVMe SSD m.2 drive to put into an external enclosure to allow you portability or removability of that drive, just like with any USB drive. An NVMe duplictor is pricey ($1000 to $3000 USD, or more). Since you'll be going through an NVMe to USB converter in the external enclosure, why does it have to be an NVMe device connected via USB? That external NVMe device won't appear as one, but just another USB mass storage device. Why can't the drive inside the USB enclosure be a flash drive, HDD, or SSD? The problem here is if you only have one NVMe slot and need to clone for some reason, say to a larger NVMe drive or because something has started to go wrong with the original. Yes clone over USB3 to an external NVMe carrier, then remove the NVMe from the carrier and install it into the computer's motherboard. I can always CloneZilla to a external SATA SSD or SATA mechanical drive and then remove and replace the NVMe drive and CloneZilla back to it. CloneZilla as it does not expand the partitions and it has a rescue mode. (I use gparted to expand when I am finished.) I am trying to avoid to extra step and the labor cost associated with it. And I do not know what kind of USB the customer's computer will have and add to that, the need for a lot of power to get an NVMe drive not to drop out when under heavy load, I need an external power supply. So far, I can only find external power supplies on dual drive carriers. And I'd really like to spend less than 400 U$D on the external carrier. Okay, I assumed you were going the other way, like you had a prep image on the USB drive that you were going to clone to a drive in one, or more, computers. If there was something going bad with the NVMe drive in the mobo slot, my instinct would be to copy it to another drive, but not move it out of its mobo m.2 slot. I'd do an in-place backup rather than risk compounding multiple problems. Only if that did not work would I try to remove and reinsert the m.2 card, or use it in another mobo or, in your case, stick it in an external enclosure (which still compounds the hardware protocols since you're changing from PCI to PCI-to-USB for conversion within the external enclosure). To just backup the old NVMe m.2 because you want to move to a larger m.2 stick, I'd still do an in-place backup. Because you don't the type of USB port in the customer's computer, you could end up using 1.1 or 2.0 instead of 3.0 or 3.1. Since you don't know what connectivity you'll have, I'd get a really big SSD (or HDD if your budget can't afford huge SSD) in an external encloser that has both USB 3.x and eSATA ports. Then, if the customer's computer has an unused SATA slot, I'd use that before going with USB. With removing the original m.2 stick from the mobo to put into an external enclosure, not only would you be compounding the hardware protocols (NVMe/PCI to USB), you're also risking physical damage to the original m.2 stick by removing it from the mobo before you've cloned from it, improper installation into the external enclosure, exposing it to a different power source, static zaps, and so on. By backing up while the original m.2 stick is still in its mobo slot means not risking physical damage to the stick. If you first moved it to an external enclosure, it didn't work, and you moved it back to the mobo's m.2 slot, and it also no longer worked there, the customer would be ****ed you ruined their setup and they'd have to start all over or recover from backups (after possibly having to get a new m.2 stick to do the recovery). Since the customer has a mobo with a m.2 slot for NVMe sticks, they very likely also have SATA-3 ports on the mobo. Even if the customer's box doesn't have an eSATA port, they may have unused SATA ports on the mobo. They might have a spare SATA3 port even if they don't have USB3 port. With an external USB+eSATA SSD drive, you could still use SATA3 in case they don't have a USB3 type C port. It is unlikely that the orignal m.2 stick is full. More likely is the customer wants more breathing room. You'd only be backing up the clusters that were actually inuse. Use a external drive with USB3 and eSATA ports. Yes, you have to clone twice: once to the external drive, insert the new m.2 NVMe stick in the mobo, and clone back. More time to do a backup and a restore, but less risk of borking