BUFFALO MiniStation DDR 1 TB USB 3.0 Portable Hard Drive

Last updated Dec 1, 2018 1,401

In proof Buffalo MiniStation DDR, interesting portable hard drive USB 3.0 that integrates well 1 GB of cache memory to speed up performance: up to 400 MB per second and write more than 330 MB per second read.

Buffalo Technology products always offer exciting features, and also the new BUFFALO MiniStation DDR is no exception. It is a portable USB 3.0 compact (81 x 132.5 x 18 mm) and lightweight (200 grams), which can be just about any bag and is suitable for those who are looking for high-performance storage, without necessarily to focus on expensive solutions based on SSD technology which, while costs are certainly important, very often offer a limited storage space.

To achieve improvements in terms of speed, the manufacturer has a memory cache built into the device by as much as 1 GB DRAM, enabling it to offer not only excellent storage capacity but also high performance: up to 400 MB per second and write more than 330 megabytes per second read are the declared values. The BUFFALO MiniStation DDR portable hard drives DDR 500 GB and 1 TB are available on Amazon.

The device comes in a box in which we find the unit itself and a USB cable (Type A / Micro B): simply connect the unit to the computer, and this is now operational (no need power supplies). By default, the BUFFALO MiniStation DDR is prepared as NTFS, but it is of course possible to initialize it as we want. For our tests, the unit has been initialized as HFS. The tests read / write with AJA (using a reference file of 128MB) showed values of 369.5 MB / s and write 308.9 MB / s read, quite close to the performance stated by the manufacturer.

On the unit itself are spies: in the upper-right corner of that power, left the lights that indicate whether the unit is working or not, and accessing files stored in the cache. It is very important not to disconnect the unit suddenly, especially if the LEDs that indicate ongoing operations on the cache are active (these transactions are still very fast). As with any other external drive before disconnecting the drive you need to properly eject it from the Finder.

The test BUFFALO MiniStation DDR with the utility Disk Speed Test Blackmagicdesign using a reference file of 5 GB showed values up to 316.4 MB / s read and 295 MB / s write. Empirical evidence as copying a folder from the Finder to about 4 GB MacBook Air drive took 14 seconds the opposite direction (from the external drive, the MacBook Air’s Finder) less than a minute.

The speed of read / write depends. On the type of file used: exploiting applications that access the same files frequently, you will notice a great speed, the result of the memory cache built into the product.

Conclusions

BUFFALO MiniStation DDR is an attractive product, a solution which, thanks to USB 3.0 and DRAM cache 1 GB integrated, is able to offer at the same time good storage capacity and performance. The device is compatible with both Macintosh worlds with both the Windows and is characterized by a minimalist look.

Initializing the drive as ExFAT you can use it on both Mac and PC, ideal for professionals who are always on the move and need to exchange files with both PC users, both with Mac users. The unit is available in denominations 500 GB and 1 TB is covered by a 2 year warranty.