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Best Cache Drives to Buy for Maximum Performance
Best Cache Drives to Buy for Maximum Performance

Recommended drives if you're considering upgrading or purchasing a new Solid State Drive (SSD) to use with Suite.

Updated over a week ago

Why is choosing the right cache drive so important?

Suite's proprietary intelligent caching system boosts workload performance while optimizing network usage to provide a lag-free experience.

Suite accomplishes this by performing random, frequent reads and writes to a local cache Location. The speed and frequency of these disk operations require you to use a high-speed Solid State Drive (SSD), not a Hard Disk Drive (HDD), with Suite.

As most computers use a SSD for internal storage, you might stop here. But if you're thinking about using an external drive for Suite's cache, take a moment to consider the demands of your anticipated workload. Matching the right storage with your expected workload ensures Suite's caching system will perform at peak capacity.

💡 You don't need the most advanced or expensive SSD on the market. Any reliable and performant SSD will work seamlessly with Suite.

Recommended Drives for Most Workloads

Helix Dura USB-C (USB 3.2 Gen2) NVMe Portable SSD by Oyen Digital – available in 1, 2, or 4TB

Or, you can build your own external drive for most workloads:

Purchase the SSD and enclosure, assemble it, and then plug it into your computer with a USB-C port. Compatible with Thunderbolt 3/4 or USB 4/3.2/3.1/3/2.

In all cases, a larger cache size is always better. Select the drive with the largest capacity possible for your team.

Learn More about "Most Workloads"

Most workloads require fast read speeds and do not rely on sustained writes. The recommended drives are built with varying layers of storage and offer the fastest read throughput, with relative burst and sustained write throughput that will meet the demand of most workloads.

Recommended Drives for Sustained Write Workloads

  1. U34 Bolt USB4 (40Gbps) NVMe Thunderbolt 4 (USB-C) Portable SSD by Oyen Digital – available in 2, 4, or 8TB

  2. Space Shuttle SSD by Tropic Colour – available in 2 or 4TB

Or, you can build your own external drive for sustained write workloads:

Purchase the SSD and enclosure, assemble it, and then plug it into your computer with a USB-C port. Compatible with Thunderbolt 3/4 or USB 4/3.2/3.1/3/2.

Learn More about "Sustained Write Workloads"

If the workload depends on sustained write operations, it's important to consider a cache drive that maintains sustained write throughput over time (not common for most users).

A sustained write operation could be defined as writes to a disk performed at a constant speed of over 1GBps (or 8Gbps). The drives we recommend are designed with storage hardware capable of sustaining high write speeds indefinitely.

Sustained Write Workload Examples:

  • Offloading over 100GB from a camera card to Suite sustains faster write speeds and reduces copying time since the duration of the workload is bound by how fast data can be written to the cache.

  • A rendering workload where the total throughput of the render asset on a single render machine could exceed 1GBps (or 8Gbps).

A workload containing milliseconds of inactivity during a write operation is not classified as a "sustained write".
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If the workload doesn't sustain throughput during a write operation, consider the drive recommended for "most workloads", which provides better overall performance and can speed up rendering due to burst write throughput.

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