the original setup. To get more breathing room on the m.2 stick, you might want to check if the customer is dumping all their data files on it. Not a good destination for data due to wear levelling, junction stress during writes, and that SSDs are self-destructive due to write failure. They should be moving their data files elsewhere than the device where the OS and apps run from, like to an internal SATA3 SSD or HDD. Get those data writes off the primary NVMe drive. To me, you moving the m.2 stick out of the box into an enclosure before cloning from it and doing the cloning only after the move incurs too much risk for the customer. While you mention doing the in-place clone with the m.2 stick still in the mobo slot to the USB-NVMe external drive, where's your backup? You cloned to the USB-NVMe drive, take out the mobo m.2 stick, put in the cloned m.2 stick, and the computer won't boot or there are other problems. You put back the original m.2 stick, and still problems. The working computer now has problems. Where's your backup for recovery? The scenario sounds fine for a personal scenario, but seems a bit risky for a customer scenario. I don't see any of those USB-NVMe enclosures that are designed to be repeatedly dismantled and reassembled. Not only would you be taking apart that external case several times, which means you'll increase the chances of breaking the case or damaging the m.2 slot inside the case, you'll have to keep reusing the heat spreader. You shouldn't be reusing the same old thermal pads that came with the external case, so you'll have to get more thermal pads (and hope they don't cause a fit problem with the case). Those external NVMe cases are designed to a one-time build, not for repeated reuse. Not only do those external NVMe cases not meet your requirement for an external power supply (which you'll have to check can supply sufficient amperage from the A/C adapter), but they are not designed for for your use case. Even having to repeatedly remove and insert m.2 sticks into the same slot and not lose the tiny screw to hold down the stick means increased risk. How many times do you plan on using a USB-NVMe external drive to facilitate upgrading to a larger m.2 stick on the mobo? If more than once, those external USB-NVMe enclosures are built for industrial or commercial use as cloning stations. If you're going to do this 1 to 3 times a year, just suffer with having to do 2 clones/backups. How much time will it take you to assemble the external USB-NVMe case (put in the m.2 stick, screw it down, assemble the case, apply the thermal pads, apply the heat spreader, screw down the heat spreader) and then disassemble the external case (to move its m.2 stick to the mobo) versus the time for a single clone (since another clone will still be needed at a minimum). That is, how much time do you save having to assemble and disassemble the external case to reduce the clone count to 1 versus doing 2 clones by using a USB SSD or HDD? If the customer doesn't want to add an internal SATA-3 SSD drive (for data and maybe some apps), you sure they don't have another m.2 slot on their mobo? Mobo kits may come with a heat spreader for the m.2 stick, but usually supply only one of those, so you'll have to get a heat spreader for the other m.2 sticks. At Newegg, about a third of their mobos have only a single m.2 slot, two-thirds have 2 or 3 m.2 slots, but the customer's mobo might have an unused SATA port. They'd pay you for your time to assemble the USB-NVMe drive with the bigger NVMe SSD, clone the m.2 mobo stick to the external USB-NVMe drive, disassemble the USB-NVMe enclosure to remove the m.2 stick, remove the mobo's m.2 stick, and slide in the replacement m.2 stick and test the computer still boots and runs okay. Or they could pay your time to add an internal SATA SSD to allow expansion there. Adding another internal drive probably takes less time than just one clone/backup. You could even span the volume across the m.2 and SSD drives, so they don't see a change or addition of drive letters, but that means losing some of the speed advantage of the m.2 NVMe drive for any files that end up on the internal SATA-3 SSD in the spanned volume. |
#12
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external NVMe enclosures with external power supply?
