The Fusion Flex j3i System: A Plug-and-Play Solution for Mac Pro Owners

For those who did not opt into getting a larger storage capacity at checkout, there are more cost-effective options available to easily get more storage and performance. One such solution is the Fusion Flex j3i system. This system offers a clean and easy plug-and-play solution for Mac Pro owners, allowing them to expand their storage capacity without breaking the bank.

The j3i system itself does not come with hard drives, but rather can be used as an external drive that's just kind of always plugged into your Mac and available upon boot-up. Technically, these drives will not be the main boot up disk, but rather act more like an external drive. However, it is possible to make one of these drives the location in which Mac OS is installed on and booted from, although this process is not entirely familiar with the author, and they do not want to give any wrong information.

The j3i system offers a lot of flexibility when it comes to storage choice. Users can install either two 3.5 inch drives along with 12.5 inch SSDs or all three 2.5 inch SSDs instead. The choice and flexibility is entirely up to the user. In this article, the author is using only two 4 terabyte 3.5 hard drives because that's what they have lying around, but again, the storage choice is completely up to the user.

Installation of the hard drives themselves is pretty simple. The hard drives only need four screws to attach to the j3i mounting system itself. To install a second 3.5 inch drive, users can use the black screws that come with the unit and then attach them directly to the bottom of the j3i unit itself. It's also possible to use an SSD in conjunction with the two 3.5 inch drives by attaching it directly to the bottom of the j3i unit.

To set up the Fusion Flex j3i system, users will need to remove the cover from their Mac Pro and then unscrew the plate at the top. They will then gently insert the j3i into the Mac Pro, attaching the hard drives themselves to the Mac via SATA cables that come with the fusion flex j3i unit when it's opened up. The hard drives should be labeled one, two, and three, although this doesn't matter as much as the cable that connects them to the correct port.

Once the setup is complete, users will need to reattach the plate to the top of the Mac Pro and put the case back on. Upon booting up their Mac Pro, they should see their drives mounted and ready for use. This solution offers a great plug-and-play experience, with clean and easy installation.

In terms of cost, it's possible to get 32 terabytes of storage by purchasing two 16 terabyte 3.5 inch drives from Amazon for roughly $800 total, in addition to the $200 it takes to purchase the j3i system itself. This works out to around $1000 overall. Alternatively, users can consider getting three 3 terabyte SSDs for mounting in the fusion flex system for around $700 plus the $200 it takes to buy the unit itself. This is still under a thousand dollars and offers much faster read/write speeds over the 3.5 inch hard drives.

The author already has a few PCIe SSD modules inserted into their Mac Pro, which they use to edit videos off of and store their Final Cut Pro libraries in. They have found this setup to be great for getting maximum read/write speeds while editing videos. The j3i system offers even more room to work with, making it a great solution for those who just need that extra space to get things done.

The Fusion Flex j3i is available for $199 without the drives. Overall, users have found this system to be a great option for expanding their storage capacity and improving performance. Whether you're using an SSD or 3.5 inch hard drives, the fusion flex offers a clean and easy solution that's perfect for Mac Pro owners who want more space without breaking the bank.

