Hard drive setup advice needed please..

[Scorpio]

Hello,

I have a slight dilemma!!
I recently completed a brand new Core i7 build with the intention of using it mainly as a DAW with Cubase 5. I will also be using if for simulator flying with Flight SimX and some video editing.

Now, I purchased 3 drives:
1x WD Velociraptor 300GB and 2 WD Caviar Black 1TB.

From my previous systems, I have 2 WD Raptor drives. One being the 36GB version, a 74GB version and I also have a Samsung Spinpoint F1 HD753LJ 750GB which is now installed in the new system.

Prior to the build, my intention was to partition the Velociraptor into 3-4 sections for the OS (XP Pro SP3), applications, programs and VSTi’s/Samples. My remaining drives would be for storage of completed audio tracks and video files etc.
However, after reading recommended setups and hard drive install guides to achieve the best results...

My question is should I:

A. Keep the Velociraptor for the OS, programs and applications only??
(But being the fastest drive in the system I am sure this is not the best solution) Then use the WD Caviar or Samsung F1 for VSTi’s/Samples leaving the remaining drives for storage??

B. Clone my current install/partition onto one of the old Raptors then use the Velociraptor for VSTi’s/Samples again leaving the remaining drives for storage?

Or is there another way which may be best?

Where should I install my Flight SimX and video program after I have dealt with the audio side of things??

Thanks in advance if you reply to this post.

[TimOBrien]

Quick paste from my drive setup notes:

You want to use a separate drives when data is being streamed constantly and you need quick, uninterrupted access.
The goal is SMOOTH UNINTERRUPTED THROUGHPUT of data so you wont get clicks, pops or worse, dropouts.

Here's how you want your system set up:

C: (Boot) OS, apps and vsts - your applications and vsts are generally only loaded once and don't hit the disk thereafter HOWEVER your OS will need to do occasional housekeeping work.
(order of secondary drives doesn't matter)
D: Sample libraries
E: thru Z: Music projects and misc data

Partitioning will NOT help you and is, in fact, bad. The arm has to stop what its doing on one partition, lift up and go alllllll the way across the disc to the other side, set down to do its job and then go alllllllll the way back again EVERY time the OS or an app needs to do housework. This mechanical movement is GLACIAL in computer terms and will lead to pops, clicks and dropouts in your audio. AVOID PARTITIONING and go to SEPARATE DRIVES. (the ONLY reason to use partitioning is if you BIOS doesn't support large disks or organizing a disk and then I would still avoid it as partition maps can go bad - or hacked - and then you lose EVERYTHING.)

A 7200rpm drive can stream around 100 tracks simultaneously, so film and orchestra producers will split up music project to multiple project drives every 80-100 tracks.

Because a standard 7200rpm drive can do 100 tracks, expensive 10K and 15K rpm drives are not neccesary. They're generally noiser, too... bad for the studio.

RAIDs are not very efficient on desktop OS's and tests by major magazines (Sound-on-Sound) have found that they only speed up access by 10-15% in the REAL WORLD and are not worth the extra complexity they bring to the desktop. Separate dedicated drives are better.

[sabianq]

i like the solid state drive technology.
i am convinced that ssds will dominate the market in <5 years.
capacities will exceed 2000 terabytes (2 petabytes) in 10 years.
and since they have no moving parts and you can just etch them on a plate of substrate, they will be cheap.
they already blow away the fastest hard drives.

[Scorpio]

Quick paste from my drive setup notes:

You want to use a separate drives when data is being streamed constantly and you need quick, uninterrupted access.
The goal is SMOOTH UNINTERRUPTED THROUGHPUT of data so you wont get clicks, pops or worse, dropouts.

Here's how you want your system set up:

C: (Boot) OS, apps and vsts - your applications and vsts are generally only loaded once and don't hit the disk thereafter HOWEVER your OS will need to do occasional housekeeping work.
(order of secondary drives doesn't matter)
D: Sample libraries
E: thru Z: Music projects and misc data

Partitioning will NOT help you and is, in fact, bad. The arm has to stop what its doing on one partition, lift up and go alllllll the way across the disc to the other side, set down to do its job and then go alllllllll the way back again EVERY time the OS or an app needs to do housework. This mechanical movement is GLACIAL in computer terms and will lead to pops, clicks and dropouts in your audio. AVOID PARTITIONING and go to SEPARATE DRIVES. (the ONLY reason to use partitioning is if you BIOS doesn't support large disks or organizing a disk and then I would still avoid it as partition maps can go bad - or hacked - and then you lose EVERYTHING.)

A 7200rpm drive can stream around 100 tracks simultaneously, so film and orchestra producers will split up music project to multiple project drives every 80-100 tracks.

Because a standard 7200rpm drive can do 100 tracks, expensive 10K and 15K rpm drives are not neccesary. They're generally noiser, too... bad for the studio.

RAIDs are not very efficient on desktop OS's and tests by major magazines (Sound-on-Sound) have found that they only speed up access by 10-15% in the REAL WORLD and are not worth the extra complexity they bring to the desktop. Separate dedicated drives are better.

Ok, so I will keep the fastest drive (Velociraptor) for the OS, Cubase with VSTs and my flight Sim program. Can I parition this drive to include 3 splits for each use?
I will then use my old 74gb for Samples and Projects and the remaining 1TB drives for storage.

Good Plan??

[sabianq]

why would you want to partition?
partitioning of a drive is an out of date way to organize older drives that are for holding data.
there is no reason that a hard drive ever needs to be partitioned.
as tim points out
Partitioning will NOT help you and is, in fact, bad. The arm has to stop what its doing on one partition, lift up and go alllllll the way across the disc to the other side, set down to do its job and then go alllllllll the way back again EVERY time the OS or an app needs to do housework.

avoid partitioning, unless you are eager to post a thread here in the future titled "My audio has pops in it, what is causing it?"

cheers!

[Scorpio]

why would you want to partition?
partitioning of a drive is an out of date way to organize older drives that are for holding data.
there is no reason that a hard drive ever needs to be partitioned.
as tim points out


avoid partitioning, unless you are eager to post a thread here in the future titled "My audio has pops in it, what is causing it?"

cheers!
Did a bit more research and I will avoid any partitioning!!