The best NAS drives for 2018 NAS drives do a lot more than simply store files like a hard drive. They're your personal cloud service, media server and can even record footage from security cameras.
Tweet Share Whatsapp Email Daisy-Chaining Thunderbolt 2 and Thunderbolt 3 Devices with your Mac in 2017 Thunderbolt technology is not a new thing! Heavily utilized by the Mac and Apple community, Thunderbolt 1, 2 and the recently released Thunderbolt 3 for. There are a number of reasons for this and it is not only about the blisteringly fast data transmission speed of. No, there is a large amount of flexibility and efficiency in devices that use TB as their means to communicate. Larger power being supplied by the Thunderbolt cable means that bigger and more power consuming devices can be used to full capacity without the need of additional mains power, running with power supplied by the host Apple Mac – much like USB but on a much bigger and more powerful scale. Likewise this increased data transmission bandwidth, speed and additional power means that Thunderbolt 1,2 and 3 are fantastic for Daisy-Chaining numerous peripheral devices together one by one and letting the host Apple Mac Tower or MacBook Pro access everything via a single Thunderbolt port.
But what is Thunderbolt Mac daisychaining and is it as good as it sounds? What is Daisy-Chaining and why is it such a big deal for Mac users in 2017? As mentioned above, Daisy Chain is a term used to describe an system setup whereby you have multiple peripheral devices and machines being accessible by a host Apple Mac, all at once, with little or no slowdown and using just one port on the Apple Mac, in this case Thunderbolt 1, Thunderbolt 2 or Thunderbolt 3. This system of connecting devices for Mac users is very popular and looks to become even more popular as Apple Mac machines are becoming more mobile and portable. With each release of the new Mac or Apple for 2017, fewer and fewer ports are being included – With innovations of Thunderbolt Docking stations and 4K and 5K Monitors with USB-C and Thunderbolt connectivity, slowly but surely ports like USB 3.0 and HDMI are being fazed out – much like the Firewire 400, 600 and 800 of old! However if you need to connect to multiple devices that are not network enabled (like a NAS Server) you are going to have to keep changing the connected device as soon as you exceed 2 devices. This cannot only time consuming but can be ill advised if you are reading or writing to the device and may well require them to be restarted between use.
There is more than enough power available and data will travel between devices too and from the Mac with ease. Most modern editors in Photo and Video industries use this setup to have a base of operations available to them on the move or set up at their desk on-site, providing them with the flexibility to take their highly light and portable MacBook Pro 2016 off site when needed. In an age of Kickstarter, Bedroom startups and mobile office environments, this level of Thunderbolt 3 flexibility is invaluable for creators in 2017. What are the Advantages and Disadvantages of Daisy-Chaining Thunderbolt Devices for Mac Users Of course no system is perfect and there are some core strengths and weaknesses of installing a Thunderbolt3 Daisy Chain into your creator environment.