[UniMacTech] New MacBooks and Firewire

[John Blyth]

think this may have had something to do with the updates to the  
migration assistant - connectivity options (then again I may be  
completely wrong and just haven't used it for a while) but the  
migration assistant has been updated at about the same time as the  
new firewire-less machines have appeared.

On 12/11/2008, at 11:05 AM, Kris Kopicki wrote:

> Hi,
>
> On 12/11/2008, at 9:24 AM, David Wikeley wrote:
>
>>    Before we purchase some new MacBooks, what are others doing  
>> about the
>> lack of a Firewire port on the new MacBooks?
>>
>> How does Target Disk Mode work, we use this mode on a daily basis  
>> to set-up
>> new MacBooks. We boot off a system on the external drive and clone  
>> a system
>> to the new computer, very quick.
>
> As someone has already mentioned, you can still do this with USB  
> drive enclosures, however depending on the size of the SOE you are  
> restoring, it may add significantly to your time. We did some  
> testing with one of the new 500GB LaCie Rugged cases, just to see  
> how bad USB2 really is:
>
> FW800: 52MB/sec
> FW400: 32MB/sec
> USB2: 24MB/sec
>
> So as you can see you take quite a speed hit for USB2, which you'll  
> really notice if you are restoring 15GB dmg's like we do. The  
> better way to be doing this is with Netboot/NetRestore. You can't  
> beat the performance of Gigabit ethernet. We can restore a 15GB SOE  
> to an iMac in 14 minutes (with verification). Of course if you're  
> machines don't have access to ethernet, then USB is your only option.
>
> The bigger issue here is that you can no longer use target mode to  
> access data off your laptops. We are purchasing some SATA drive  
> docks that you can pop a drive out of a laptop into, connected to  
> the host over USB2. Something like this
> http://www.techbuy.com.au/p/84881/HARD_DRIVE_- 
> _EXTERNAL_DRIVE_CASE_SATA_-_USB_3.5/Vantec/NST-D100S2.asp
>
>> Does this mean that all our external  Firewire drives (no USB  
>> ports) will
>> just sit on the shelves to gather dust. Is there a third party USB to
>> Firewire adapter we can use.
>
> I'd imagine FW will still be in other product lines for some time  
> yet, but eventually that will be the case, as it is with all  
> technology.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Kris
>
> --------------------------------------
> Kris Kopicki
> Systems Administrator
> Walford Anglican School for Girls Inc.
> 316 Unley Road, Hyde Park
> SA 5061 Australia
>
> Web:    http://www.walford.asn.au
> Phone:    +61-8-82726555
> Fax:        +61-8-82720313
> Mobile:    +61407790415
>
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--  John Blyth:            +61 3 9903 2743          fax: +61 3 9903 1018
--  Audio / Systems Engineer,  Advancement,  Monash University  ---

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