1 or 2 HDs for a new slave PC?
- Thread starter TARI
- Start date
JohnG
Senior Member
I use three hard drives. Some people use more; I don't know anyone who recommends fewer than two drives in a slave.
I use one relatively small one for the OS and two more (larger ones sometimes but definitely two extra, separate drives) for sample libraries. Sample libraries appear to me to be getting only bigger and bigger. The more drives, the better, within reason. Some knowledgeable guys say you want to fill the drives at most 80%, some say 60%, so consider that for capacity.
Using one single large drive is a terrible idea, whether or not you partition it.
I use one relatively small one for the OS and two more (larger ones sometimes but definitely two extra, separate drives) for sample libraries. Sample libraries appear to me to be getting only bigger and bigger. The more drives, the better, within reason. Some knowledgeable guys say you want to fill the drives at most 80%, some say 60%, so consider that for capacity.
Using one single large drive is a terrible idea, whether or not you partition it.
OP
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TARI
Senior Member
Thank you for the advice John! I will install 2x 500mb instead of a terabit one.
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I don't like very much my website. I have been waiting for months for a new one (still waiting) and I decided to roll back to the old one. I hope to have the new site soon!
Your site is really great!
john rodriguez
New Member
Good advice. I'd also add that you will probably want a sample drive configuration that can at least limit the possibility of having two different engines (VSL, PLAY, Kontakt, STEAM, etc.) simultaneously streaming samples from the same drive. There doesn't seem to be a definitive answer as to what combinations of engines will cooperate under what conditions but since I segregated my libraries on to separate drives I've noticed better performance and more stability.
Rob Elliott
Senior Member
All good advice.
On a recent i7 - 12 GB (x64) slave I have three drives - small OS and two 1 TB drives handling Play on one and Lass on another.
Nothing I can do can choke this speed demon - couldn't be more pleased.
I went with (2) 1 TB drives because libraries are huge now (look at QL pnos) and I want to keep the total memory used in each drive under 60-70%. I heard it makes for more efficient seek times. I don't know if that is true but drives are so cheap - why the heck not.
Slaves can have a shelf life of 5 years so go for the fastest speeds on CPU and DDR that you can afford.
All the best Tari.
(as soon as 4 gb DDR3 is real and reaonable I will make this a 24GB slave. Another reason to be certain there is adequate disk space.)
On a recent i7 - 12 GB (x64) slave I have three drives - small OS and two 1 TB drives handling Play on one and Lass on another.
Nothing I can do can choke this speed demon - couldn't be more pleased.
I went with (2) 1 TB drives because libraries are huge now (look at QL pnos) and I want to keep the total memory used in each drive under 60-70%. I heard it makes for more efficient seek times. I don't know if that is true but drives are so cheap - why the heck not.
Slaves can have a shelf life of 5 years so go for the fastest speeds on CPU and DDR that you can afford.
All the best Tari.
(as soon as 4 gb DDR3 is real and reaonable I will make this a 24GB slave. Another reason to be certain there is adequate disk space.)
chimuelo
Star Of Stage & Screen
60-70% on the inner most sectors is wise. I had 3 x Raptors set up like that, with spanned content and it still runs like a bat out of hell.
However I added a 40GB SSD for 85 bucks and the boot time is 3-4 times faster.
I will be upgrading to SSD's by 2010 when the prices and sizes are more in line with my needs.
A friend of mine is always OCing and tweaking his DAW's and uses a small 4GB ITX slave where the OS+ APPS + samples are used.
Due to incredible speed of the Intel G2's it works fine. I wouldn't ever want to do that live but he has his high poly instruments on mechanical HD's and Guitar, Bass and Horns streaming just fine.
The ITX is actually his HTPC so he even streams BluRay w/o any troubles.
I look forward to upgrades like that.
The entire SSD can have 100% sectors full w/o any performance hits too.
I just want 2.00$ per GB and 250/300GB sizes.
But from what I have seen the O.S.+ Apps. can have streaming samples on it.
I think it's a matter of low poly instruments.
But I am in the habit of having seperate drives still. I know that will run w/o troubles for years.
However I added a 40GB SSD for 85 bucks and the boot time is 3-4 times faster.
I will be upgrading to SSD's by 2010 when the prices and sizes are more in line with my needs.
A friend of mine is always OCing and tweaking his DAW's and uses a small 4GB ITX slave where the OS+ APPS + samples are used.
Due to incredible speed of the Intel G2's it works fine. I wouldn't ever want to do that live but he has his high poly instruments on mechanical HD's and Guitar, Bass and Horns streaming just fine.
The ITX is actually his HTPC so he even streams BluRay w/o any troubles.
I look forward to upgrades like that.
The entire SSD can have 100% sectors full w/o any performance hits too.
I just want 2.00$ per GB and 250/300GB sizes.
But from what I have seen the O.S.+ Apps. can have streaming samples on it.
I think it's a matter of low poly instruments.
But I am in the habit of having seperate drives still. I know that will run w/o troubles for years.
