DAW Hard Disk Management

rodos1979 · Post by **rodos1979** » Sun Apr 10, 2005 8:04 am

Hello to all!

I ve just posted this on the SOS forum, and I thought it would be a good idea to ask you guys as well. I am quoting the SOS topic I posted.

I am in the process of building up again from scratch my DAW, as I have recently added some new hard disks and I want to make it right this time.

I have some questions regarding hardware configuration and some regarding partitioning/formating. I would like to hear your opinions/concerns/ideas. Thank you very much in advance for your help!

Ok. The hardware I have:
- 3 * 120GB ATA100/133 HDs
- 1 * 200GB ATA133 HD
- 1 * CD-RW
- 1 * DVD-RW
Total: 6 devices

I have 4 IDE channels, 2 (primary/secondary) on the motherboard and 2 additional on a separate PCI to ATA Disk Controller card (actually a RAID card, but I wont be using RAID). Thus, I could install 8 devices in total.

How should I connect my devices on the available IDE channels for the best performance? Currently they are positioned like this:
- Motherboard Primary: 2 * 120GB HDs
- Motherboard Secondary: the CD/DVD drives
- PCI-ATA Primary: 200GB HD
- PCI-ATA Secondary: 120GB HD

Now, as far as partitioning/formating is concerned, I am thinking to create the following partitions:
1) WinXP OS (for audio)
2) WinXP OS 2 (multi boot for non audio programmes)
3) a tiny partition where the XP loader/boot manager will be installed (that way I will be able to format at any time any of the two OS partitions, without loosing the ability to enter to the other OS partition)
4) a pagefile partition (I have 2GB RDRAM on my machine and I think to set the pagefile to 3GB)
5) audio partition (cubase projects)
6) samples partition
7) VSTi partition
a partition where I am going to keep all the electronic manuals and reference tracks for mixing
9) a partition for general purposes and for non-audio data
I am going to format all partitions in NTFS.

What do you think about this? Does this choice make sense? Furthermore, what cluster size do you recommend for each of the 9 partitions?

Are there any other things/considerations that I am missing? Like, for example, having the pagefile partition to the outer side of the disk etc, or not having the audio partition on the same drive as the samples partition etc etc

Thank you very much for your help

voidar · Post by **voidar** » Sun Apr 10, 2005 12:01 pm

With 2GB of RAM you might not need a pagefile at all.

arela · Post by **arela** » Sun Apr 10, 2005 1:21 pm

hey
I agree with voidar, you probably would do without a swap file.
But if you use one,
you don't need a patrition for it!

I would install all programs etc,
included the 2 xp - on 1. primary
(c: and d: and also e:xp copy)

The 2. primary for active audio
Your 3. and 4. HD for samples, archive backup etc

(if you haven't bought the 3. and 4. HD,
maybe S-ATA is an option.
I use 1. generation S-ATA, working well.)

I dont think you need to worry about clustersize. NTFS takes care for you.

dehuszar · Post by **dehuszar** » Sun Apr 10, 2005 6:40 pm

If you are using any plugs like the Bosendorfer, BFD, and the like, 2GB will get eaten pretty quick. Now, if you've got 4GB, I'd say wipe that pagefile for sure.

Otherwise, if you've got to have a swap file, keep it off the drive which stores your audio and/or samples. Also, keep it a fixed size so Windows won't accidentally bring your machine to its knees during that killer take.

Sam

rodos1979 · Post by **rodos1979** » Mon Apr 11, 2005 7:43 am

Hello guys and thank you for replying!

I use plugins like BFD etc, so I think I would be more safe with a pagefile.

Apart from that, any other ideas? How should I connect my devices on the available IDE channels for the best performance?

I remember hearing that only one device can be accessed at a time on the IDE channels, ie either the master or the slave and that if you have a CD-ROM as a slave on a particular channel then the HD (that is master) will function with reduced speed. Are these correct?

Could you give me a bit of info on these things? So I can decide the best placement of the devices.

Thank you

Music Manic · Post by **Music Manic** » Mon Apr 11, 2005 8:54 am

A pagefile is written anyway,even if you switch it off.

valis · Post by **valis** » Mon Apr 11, 2005 11:27 am

Yes windows needs at least a small pagefile. However for 2gb of RAM i'd recommend 512mb pagefile (the largest I ever really use unless doing massive graphics projects).

Just fyi, you can use Perfmon.exe to monitor pagefile usage over a long period of time and check the highest usage. Take that figure plus like 15-20% more (for some padding) and there's your pagefile size.