Which drive would you install your samples?

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skylightron
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2012/04/11 14:26:31 (permalink)

Which drive would you install your samples?

I'm planning on getting 2 drives for my new X1 rig. The first drive will be for programs, ie. Windows, etc. The second drive will be for the audio and projects. A third drive, an external will be for backing up all data. Which of those drives would be best to place the samples? I'm afraid, if I put them on the backup drive and if that drive fails, all my samples would be lost and would have to go through an entire re-install.
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    konradh
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    Re:Which drive would you install your samples? 2012/04/11 14:37:43 (permalink)
    Don't know if it is best or not, but I have a 1 TB drive divided into C and D drives.  Windows and programs on C; projects and samples on D.  I also use Acronis to make a secured partition as back-up.  I use an external 500GB USB drive to back up all my projects.

    I feel somewhat secure in that my samples are mostly on DVDs or, in the case of large products like Hollywood, on a separate drive I store outside my PC.  For custom-created samples, I would keep working copies on the internal drive and back-ups on an external.  External USB drives do fail so I don't rely on them as my only copy.
    #2
    Wave
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    Re:Which drive would you install your samples? 2012/04/11 22:41:57 (permalink)
    Sonar for the most part will read samples from your Ram not your HD.  But I never sat there watching to make sure it happens all the time. 
     
    With that said you could put samples on any drive.
     
    However project Audio Data would work best on its own drive.
     
     
     
    Heres how I would set up 2 internals and one external:
     
    Windows Sonar and VST plugins and  all other programs -  on the C:
     
    Projects  on a 2nd drive with per project audio folders there also if you have the room samples and all your Sonar custom folder locations. 
     
    Put just your Projects and your custom folders into one folder.
     
     
    For speed
    Now back  your samples and Projects/custom folders up on your C: Drive if you have the room
    Back up your system (C:) on the Projects/Samples drive if you have the room with a disc image.
     
     
    Now you will only need to copy the projects/custom  folder to your External hard drive once a week for a weekly backup and you wont have to worry at all obout the Programs and OS because you make a disc image every so often when everything has been running great.
     
    You can also back up your samples on the external if you have the room and not on the C: drive
     
    You would need to get another internal drive if you want to have the projects/custom folders  backup  automated by windows.
     
     
     
     
     

    Cheers,

    Wave




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    #3
    osd
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    Re:Which drive would you install your samples? 2012/04/12 01:09:26 (permalink)
    There's a lot of ways to approach it, and the posters above have it well covered. I would just say don't by shy about moving the samples around a bit. Try them in different locations, and measure latency, disk I/O and memory for each. Then you'll be in a position to make the best choice for your particular system setup. Good luck.

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    #4
    Lanceindastudio
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    Re:Which drive would you install your samples? 2012/04/12 01:31:50 (permalink)
    loops and samples, sample libraries on one drive, program files and plugins on C drive, project files and their data using per project folders on a third drive...

    This is the way to go-

    Lance

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    Bristol_Jonesey
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    Re:Which drive would you install your samples? 2012/04/12 03:45:54 (permalink)
    I agree with Lance.

    Don't restrict your capabilities by only having 2 internal drives - add a third and life becomes so much simpler.

    CbB, Platinum, 64 bit throughout
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    strikinglyhandsome1
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    Re:Which drive would you install your samples? 2012/04/12 04:26:13 (permalink)
    3 internal drives and use something like Acronis as back-up. It can save a lot of time if the disk dies and you need to put the samples back. It's been estimated that people have lost several years of their life re-installing samples.
    #7
    mudgel
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    Re:Which drive would you install your samples? 2012/04/12 08:42:36 (permalink)
    Partitioning one HDD into several partitions doesn't provide any real benefit. Therw is only one read write device in each HDD so now it has to skip fr partition to partition looking for data. With 2 or more drives various seek activities can be done simultaneously on the different drives.

    Also most of the large sample libraries rely more on streaming samples from disk than loading into RAM. That's why disk speed (rotational) is so important.


    3 HDD is optimal
    OS, program's, plugins
    Projects
    Samples


    You can easily enough back up an OS image to drive 2 or 3.
    Because samples don't change a one time offsite backup should do while projects can be backed up to externalising whether that be HDDs , DVDs or USB drives etc.

    Mike V. (MUDGEL)

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    #8
    karma1959
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    Re:Which drive would you install your samples? 2012/04/12 08:47:01 (permalink)
    +1 on Lance's recommendation above.
    #9
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