Selecting an SSD and setting up Fusion Drive on a MacBook Pro. Speeding up your computer
Fusion Drive is an innovative technology that involves the joint operation of a hard drive and an SSD drive. It appeared in 2012 Mac models.
iMac and Mac mini computers equipped with Fusion Drives will still receive support for the new APFS file system, contrary to the original. MacRumors reports this with reference to an email of corresponding content sent to one of the publication’s readers by Craig Federighi himself.
Already on September 25, Mac users will have the opportunity to install a new version of the operating system. Among others, it will bring a new APFS file system. However, as it turns out, not all Mac owners will be able to use it. For some it will remain inaccessible. We are talking about computers that are equipped with Fusion Drives.
Recently, Apple has increasingly begun to equip Mac computers - the company is gradually abandoning it in favor of a combination of hard drives and solid-state drives. Typically, this symbiosis consisted of a HDD of a certain capacity and a 128 GB SSD - not that much, but enough. However, in this situation, Apple decided to save money.
After it was successful in Cupertino, I decided to please customers and slightly expanded the possible configuration of my all-in-one PCs. And although the innovation concerns only SSD drives, it should have a positive impact on sales of these computers in the second quarter of this year.
Today, service engineers from McFix are struggling with the problem of increasing speed when using a combination of SSD and HDD drives and creating their own
hahaha, the photo with the cat was taken after much “persuasion” and “coercion”? :D because somehow he is completely indifferent :)))
and according to the post: I use Mac3, I need to try fusion, but I haven’t seen any advertisements: D
...and by the way, why are there scanlines in the background of the photo? :)
Here you can see what's inside the fusion
Hey... I looked and remembered that I forgot to post another video. post updated
Ksyusha
Cool stuff, I decided to buy a Gillette Fusion for a friend’s birthday, judging by your review, I could take the Mach3, but since the women said that the Fusion was a better shave, that means it’s true, so I’ll take it. You wrote funny about the cat, thanks for the review!
"fucking" cat... :)
CrashOver
In February I became the owner of a Fusion Power, before that it was just a Gillette sensor machine, a striking difference, especially when I got used to the vibration, it was generally super :) Congratulations on a good purchase. Girls, this is a good gift, everyone should take note! My beloved gave it to me :)
I recently purchased an iMac with a 2TB Fusion Drive. It comes with 128 GB of high-speed PCI SSD memory (read speed up to 3000 MB/s) and a regular but capacious 2 TB hard drive (read speed up to 200 MB/s).
Fusion Drive combines them into a single virtual drive and automatically distributes frequently used files to the SSD. The result is instant launch of programs and systems. What are the disadvantages?
I started noticing that the system was sending photos and videos from the Photos application, tool libraries from Logic Pro, and other files that I use often to the SSD, but they take up a lot of space.
I personally don’t care how many milliseconds a photo or tool opens faster. With this algorithm, 128 GB (or 32 GB in other models) can become full, and then the brakes will begin where it is not needed. Over time, many users experience slow performance of Fusion Drive, especially when free disk space is running low.
Yes, the Fusion Drive algorithm is not ideal and cannot be ideal.
But we can help him.
And manually free up additional space on the SSD.
Simply dragging files onto the HDD will not work: in the system we see only 1 logical drive, we don’t know what and where it is located. You can only make assumptions based on the launch and opening speed of certain files. But there is another way.
You can use Disk Utility to separate some of the free space on your hard drive from Fusion Drive. Yes, exactly the hard drive. As a result, we will get a new partition, all files on which will be placed exclusively on the HDD, without affecting the SSD area. Next, we transfer there everything that takes up a lot of space and does not need to be launched immediately. It turns out to be a familiar scheme: the system and applications are stored on the Fusion Drive (SSD), everything else is stored on the hard drive.
You need to select Fusion Drive in Disk Utility and create a new partition on it. All. To ensure data safety, it is better to perform all manipulations from a bootable flash drive.
What can you put on the HDD? Folder shortcuts
Let me give you a few examples:
System folders
Use shortcuts. For example, almost any system folder with content (movies downloaded from iTunes, backups, etc.) can be transferred to your hard drive by first creating and leaving a redirecting shortcut where the folder was previously located. How to do this, read below:
Backup iPhone and iPad to iTunes
I published a separate article on this topic with detailed instructions. Using the same method, you can transfer it to your hard drive and other system folders. This is how I transferred Logic tools to the HDD.
