New Sonar X3 installation - how to control placement of executable vs content files

Hi All,
 
I'm building myself a new DAW machine (i7 4790 on an MSI Z97 Gaming 3 Mobo with 250 GB Samsung 840 EVO SSD for OS/Apps and a 500 GB whatever HD for data - will use external SSD via USB3 for a dedicated audio drive - or perhaps build one in later), and I'm about to install Sonar X3 Producer on it.  I would like to plan ahead and separate executable files and other "system" files onto the SSD, and put any samples or template files or "data" type or files onto the HD.  Any suggestions, guidance or advice would be appreciated.
 
In the past I've just let the installer put things to default locations, and it seems like I've just ended up with a confusing (dis)organization of places to find things.  Perhaps part of that is because I've installed on my older system with older versions of Sonar or ProAudio still on the system.  This time I'm installing on a brand new system.
 
For example, I like to create template files for projects with different bands that I work with (one setup for a duet I work with, another for a larger band with 3 singers and several musicians), but I find myself always searching for where I need to save such template files so that they show up in the list of selectable templates when I start a project.
 
I guess my primary goal is that I want the C: drive to be relatively stable (things that don't change much so that there isn't a lot of rewriting files onto the SSD), and that I can make a backup of just the C: drive and come up with a functional system if I have to do a restoration, and have the volatile data on the HD which would generally be backed up separately according to what I'm working on on any given day.
 
Thanks for reading, and for any ideas,
--
Greg Y.
 

 
Sonar and a bunch of stuff is hardwired to the C drive.
You can symbolic link them somewhere else, but the links would have to be remade after a system restore.
 
You can put content like loops and DimPro samples elsewhere during installation.
 

I already have the system up and running Win7, and it does start up pretty quickly and run smoothly.  I know what you are saying about an application such as Sonar (or Word or IE or ??) loading off the disk and into memory and then running from the RAM for the most part.  The gain is when you first click on the Sonar icon (or whatever program) and the program is loaded and ready for you to use rather faster.  As you are manipulating audio data or such, the computer is spending 99% of its time waiting for you to do whatever it is that you are going to do next (click the mouse, drag a selection, open a menu, select an operation...), and it is the operator that is the bottleneck.  The SSD doesn't help there :-)
 
What I'm wanting to achieve is to get the C: disk (the SSD) with the OS and the application files on it, and have all the content (templates, samples, loops, whatever else) on the HD.  There are probably some things that fall into a grey area without being a clear member of OS/App or content.
 
I guess my naive concept (which may not be necessarily important, or even completely attainable) is that the OS/App disk would be relatively self contained such that if disaster struck and recovery was required, that if I recovered the SSD that at least I could boot and start applications such as Sonar, maybe coming up without the benefit of a template to provide some minimal starting track(s), but if I wanted to access a project template or then load a soft synth or VST effect or whatever I would need the HD (either still working after the "disaster", or perhaps similarly reloaded).
 
To that end I suppose there are two areas of information I'm hoping for guidance with.  First, what would be appropriate divisions (specifically regarding a Sonar X3 Producer install) of things for the SSD and the HD targets?  I assume there might be some variance of opinion about aspects of this, and so a bit of justification for your suggestions would be enlightening.
 
Second would be related to how to go about achieving the appropriate installation.  As I had said initially, it has been a while since I've loaded up a clean machine with a brand new version of Sonar, and previously I've not made any attempt to influence whatever it wanted to do in that process, and the result was the relative mess I have now.  Plus I assume the process of installation has been refined over the past few years.  So now that I've built a brand new and reasonably modern system to be my DAW for the next several years (presumably), it seems like an ideal time to avoid my typical "jump in and let it fly" tactic and do some sort of planning this time.  Your advice and ideas will be appreciated.
 
Thanks,
--
Greg Y.
 

I am also in the process of upgrading to a new PC build similar to your specs (see my sig). I'm using a Samsung 840 Pro 256GB SSD and a WD Red 1TB HDD. My old PC had installations of Sonar 5, 8.5, and X1,2,3.
 
The fresh install of X3 went very smoothly. No plans to add other Sonar versions. Updates went fast without any issues.
 
The one key advice I would give is to select your SSD for the sonar install and your HDD for the Cakewalk content. Then, your projects, along with your project templates, track templates, ProChannel presets, etc will be on the HDD. This will help with the template organization for various projects/bands you mentioned in your OP.
 
You may be aware of this, but make sure you are using per-project audio folders in preferences (shortcut P -> File -> Audio Data). You can organize the folders with folder locations in preferences (shortcut P -> File -> Folder Locations) or move them to new locations at a later date based on your desired folder structure.
 
You mentioned you wanted the OS drive to be stable (don't we all!) and the HDD to be more volatile. I would suggest just the opposite for activity with the drives. Your OS drive (SSD) will have most of the IO activity. This works great for an SSD. The projects stored on the HDD will not see as much activity, but that's fine. The main thing is you have all your projects and templates in a place that's easy to back up and with tons of space to expand. I installed all my extra apps (DimPro, Ozone, Reaktor, Addictive Drums, ARC2) on my SSD and it is still only occupying about 25% of the drive. I will transfer my projects from my old PC to my HDD and keep them backed up on an external drive.
 
Congrats on the new build. You will love the extra performance and space!

Greg, the X3 installation process does allow you to store the Cakewalk content on a separate drive. By default, everything will be stored on your OS drive but you do have option to change the default.
Prior to my latest install, I have always let the installer store everything on my OS drive (C:). Then, at a later date, I would move the various CW folders to my data drive (D:) and go into Sonar Preferences and change my folders to their new locations. This was time consuming and I had to be careful to keep everything mapped properly.
This time, I changed the Cakewalk Content (I think that was the name of the term in the installer) to be located on my data drive. This created the folders on my data drive and all the folders were properly mapped in Preferences. This was a much simpler task than what I had done with previous versions.
Regardless of which path you take, you will always be able to move folders around and map the new locations in Preferences.