Two hard drives
- Thread starter caleb2438
- Start date
Stealthtech
LOGIC ABUSER
I currently have mine set up as
HD1 Primary
CD Player Secondary
HD2 Primary
CDRW secondary
And the ribbons are connected according to the above config.
I like to keep things native...so I tend to use duplicates
2 WD HD's instead of a mix...however as the DR. stated it's fine to use 2 different brands.
And also as stated, use HD1 for programs and HD2 for audio only.
HD1 Primary
CD Player Secondary
HD2 Primary
CDRW secondary
And the ribbons are connected according to the above config.
I like to keep things native...so I tend to use duplicates
2 WD HD's instead of a mix...however as the DR. stated it's fine to use 2 different brands.
And also as stated, use HD1 for programs and HD2 for audio only.
Another thing to consider is data redundancy. The way I'd do it is partition your drives like this:
Drive1 C: - 20 GB
Drive 1 D: - 60 GB
Drive 2 E: -20 GB
Drive 2 F: - 60 GB.
Your OS and any files you simply can't afford to lose go on the C: partition. Then you Ghost your C: partition to the E: partition on a regular basis. Now you have redundancy of the important stuff so if Drive1 fries you just unpulg and boot off drive 2 without having to reinstall everything
Drive1 C: - 20 GB
Drive 1 D: - 60 GB
Drive 2 E: -20 GB
Drive 2 F: - 60 GB.
Your OS and any files you simply can't afford to lose go on the C: partition. Then you Ghost your C: partition to the E: partition on a regular basis. Now you have redundancy of the important stuff so if Drive1 fries you just unpulg and boot off drive 2 without having to reinstall everything
i usually make c dir about 3-4g, just big enough to hold xp/os, so if you somehow destroy your os you just reinstall c dir and loose only what ever was in it, (the os) i also put large applications on d dir and the swap file on the second drive for preformance reasons...
having large applications on d dir works well because if you reinstall the os there all still there and you send the start icons to the desktop and off you go...
you may need to install a few application reg keys though...
i make the swap file size 1000mb on both settings making it static which helps speed things up a tad more, so make a 1.1gig partition on the second drive for your c dir swap file...
i keep all the junk not used often on the last partition to keep the drives idle arm from having to read all the way across the disc/platter to read applications i don't use often, prolongs the drives lifespand a bit, yeah, it's a bit overkill but whats being tech all about anyway...
now, if i can just get this studio set up like my systems
having large applications on d dir works well because if you reinstall the os there all still there and you send the start icons to the desktop and off you go...
you may need to install a few application reg keys though...
i make the swap file size 1000mb on both settings making it static which helps speed things up a tad more, so make a 1.1gig partition on the second drive for your c dir swap file...
i keep all the junk not used often on the last partition to keep the drives idle arm from having to read all the way across the disc/platter to read applications i don't use often, prolongs the drives lifespand a bit, yeah, it's a bit overkill but whats being tech all about anyway...
now, if i can just get this studio set up like my systems
Brian Ferrell
New member
I don't understand, Stealthtech says, 'And also as stated, use HD1 for programs and HD2 for audio only.' Does this mean you put your recording program (i.e., Sonar) on one drive but the audio files recorded from that program on another drive? Also, how can you put your OS on a separate partition? don't you need the OS to operate the recording program? - or are you just using the partition for back-up with the OS actually on all partitions?
Brian,
Yes all audio data would be written to the second drive. Within programs like Sonar, Cubase, Nuendo etc you can tell the program where to write the audio data, in this case you would direct it to the second 80GB drive.
So lets say you have two 80GB drives:
80GB One:
Has the operating system installed on it,recording software, editors, word processors, games etc.
80GB Two:
Is just a big blank hard drive. Think of it as a big roll of tape. On this drive, you create subfolders for organization, i.e. 'Album1' under which a bunch of subfolders 'song 1' 'song 2' etc. Actually, maybe think of it this way, If the computer were a VCR, then a VHS tape would be the second 80GB drive. Maybe that's a bad analogy... oh well.