In short:
1. Find a heavy folder with content on the system drive (Fusion Drive).
2. Copy the folder to your hard drive.
3. Delete the folder from where it was previously located, and leave the redirecting shortcut there instead. Every time a program accesses the system drive, the shortcut will redirect it to the hard drive. iCloud Photo Library (photos and videos)
For example, about 5,000 of my photos are stored in iCloud and are automatically synced across all devices. This is 60 GB of data, and there is no place for it on an SSD.
The library is located in the system Images folder and is called Photos Library; just drag this package to your hard drive, open the Photos application and select it as the main library.
And…
Photos, videos, and movies not stored in iCloud. Instruments, plugins, sample libraries. Music collections. Download folders.
If you receive notifications about low free space while working with Photoshop, you can select HDD as the scratch disk in the settings.
Look, just remove Fusion Drive and live in peace.
Yes, it is possible to disband Fusion Drive completely. Manually transfer heavy files to the HDD, install the system and programs on the SSD and don’t worry.
But in reality, 128 GB, not to mention 32 GB, is not enough. The system constantly warns you about lack of space, some heavy programs create a huge cache on the disk while running, and the hemorrhoids become three times larger.
Personal experience, I already had one such computer. Users who use Mac only for accessing the Internet, photo processing and some everyday tasks may not be affected by this. But for creative activities and large-scale projects, this is a barrier.
P.S. If you allocate space very wisely (including using tips from the article) and do not download a bunch of software, 128 GB SSD-only will be enough. But definitely not 32 GB.
What would be ideal:
Leave 512 GB Fusion Drive (128 GB SSD + 384 GB HDD) and 1.6 TB of hard drive space for files.
512 GB is more than enough for seamless system operation and running heavy programs and projects. There will be no problems with lack of space.
For less demanding users - 256 GB Fusion Drive (128 GB + 128 GB), the rest for HDD. New Macs configured with a 1TB Fusion Drive only ship with a 32GB SSD. In this case, it is better to leave 256 GB for Fusion Drive and use the rest of the HDD space for files.
Currently, all new Mac models with the 1TB Fusion Drive come with a 32GB SSD. For a 128 GB SSD you need a 2 TB or 3 TB Fusion Drive. But some older models with 1 TB Fusion Drive have built-in 128 GB SSD brackets.
Is there a need to do all this?
Not always. If you are completely satisfied with the speed of your Mac, you don’t have to bother. But this is an additional order in the operation of the computer, and it will not be superfluous. Only benefit. Especially for models with 32 GB SSD.
Yes, the geek soul wanted to completely separate the disks and distribute files manually. But the 512 GB Fusion Drive + HDD turned out to be an ideal option both in terms of operating speed and the amount of free space. I don’t see any urgent need to wait and overpay for a custom iMac assembly just for the sake of a capacious SSD. Moreover, in 2017 models its read speed is identical to the SSD on Fusion Drive.
Fusion Drive is an innovative add-on storage solution that gives users the performance of flash memory combined with the capacity of a hard drive. It combines 128GB of flash memory with a standard 1TB or 3TB hard drive to create a single storage volume that allows you to intelligently manage files to optimize read and write speeds. Fusion Drive adapts to how you use your iMac and automatically moves the files and apps you use most frequently to the flash drive, delivering faster performance and faster access.
Apple Inc.
I read it and wanted something like this for myself. At first I thought it was a hybrid hard drive like this Seagate. But no.
Fusion Drive turned out to be not an innovative piece of hardware at all, but rather a software feature of Mountain Lion 10.8. It's something like RAID0 (with all the problems of RAID0), but with some additional benefits. In short, the system analyzes which files are used more often and puts them on the SSD. And the SSD capacity limitation is no longer annoying. Read more on the page of the one who took it all apart - Patrick Stein aka @jollyjinx
So, if you have SSD and HDD drives, you can try it.
Before we begin:
1. You can also try to create Fusion Drive on external drives.
2. You can create a bootable Fusion Drive. You just need to perform all actions from the terminal console in the installation utility.
3.The information on the experimental disks will be destroyed. There will be no turning back.
Now about the main thing.
To create a Fusion Drive you need two drives. Not two partitions of one disk, not a partition and a disk, but TWO PHYSICAL disks. One SSD and one HDD. Fusion Drive works on any media, so the SSD manufacturer does not matter.
Mountain Lion (installed or boot disk) is also required.
Stage 1: Create an array (CoreStorage)
Let's launch the terminal. Let me remind you that if you want to make a boot disk, the terminal must be launched from the installation program.
Enter
something like this will come out 
Select the disk identifiers to merge. In my case it is disk0 (which is SSD) and disk1 (which is HDD)
Check your selection. Once again. Sure? Double check!
