Dual Disk setup, which should have OS

[Randaji]

I'm reconfiguring my system to have 2 hard drives - one for Windows XP and music apps (Sonar/Wavelab, etc.) and then one for my data. I've heard that helps performance of applications like Sonar.

My 2 drives have about the same access time but one is significantly louder than the other so I want choose the right disk for the quietest operation.

So my question is, in general, does Sonar (or most music apps) require more disk accessing of the OS/application disk or the data disk where the project and .wav files are stored?

My guess is that if the system has enough RAM, the project/.wav's will be loaded into RAM when the project is loaded and thus won't require to access the data disk much during playback/recording.

Does anybody have any experience/guidance?

Much Thanks,
Randaji

[mixsit]

The data drive is going to be streaming audio, while the os drive is running the programs. That could mean only one thing.
And I don't know what it is...

[steve.h]

Well, you've got a couple of different options. First-off, let me start by saying most hard drives are so fast at this point that where you put your music files really doesn't matter much from a speed standpoint. *Assuming both drives are 80+ gb, Here's what I'd do:

Hard drive 1 (quieter one): split into two partitions. Partition 1 = Windows, Partition 2= music programs.

Hard drive 2: put your page file and your music files on this one. No matter what you do, you're gonna have a loud hard drive and it's gonna be annoying. That said, new hard drives are ungodly cheap, so it's possible your best option would be to get a nice big new hard drive, ditch the loud one, and use the new one for your HD2.

Just a suggestion

[Mindset]

Originally Posted by steve.h

Well, you've got a couple of different options. First-off, let me start by saying most hard drives are so fast at this point that where you put your music files really doesn't matter much from a speed standpoint. *Assuming both drives are 80+ gb, Here's what I'd do:

Hard drive 1 (quieter one): split into two partitions. Partition 1 = Windows, Partition 2= music programs.

Hard drive 2: put your page file and your music files on this one. No matter what you do, you're gonna have a loud hard drive and it's gonna be annoying. That said, new hard drives are ungodly cheap, so it's possible your best option would be to get a nice big new hard drive, ditch the loud one, and use the new one for your HD2.

Just a suggestion

Actually, hard drives today, and since they have been invented have been slow to increase performance yearly. They remain at large, the slowest part of a well built system, regardless of what type of hard drive you use.

You can read it here.... http://www.tomshardware.com/2006/11/...drive-history/

[steve.h]

Originally Posted by Mindset

Actually, hard drives today, and since they have been invented have been slow to increase performance yearly. They remain at large, the slowest part of a well built system, regardless of what type of hard drive you use.

You can read it here.... http://www.tomshardware.com/2006/11/...drive-history/

Dude, I build computers man, and have for around 8 years! I know hard drives are way damn slower than any other part of your system, but what I'm saying is as far as music recording goes, you'll be hard-pressed to find a system that's hard drive-limited.

[Mindset]

actually I bet I can make ANY computer hard drive limited Just let me get on yours, and pull up a session, and try and record 2 hours long worth of audio with 5000 tracks and I bet it wouldn't handle it lol. I built my first computer when I was like 13 or 14. Almost 11 years ago. I'm just giving you a hard time man. I wish hard drives were a lot faster. That's why I usually build my systems like I got money up my ass. Trouble shooting & building computers are easy. I do it every day at work, though more of it becomes networking & server problems.

[fraserhutch]

If using EIDE, in general it is best to place your program files on a disk on one controller, and data on a disk on the other controller.

I have mine set up with my OSes on disk 0, controller 0 and my data on disk 1 on controller 1.

[Randaji]

Thanks for the quick responses and helpful info guys. Glad I could give you guys fodder to spar your computer building prowess.

steve.h, your suggestion was pretty much what I was thinking. I used to create separate partitions for apps and OS on the same drive, but I've heard lately from credible sources that there's not much advantage. Do you have a specific reason to do that?