When you start a new song you point the software so that it records the actual wav data into the correct folder, on the second 80GB Audio drive.
Advantages for doing this:
- Keeps data on a seperate drive so if the main OS corrupts you can just wipe it and reinstall, without having to *backup your audio data first.
- Some performance increase / stability, being on it's own controller etc.
- I have my audio data drives in removable drive bays so I can just pull one project out and pop another one in.
don't you need the OS to operate the recording program?
When you install a program it modifies the registry, add's various files, creates it's own folder etc. These modifications occur on the C drive though, the drive that the OS was installed on.
For programs such as recording, Video editing. The software doesn't care whether the data you are capturing is being written to the OS drive, an external USB hard drive, a secondary 80GB, A zip drive etc etc. It's just wav files, the OS and the medium you record to, or backup on to are seperable.
*always backup to another medium, CD-R, DVD-RW (every one will be using one of these next year.. price is dropping) Tape whatever. Hard drives can fail at anytime.
Yes all audio data would be written to the second drive. Within programs like Sonar, Cubase, Nuendo etc you can tell the program where to write the audio data, in this case you would direct it to the second 80GB drive.
So lets say you have two 80GB drives:
80GB One:
Has the operating system installed on it,recording software, editors, word processors, games etc.
80GB Two:
Is just a big blank hard drive. Think of it as a big roll of tape. On this drive, you create subfolders for organization, i.e. 'Album1' under which a bunch of subfolders 'song 1' 'song 2' etc. Actually, maybe think of it this way, If the computer were a VCR, then a VHS tape would be the second 80GB drive. Maybe that's a bad analogy... oh well.
When you start a new song you point the software so that it records the actual wav data into the correct folder, on the second 80GB Audio drive.
Advantages for doing this:
- Keeps data on a seperate drive so if the main OS corrupts you can just wipe it and reinstall, without having to *backup your audio data first.
- Some performance increase / stability, being on it's own controller etc.
- I have my audio data drives in removable drive bays so I can just pull one project out and pop another one in.
don't you need the OS to operate the recording program?
When you install a program it modifies the registry, add's various files, creates it's own folder etc. These modifications occur on the C drive though, the drive that the OS was installed on.
For programs such as recording, Video editing. The software doesn't care whether the data you are capturing is being written to the OS drive, an external USB hard drive, a secondary 80GB, A zip drive etc etc. It's just wav files, the OS and the medium you record to, or backup on to are seperable.
*always backup to another medium, CD-R, DVD-RW (every one will be using one of these next year.. price is dropping) Tape whatever. Hard drives can fail at anytime.
Brian Ferrell
New member
Thanks for clearing that up Emeric. I was going to put all my recording software and everything I used for recording on the same drive as the audio files. All other apps would've gone on another drive. I can see now that the method you describe is a better one.
christiaan
Active member
In this case I'd rather go for a Raid 1 setup then (mirroring). That way you'll have your data backed up on the fly.Bulls Hit said:
Brian Ferrell
New member
I want to add a hard drive with fluid bearings for reduced noise, but in fact, won't I actually have more noise with 2 drives operating at the same time?
Giganova
gimmi your mic!
2 HDs = twice the noise, of course.
But then again, the fan that cools the computer will be much louder anyway, so better put your machine in a sound proof box.
BTW: the best system is to have two seperate hard drives, not just two partitions on one drive. Some of the above is a bit misleading. One hd hosts the software and the other the audio files. Next you just create seperate folders on each drive and back every drive on the other one. Its supersimple. Having two partitions on one drive won't add extra security regarding head crashes. You can also run a 'cron' task that does an automatic backup every night or once a week while you are alseep and dream of stardom & fame
If you want extended hard drive lifetime: never switch your computer off. The lifetime of a hard drive is almost entirely dependant on the number of times you switch them on/off (similar to light bulbs).
But then again, the fan that cools the computer will be much louder anyway, so better put your machine in a sound proof box.