Now let's move on to creating a CoreStorage logical disk.
enter in the terminal
where: UUID - what you copied (remembered, wrote down), Name - Partition name, Size - size in gigabytes.
As for the size - add up the sizes of your combined physical disks and subtract 6. At the end without a space, the letter g/
I got this line like this
One of the latest Apple technologies presented at a special event held last month in San Jose was Fusion Drive, Apple's take on a hybrid drive. I suggest you figure out what it is and how it works.
What is Fusion Drive?
With Fusion Drive, the Cupertino-based company has implemented an idea that has been floating around in computer circles for quite some time: take advantage of the advantages of two main types of drives, combining them into one ideal hybrid product. The main “advantage” of SSDs today is the high speed of data processing, while a traditional HDD allows you to store large amounts of information and not think about saving space, which owners of other Macs with solid-state drives are accustomed to. As a result, two physical disks will be installed on the computer, but the user will see a single logical volume in the system, the capacity of which will be equal to the total volume of the SSD and HDD.
How does Fusion Drive work?
Lee Hutchinson from ArsTechnica took up a detailed study of the principles of Fusion Drive, resulting in an impressive and, perhaps, the most complete/accurate overview of the technology. I'll try to save you from reading 5000+ words of the original by summarizing the main points in this section of the article.
So, if you are a regular user, then you don't need to do anything to get Fusion Drive working. You simply buy a Mac and turn it on. and all standard applications on such computers are pre-installed on the SSD, so the system should initially boot and respond to user input just like a regular Mac with an SSD. Moreover, according to Apple's documentation, the system and some other important files will always reside on the SSD, so performance should remain similar over time.
However, this is all theoretical, so Lee decided to find out how the new technology works in normal use, while simultaneously testing Anandtech's assumption that the SSD has a 4 GB “landing zone” from which data is transferred to the HDD. He initially copied a 3GB file and left the Mac mini for a while while monitoring the physical drives using iostat. But no disk activity was observed. Copying the second (3 GB) and third (8 GB) files also did not move the data to the hard drive - they remained on the SSD.
Then Lee simulated “typical user behavior” and set 120 GB of data to be copied, which was more than enough to overflow. This is where Fusion Drive showed its true colors: when the solid-state drive was filled with ≈110 GB, disk activity shifted towards the HDD and continued until the copying was completed.
But after completing the task, the fun began. Fusion Drive waited about 20 seconds and began moving data from the SSD to the HDD for a certain amount of time before stopping. The volume of copied information was approximately 4 GB. After repeating the experiment several times, Lee found that the behavior of the Fusion Drive did not change - the solid-state drive immediately moves data to the hard drive until there is at least 4 GB of free space left on it.
A few words about convenience
Where are new files created? On what drive are applications installed or files downloaded from the Internet? The answer is simple: absolutely everything goes to the SSD first. And it is impossible to configure what is saved where (at least for now). In this regard, freeing up space on a flash drive turns into a non-trivial task that only advanced users can handle.
There are several other interesting points related to the new technology that are definitely worth mentioning:
- Officially, external drives connected via USB, FireWire or Thunderbolt cannot become part of Fusion Drive. However, developer Patrick Stein was able to create a Core Storage volume from an SSD and a USB-connected hard drive.
- You can only create one additional partition on a hybrid drive (for example, using Disk Utility). Physically it will be located on your hard drive, and you can use it to install Windows via .
- Fusion Drive can be used in Target Disk Mode, but only with a computer running OS X 10.8.2.
- Resetting NVRAM may slow down Fusion Drive. This can be corrected by forcibly installing the boot volume in the System Preferences panel of the same name.
- A computer with Fusion Drive comes with a special modification of Disk Utility. Older versions of this application do not support creating hybrid drives.
- And a special article from the Apple knowledge base describes how you can restore a “collapsed” Core Storage volume. Please note that as a result of some operations, data on the disk will be permanently deleted, so do not neglect backup.
Eventually
The logic of Fusion Drive is simple: it is intended for ordinary users, not geeks who already have an SSD drive and a traditional HDD, independently deciding which files to store where, and creating symbolic links to libraries or iPhoto. The mechanical insecurity of the hard drive also plays a role, but the prevalence of backup systems, including Time Machine, allows you to use the technology and not worry about data safety.
Fusion Drive cannot be called a panacea for all ills, and thanks to it your computer will not gush out a rainbow from all the ports. However, Apple has once again introduced technology that just works © And we all benefit from it.