I am looking to add an internal hard drive to my Dell optiplex 780 for audio back up for song files. Is there a recommendation that works well with Sonar X3 or does it not matter which one you use?
 
Thanks,
James

For purely backup purposes, many of us use External drives rather than Internals.
 
 

Thanks. I have an external but I remember reading a thread on here a few years back about the use of internal hard drives for improving speed of the computer or maybe just not slowing it down. It was something about how it is slower for the information to go to and from an external hard drive where as the secondary internal hard drive was set up for that. So I guess I am trying now to figure out what the purpose of that internal secondary hard drive was.

Yes, the going to and from hard drive is a concern when you are talking about working on an actual project from the drive, but doesn't  come into play when you are talking about simply storing files for back up. External is the best imho for backing up, and safer because its a totally different location than your computer.

2nd internal drive can be better for saving and working on your actual projects audio files as opposed to saving on the drive that your OS is on.
 

"2nd internal drive can be better for saving and working on your actual projects audio files as opposed to saving on the drive that your OS is on."

KingsMix
 
 

Great, thanks.  So is there a specific hard drive size and make that you recommend? I remember a few people recommending one specific drive but I can't find the thread for that post.

 
 
Make is a matter of taste and trust. Speed is the more important spec 7200 rpm or better
I use WD Black (Western Digital) Drives 1TB.

KingsMix
 
 
Make is a matter of taste and trust. Speed is the more important spec 7200 rpm or better
I use WD Black (Western Digital) Drives 1TB.

Perfect, that is what I needed to know, it's all coming back to me now.

Many thanks, shark

speed and cache as well.
I also use a WD 1 TB for storage.
if you don't have many songs though and want to stream from it (run projects off of it)
Grab an SSD. they are lightning fast and for a 256GB can be had for under 70 Bucks.
 
I never run projects off a second HD. typically any time I want to load a project, I copy/paste the audio folder and project file to my C/Drive and run it from there unless my back up is an SSD.

Sharkbite, please learn from my mistake...for years I backed up projects as insurance against what I thought were the most probable disaster scenarios: disk failure and user-error. When disaster really did strike, though, it wasn't either of those things but something unexpected: theft. The thieves took 12 years of projects and their backups.
 
It could have been fire or a lightning strike, too, with the same result. 
 
The only way to guard against all threats is a removable drive that you routinely disconnect and stash somewhere away from the computer. If your studio is in the garage, keep the backups in the house. If your studio is in the house, keep them in the garage. If neither is an option, use the glove box in your car as your offsite storage facility.
 
While an extra internal drive offers speed and convenience (handy if you back up frequently), I would urge you to consider an external drive (or high-capacity USB stick) as the ultimate fallback. There's no reason you can't have both.