In conclusion, the Fusion Flex j3i system is a plug-and-play solution that offers great flexibility and value for Mac Pro owners. With its clean installation process and affordable pricing options, it's an excellent option for those looking to expand their storage capacity without sacrificing performance.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enthe best part about the Mac Pro is that it's one of the only Mac's out there that's very user customizable and upgradable and since its released last year we've seen a lot of PCIe modules graphic cards and other accessories that have been released in order to help make upgrading your Mac Pro extremely easy in this video we're gonna take a look at the sonnet fusion flex j3i system that can give users up to 36 terabytes of additional storage built right into your Mac Pro before we get started be sure to subscribe and hit the bell to get notifications whenever we share a video the fusion flex j3i is a mount system for your 2019 Mac Pro that can fit up to three SATA drives allowing users to expand their Mac Pro's internal storage up to 36 terabytes which is a crazy amount of built-in storage and a lot more than Apple's eight terabyte SSD limit it's important to note that technically these drives will not be your main boot up disk and will act more like an external drive that's just kind of always plugged into your Mac and available upon boot up I believe there is a way to make one of these drives the location in which Mac OS is installed on and booted from but I'm not entirely familiar with that process so I don't want to give you any wrong information it's also worth mentioning that the j3i system does not come with hard drives you will need to purchase those separately you can install either two 3.5 inch drives along with 12.5 inch SSD or you can install all three 2.5 inch SSDs instead the choice and flexibility is of course up to you for this video I'm using only 2 4 terabyte 3.5 hard drives because well that's really what I have lying around that I could use but again the storage choice is completely up to you installation is pretty simple the hard drives themselves only need 4 screws to attach to the j3i mounting system itself you just simply remove the SSD plates from the j3i by using a screwdriver to unscrew the 2 screws on each side per plate then you just insert the hard drive directly into the mounting system you don't need that plate and attach by using the same force screws that came with the system all you have to do is repeat that process if you plan to install a second 3.5 inch drive now if you want to use an SSD in conjunction with the 2 3.5 inch drives you can use the black screws that come with the unit and then you attach them directly to the bottom of the j3i unit itself it's pretty simple to do next you're gonna want to remove the cover to your Mac Pro and then unscrew that plate at the top and gently insert the j3i into the Mac Pro the hard drives themselves attached to the Mac via SATA cables which will come with the fusion flex j3i unit when you open it up and the Mac Pro is clearly labeled one two and three however it really doesn't matter it should be pretty easy to distinguish which plugs go where and then you just reattach the plate to the top of the Mac Pro and put the case back on and you should be all set once you boot up your Mac Pro you should see your drives mounted and ready for use this really is a great plug-and-play solution I love that the fusion flex offers a clean easy solution for Mac Pro owners especially ones like myself who did not opt into getting a larger storage capacity at check out I just knew that there were going to be more cost-effective options out there to easily get more storage and performance without breaking the bank now to give you some perspective you can get 32 terabytes of storage by just purchasing two 16 terabyte 3.5 inch drives from Amazon for roughly $800 total of course don't forget about the $200 that it takes to purchase the j3i system itself so you're looking at about $1000 that's incredible value when you put it in perspective that 8 terabytes of storage at checkout from Apple is an extra twenty six hundred dollars now I know what you might be thinking but Dan those are SSDs and they are a lot faster and offer better performance than those large spinning discs and they don't typically fail as easily and while yes that is 100% true we can take a look at getting three three terabyte SSDs for mounting in the fusion flex system for around seven hundred dollars plus the two hundred dollars it takes to buy the unit itself so you're still under a thousand dollars which is still incredible savings and much faster read/write speeds over the 3.5 inch hard drives that we talked about early personally I already have a few PCIe SSD modules inserted into the mat Pro already in which I use to edit all of my videos off of and store my Final Cut Pro libraries in order to get those maximum read/write speeds and the performance while editing videos I then use this j3i to store larger files or RAW images and video files etc since I have much more room to work with it's a great setup for those who just need that extra space to get things done the Sun infusion flex j3i is available for $199 of course that is without the drives and I would absolutely love to know your thoughts on this system do you use something similar with your Mac Pro how's your workflow setup do you have SSDs you know extra larger hard drives for storage just go ahead and let me know what you guys do in the comments down below this has been Dan with MacRumors thanks so much for watching and I hope to see you around in the next videothe best part about the Mac Pro is that it's one of the only Mac's out there that's very user customizable and upgradable and since its released last year we've seen a lot of PCIe modules graphic cards and other accessories that have been released in order to help make upgrading your Mac Pro extremely easy in this video we're gonna take a look at the sonnet fusion flex j3i system that can give users up to 36 terabytes of additional storage built right into your Mac Pro before we get started be sure to subscribe and hit the bell to get notifications whenever we share a video the fusion flex j3i is a mount system for your 2019 Mac Pro that can fit up to three SATA drives allowing users to expand their Mac Pro's internal storage up to 36 terabytes which is a crazy amount of built-in storage and a lot more than Apple's eight terabyte SSD limit it's important to note that technically these drives will not be your main boot up disk and will act more like an external drive that's just kind of always plugged into your Mac and available upon boot up I believe there is a way to make one of these drives the location in which Mac OS is installed on and booted from but I'm not entirely familiar with that process so I don't want to give you any wrong information it's also worth mentioning that the j3i system does not come with hard drives you will need to purchase those separately you can install either two 3.5 inch drives along with 12.5 inch SSD or you can install all three 2.5 inch SSDs instead the choice and flexibility is of course up to you for this video I'm using only 2 4 terabyte 3.5 hard drives because well that's really what I have lying around that I could use but again the storage choice is completely up to you installation is pretty simple the hard drives themselves only need 4 screws to attach to the j3i mounting system itself you just simply remove the SSD plates from the j3i by using a screwdriver to unscrew the 2 screws on each side per plate then you just insert the hard drive directly into the mounting system you don't need that plate and attach by using the same force screws that came with the system all you have to do is repeat that process if you plan to install a second 3.5 inch drive now if you want to use an SSD in conjunction with the 2 3.5 inch drives you can use the black screws that come with the unit and then you attach them directly to the bottom of the j3i unit itself it's pretty simple to do next you're gonna want to remove the cover to your Mac Pro and then unscrew that plate at the top and gently insert the j3i into the Mac Pro the hard drives themselves attached to the Mac via SATA cables which will come with the fusion flex j3i unit when you open it up and the Mac Pro is clearly labeled one two and three however it really doesn't matter it should be pretty easy to distinguish which plugs go where and then you just reattach the plate to the top of the Mac Pro and put the case back on and you should be all set once you boot up your Mac Pro you should see your drives mounted and ready for use this really is a great plug-and-play solution I love that the fusion flex offers a clean easy solution for Mac Pro owners especially ones like myself who did not opt into getting a larger storage capacity at check out I just knew that there were going to be more cost-effective options out there to easily get more storage and performance without breaking the bank now to give you some perspective you can get 32 terabytes of storage by just purchasing two 16 terabyte 3.5 inch drives from Amazon for roughly $800 total of course don't forget about the $200 that it takes to purchase the j3i system itself so you're looking at about $1000 that's incredible value when you put it in perspective that 8 terabytes of storage at checkout from Apple is an extra twenty six hundred dollars now I know what you might be thinking but Dan those are SSDs and they are a lot faster and offer better performance than those large spinning discs and they don't typically fail as easily and while yes that is 100% true we can take a look at getting three three terabyte SSDs for mounting in the fusion flex system for around seven hundred dollars plus the two hundred dollars it takes to buy the unit itself so you're still under a thousand dollars which is still incredible savings and much faster read/write speeds over the 3.5 inch hard drives that we talked about early personally I already have a few PCIe SSD modules inserted into the mat Pro already in which I use to edit all of my videos off of and store my Final Cut Pro libraries in order to get those maximum read/write speeds and the performance while editing videos I then use this j3i to store larger files or RAW images and video files etc since I have much more room to work with it's a great setup for those who just need that extra space to get things done the Sun infusion flex j3i is available for $199 of course that is without the drives and I would absolutely love to know your thoughts on this system do you use something similar with your Mac Pro how's your workflow setup do you have SSDs you know extra larger hard drives for storage just go ahead and let me know what you guys do in the comments down below this has been Dan with MacRumors thanks so much for watching and I hope to see you around in the next video\n"