How to build an External M.2 SSD (USB 3.1 Gen2 with Wavlink Enclosure)

https://alexis-drakopoulos.com/blog/custom-external-M.2-SSD.html

For the SSD: https://amzn.to/2JQVzYc
For the Enclosure: https://amzn.to/2JNFhiB

Building an External M.2 SSD with USB 3.1 Gen 2 speeds (Through USB-C or Thunderbolt)

Hi, this is a quick video on how to setup and use an external M.2 SSD, here I am using the Wavlink External enclosure due to the fact that its metal and durable, and supports high speed USB 3.1 Gen 2 connectivity.

The wavlink came with a USB 3.0 Cable, USB 3.1 Cable, instructions, and a small screwdriver with two extra screws. Which is always really helpful to have.

For an SSD I am using the Crucial MX500 just due to the fact that is relatively cheap for good performance. Most SSDs will work, make sure you are buying a M.2 SSD with the correct connector.

Then all we need to do is unscrew the two small screws at the front of the enclosure. The front of the enclosure had a little bit of glue on it and was tough to remove, what I did was plug in a USB cable and just gently pulled on the cable until it came out.

Then you will see the actual PCB which looks gorgeous, so we can pause and admire that for a second.

We then remove the SSD hold-down screw.

We will then gently plug in our SSD, it's normal for it to be at an angle. We then want to gently press down on the SSD and I used my index to hold the SSD in place while placing back the hold-down screw.

Then we can simply slide the SSD back into the enclosure and plug back the exterior, and rescrew it.

Tada! We are ready to benchmark. I am personally using this external SSD to run a persistent version of Ubuntu. But you can use it for anything you like.

In terms of performance, the SSD behaves very well, the cables are of okay quality but there is a little IOPS performance loss via USB3.1 cable, probably as good cables are incredibly expensive to manufacture. If you want to slightly increase your IOPS performance you can buy yourself a new cable and see if that helps.

In terms of throttling I have not had any issues even when benchmarking for 30mins+, but the enclosure does get quite hot to the touch. The SSD hovered around 70 degrees under heavy load. If you wanted to reduce that you could always machine and cut some holes for airflow, or put some thermal pads in contact with the aluminium exterior to see if that helps.

If you want to see more about this check out my website where I run more benchmarks.

Видео How to build an External M.2 SSD (USB 3.1 Gen2 with Wavlink Enclosure) канала FitnessRegiment