BTW: the best system is to have two seperate hard drives, not just two partitions on one drive. Some of the above is a bit misleading. One hd hosts the software and the other the audio files. Next you just create seperate folders on each drive and back every drive on the other one. Its supersimple. Having two partitions on one drive won't add extra security regarding head crashes. You can also run a 'cron' task that does an automatic backup every night or once a week while you are alseep and dream of stardom & fame
If you want extended hard drive lifetime: never switch your computer off. The lifetime of a hard drive is almost entirely dependant on the number of times you switch them on/off (similar to light bulbs).Brian Ferrell
New member
Thanks for the advice Giganova. So...... the cooling fan is my real noise problem. Do you think I'll experience less dropouts in Sonar with 2 drives?
It's suspicions confirmed about the hard drive wearing out quicker when the PC gets turned on and off a lot. When I first got my PC, I had a LOT of problems setting it up for recording and had to reboot it a LOT. Within a year my hard drive's bearings wore out.
It's suspicions confirmed about the hard drive wearing out quicker when the PC gets turned on and off a lot. When I first got my PC, I had a LOT of problems setting it up for recording and had to reboot it a LOT. Within a year my hard drive's bearings wore out.
Last edited:
ONEsnowRIDER
New member
Re: .
I agree with Shakuan about RAID 0, but I would also then purchase a smaller HD or another 80 GB HD for backups.
I have a PIII Im running RAID 0 on and it runs circles around my wifes P4 while under the same load. Also disable anything that is constantly reading from the HD, I personally don't connect the PC I'm using to record with to the internet. This way I'm not downloading something that wants to auto start at boot. Example: anti virus, personal firewalls, etc.
Shakuan said:
I agree with Shakuan about RAID 0, but I would also then purchase a smaller HD or another 80 GB HD for backups.
I have a PIII Im running RAID 0 on and it runs circles around my wifes P4 while under the same load. Also disable anything that is constantly reading from the HD, I personally don't connect the PC I'm using to record with to the internet. This way I'm not downloading something that wants to auto start at boot. Example: anti virus, personal firewalls, etc.
christiaan
Active member
Re: Re: .
Frankly I really doubt that just a RAID 0 config would lead to what you claim here..ONEsnowRIDER said:
ONEsnowRIDER
New member
Re: Re: Re: .
You could be correct. She purchased a name brand P4. The specs on some of her peripherals are better. Haven't really tried to tweek her P4. I build all of my recording PC's. Parts, and tweaking make a huge difference on how far you can push the load threshold. I like my threshold with NO latency, to bad that threshold changes with more apps.
I've been using IBM compatible PC's for about 8 years and have build easily a 1000+ PC's, as a PC teck ...yuck. I think I'm going to try the apple G5. From what I've been reading its all the rage for music and video production ...ouch on the price tag though, not to mention a whole different world on the learning curve
christiaan said:
You could be correct. She purchased a name brand P4. The specs on some of her peripherals are better. Haven't really tried to tweek her P4. I build all of my recording PC's. Parts, and tweaking make a huge difference on how far you can push the load threshold. I like my threshold with NO latency, to bad that threshold changes with more apps.
I've been using IBM compatible PC's for about 8 years and have build easily a 1000+ PC's, as a PC teck ...yuck. I think I'm going to try the apple G5. From what I've been reading its all the rage for music and video production ...ouch on the price tag though, not to mention a whole different world on the learning curve
Brian Ferrell
New member
Giganova said:
Thanks a heap for the advice Giganova. I'm ordering my second drive tonight!
Brian Ferrell
New member
Well, I've installed my 2nd drive, but it looks like I put a 4GB partition on it for almost no good reason. I wasn't able to copy my Windows 98SE folder to it for backup. I got the following message when I attemped to do so: "Can not copy Win386. There has been a sharing violation. The source or destination file may be in use." I guess the only other way would be to copy the folder to an external source and then copy it to the new partition, eh?