On 2020-04-13 07:55, VanguardLH wrote:
T wrote: On 2020-04-12 05:38, VanguardLH wrote: T wrote: The usage is to clone drives and to be univesral to any customer that has USB ports (2, 3 or C). And here, because not mentioned, I thought you were repurposing an old NVMe SSD m.2 drive to put into an external enclosure to allow you portability or removability of that drive, just like with any USB drive. An NVMe duplictor is pricey ($1000 to $3000 USD, or more). Since you'll be going through an NVMe to USB converter in the external enclosure, why does it have to be an NVMe device connected via USB? That external NVMe device won't appear as one, but just another USB mass storage device. Why can't the drive inside the USB enclosure be a flash drive, HDD, or SSD? The problem here is if you only have one NVMe slot and need to clone for some reason, say to a larger NVMe drive or because something has started to go wrong with the original. Yes clone over USB3 to an external NVMe carrier, then remove the NVMe from the carrier and install it into the computer's motherboard. I can always CloneZilla to a external SATA SSD or SATA mechanical drive and then remove and replace the NVMe drive and CloneZilla back to it. CloneZilla as it does not expand the partitions and it has a rescue mode. (I use gparted to expand when I am finished.) I am trying to avoid to extra step and the labor cost associated with it. And I do not know what kind of USB the customer's computer will have and add to that, the need for a lot of power to get an NVMe drive not to drop out when under heavy load, I need an external power supply. So far, I can only find external power supplies on dual drive carriers. And I'd really like to spend less than 400 U$D on the external carrier. Okay, I assumed you were going the other way, like you had a prep image on the USB drive that you were going to clone to a drive in one, or more, computers. Hi Vanguard, I tend to ask pin point questions because I am seeking a pin point answer. If you want to expand the question, write me back with "What are your trying to accomplish? Maybe there is another way of accomplishing it". that way you will not waste a ton of your time writing me things that don't apply. If there was something going bad with the NVMe drive in the mobo slot, my instinct would be to copy it to another drive, but not move it out of its mobo m.2 slot. I'd do an in-place backup rather than risk compounding multiple problems. Only if that did not work would I try to remove and reinsert the m.2 card, or use it in another mobo or, in your case, stick it in an external enclosure (which still compounds the hardware protocols since you're changing from PCI to PCI-to-USB for conversion within the external enclosure). That is what I do. I do not remove the original from the case. I don't not even change the physical orientation of mechanical drives as I don't want the bearing to fail. After cloning, I temporarily mount he new drive and make sure it boot before removing the original drive. I am a total paranoid To just backup the old NVMe m.2 because you want to move to a larger m.2 stick, I'd still do an in-place backup. Because you don't the type of USB port in the customer's computer, you could end up using 1.1 or 2.0 instead of 3.0 or 3.1. Since you don't know what connectivity you'll have, I'd get a really big SSD (or HDD if your budget can't afford huge SSD) in an external encloser that has both USB 3.x and eSATA ports. Then, if the customer's computer has an unused SATA slot, I'd use that before going with USB. I only use USB if I have to. With SATA SSD's I will go and find a spare SATA port. Some SATA paorts are still mixed II and III on older comptuers, so I will often disconnect their DVD drive to make sure I get a II port. The tip off is that the motherboard connects are usually a different color for II and III ports. The few times I have to suffer a USB2 port, took F-O-R-E-V-E-R With removing the original m.2 stick from the mobo to put into an external enclosure, not only would you be compounding the hardware protocols (NVMe/PCI to USB), you're also risking physical damage to the original m.2 stick by removing it from the mobo before you've cloned from it, improper installation into the external enclosure, exposing it to a different power source, static zaps, and so on. By backing up while the original m.2 stick is still in its mobo slot means not risking physical damage to the stick. If you first moved it to an external enclosure, it didn't work, and you moved it back to the mobo's m.2 slot, and it also no longer worked there, the customer would be ****ed you ruined their setup and they'd have to start all over or recover from backups (after possibly having to get a new m.2 stick to do the recovery). When transferring static sensitive parts, I always have one hand on the metal case. I was a radio design engineer previously and RF transistors are crazy static sensitive, so I learned. That and when I was an explosives engineer. (Did automated testing on land mine circuitry.) Since the customer has a mobo with a m.2 slot for NVMe sticks, they very likely also have SATA-3 ports on the mobo. Even if the customer's box doesn't have an eSATA port, they may have unused SATA ports on the mobo. They might have a spare SATA3 port even if they don't have USB3 port. With an external USB+eSATA SSD drive, you could still use SATA3 in case they don't have a USB3 type C port. and the older motherboards with the USB2 won't have an NVMe slot It is unlikely that