Regarding the paging file on the data drive, that's for performance right? It pretty much assures that both drives will be actively spinning though, right? I guess that's inevitable. Like you say, I should just get used to the noise (and just crank up to increase the S/N ratio )

[Reggie]

Originally Posted by fraserhutch

If using EIDE, in general it is best to place your program files on a disk on one controller, and data on a disk on the other controller.

I have mine set up with my OSes on disk 0, controller 0 and my data on disk 1 on controller 1.

Well... you also shouldn't put a hard drive on the same IDE channel as a CD burner, so keep that in mind.

[steve.h]

Originally Posted by Randaji

steve.h, your suggestion was pretty much what I was thinking. I used to create separate partitions for apps and OS on the same drive, but I've heard lately from credible sources that there's not much advantage. Do you have a specific reason to do that?

With your OS on one partition, and your other programs on the other, it makes backing up and restoring much easier. If you lose the OS, you don't necessarily lose the programs and vice versa.

Originally Posted by Reggie

Well... you also shouldn't put a hard drive on the same IDE channel as a CD burner, so keep that in mind.

Meh, if you can avoid it you should, but it's honestly not a huge deal at this point. Neither will take up the entire bus' bandwidth.

[Mindset]

For windows XP yeah you will, but not necessary "loose" your programs, but many of the programs out there wont' just work if you open the exe file. Required registry key's and registered DLL files are also required for a program to install. Technically if you loose your OS, all your shared DLL files & registry key's are lost, and installation of the program is again needed to work.

[steve.h]

Originally Posted by Mindset

For windows XP yeah you will, but not necessary "loose" your programs, but many of the programs out there wont' just work if you open the exe file. Required registry key's and registered DLL files are also required for a program to install. Technically if you loose your OS, all your shared DLL files & registry key's are lost, and installation of the program is again needed to work.

True: I was thinking more of those VST-plugin folders full of... legally purchased products that you still have the CD keys and stuff for ;p

[fraserhutch]

Originally Posted by Reggie

Well... you also shouldn't put a hard drive on the same IDE channel as a CD burner, so keep that in mind.

Why not? Works fine for me. I just put it on the same channel as my data drive. Works flawlessly. I never write to a CD while running my DAW.

[jmorris]

I have a 160 gig in my computer. I have 3 external hard drives that I store dadt/project on. I pull them into the computer ,each song, one or two at a time when it is time to work on them. When sessionn is done, I backup on DVD, send file back to external hard drive. Oh, one of the hard drives is for backup only. This leaves my computer clean of projects. I do partition my 160 gig and have project related stuff.

[OhSh1rt]

Originally Posted by steve.h

Hard drive 1 (quieter one): split into two partitions. Partition 1 = Windows, Partition 2= music programs.

So partition it so that your OS and your music programs (two things that will be ran at the same time) are physically far away from each other on the disk?

I guess I don't see the logic.


-jeffrey

[fraserhutch]

You're right - sepeate partitions are meaningless in this context if we're talking the same disk. You want seperate disks, seperate controllers, imho.


partitions ar

Originally Posted by OhSh1rt

So partition it so that your OS and your music programs (two things that will be ran at the same time) are physically far away from each other on the disk?

I guess I don't see the logic.


-jeffrey

[Reggie]

Originally Posted by fraserhutch

Why not? Works fine for me. I just put it on the same channel as my data drive. Works flawlessly. I never write to a CD while running my DAW.

Sure it will work, and you may not notice any lacking performance, but you should be able to get better performance out of your hard drives. Most optical drives I see run in Ultra DMA Mode 2, whereas modern hard drives can run in Ultra DMA Mode 5. Your IDE channel has to go with the least common denominator, so you are hindering your hard drive a little bit by making it run in a lower mode all the time. Look here for a table of the different UDMA modes:
http://www.pcguide.com/ref/hdd/if/ide/modesUDMA-c.html