the orignal m.2 stick is full. More likely is the customer wants more breathing room. You'd only be backing up the clusters that were actually inuse. Use a external drive with USB3 and eSATA ports. Yes, you have to clone twice: once to the external drive, insert the new m.2 NVMe stick in the mobo, and clone back. More time to do a backup and a restore, but less risk of borking the original setup. To get more breathing room on the m.2 stick, you might want to check if the customer is dumping all their data files on it. Not a good destination for data due to wear levelling, junction stress during writes, and that SSDs are self-destructive due to write failure. They should be moving their data files elsewhere than the device where the OS and apps run from, like to an internal SATA3 SSD or HDD. Get those data writes off the primary NVMe drive. The project involves having a full identical spare computer in storage. The computer has both an mSATA and and NVMe slot. The mSATA is populated. I wanted to clone to the spares NVMe drive as they are twice as fast as mSATA drives. And then restore the spare computer's original license To me, you moving the m.2 stick out of the box into an enclosure before cloning from it and doing the cloning only after the move incurs too much risk for the customer. While you mention doing the in-place clone with the m.2 stick still in the mobo slot to the USB-NVMe external drive, where's your backup? You cloned to the USB-NVMe drive, take out the mobo m.2 stick, put in the cloned m.2 stick, and the computer won't boot or there are other problems. You put back the original m.2 stick, and still problems. The working computer now has problems. Where's your backup for recovery? The scenario sounds fine for a personal scenario, but seems a bit risky for a customer scenario. Okay, in this scenario, they only need to backup particular parts of their data. It is involved, but I have gone through it several times. I don't see any of those USB-NVMe enclosures that are designed to be repeatedly dismantled and reassembled. Not only would you be taking apart that external case several times, which means you'll increase the chances of breaking the case or damaging the m.2 slot inside the case, you'll have to keep reusing the heat spreader. You shouldn't be reusing the same old thermal pads that came with the external case, so you'll have to get more thermal pads (and hope they don't cause a fit problem with the case). Those external NVMe cases are designed to a one-time build, not for repeated reuse. Not only do those external NVMe cases not meet your requirement for an external power supply (which you'll have to check can supply sufficient amperage from the A/C adapter), but they are not designed for for your use case. Even having to repeatedly remove and insert m.2 sticks into the same slot and not lose the tiny screw to hold down the stick means increased risk. Check out: https://www.icydock.com/goods.php?id=315 https://www.icydock.com/goods.php?id=303 How many times do you plan on using a USB-NVMe external drive to facilitate upgrading to a larger m.2 stick on the mobo? If more than once, those external USB-NVMe enclosures are built for industrial or commercial use as cloning stations. If you're going to do this 1 to 3 times a year, just suffer with having to do 2 clones/backups. How much time will it take you to assemble the external USB-NVMe case (put in the m.2 stick, screw it down, assemble the case, apply the thermal pads, apply the heat spreader, screw down the heat spreader) and then disassemble the external case (to move its m.2 stick to the mobo) versus the time for a single clone (since another clone will still be needed at a minimum). That is, how much time do you save having to assemble and disassemble the external case to reduce the clone count to 1 versus doing 2 clones by using a USB SSD or HDD? Probably once ever three months or so. Five times for the customer with the spares If the customer doesn't want to add an internal SATA-3 SSD drive (for data and maybe some apps), Wont' fit. These are mini computers you sure they don't have another m.2 slot on their mobo? Mobo kits may come with a heat spreader for the m.2 stick, but usually supply only one of those, so you'll have to get a heat spreader for the other m.2 sticks. At Newegg, about a third of their mobos have only a single m.2 slot, two-thirds have 2 or 3 m.2 slots, but the customer's mobo might have an unused SATA port. They'd pay you for your time to assemble the USB-NVMe drive with the bigger NVMe SSD, clone the m.2 mobo stick to the external USB-NVMe drive, disassemble the USB-NVMe enclosure to remove the m.2 stick, remove the mobo's m.2 stick, and slide in the replacement m.2 stick and test the computer still boots and runs okay. Or they could pay your time to add an internal SATA SSD to allow expansion there. Adding another internal drive probably takes less time than just one clone/backup. You could even span the volume across the m.2 and SSD drives, so they don't see a change or addition of drive letters, but that means losing some of the speed advantage of the m.2 NVMe drive for any files that end up on the internal SATA-3 SSD in the spanned volume. I am looking forward to the X12 version of mobo's with two NVMe slots. Thought it gets interesting when you ask if they will support RAID1. FOR SSD RAID 1, I use the Samsung SATA drives that are designed for it. I can look them up, if you need the part nubmers |
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