External Hard Drives

[144]

Hi everyone,

 

This is my first post (although a longtime lurker), so I'll say hello to everyone, and thanks for putting up with us noobs.

 

I'm a Logic Pro 9 user. It's just a matter of time before I make the upgrade to X. Anyway, I've been gradually learning and recording, and my projects have become bigger to the point where I have the inevitable performance issues with my mid 2011 iMac, mostly dealing with system overloads and dropoffs. All of my files and the few AUs that I have are on the internal drive. So I've been reading up on external hard drives, what I need, and how I need to use them, when I ran across this little tidbit in another forum: http://homerecording.com/bbs/general-discussions/digital-recording-and-computers/how-do-you-use-your-external-hard-drive-351622/

 

...the main point being:

 

The best setup for ANY daw is:

 

a) OS, apps and plugins on boot drive

b) Sample libraries on a separate drive

c) audio tracks and projects on a third drive

 

So, not one external hard drive, but two. This seems to be interesting and effective in that you're delegating tasks and taking significant burdens off of your main hard drive. What are your opinions on this? Is this, pardon the pun, logical, or is this a waste of money where one external drive is enough? Thanks a lot in advance for whatever observations you have.

[Eriksimon]

That advice is correct, though in the wrong order of priority, and there's a fourth drive that's missing.

 

This is is the best setup:

a) OS, apps and plugins on boot drive

b) Projects (= also audio recording) on second drive

c) Sample libraries on third disk

d) Backup disk(s)

 

This is the best setup if you do not have big sample libraries, like you appear to:

a) OS, apps and plugins and Logics additional content plus sample libraries on boot drive

b) Projects (= also audio recording) on second drive

c) Backup disk(s)

[144]

Okay, so the reasoning is sound. Good to have that confirmed.

 

Any recommendations for external hard drives? I know I need 7200 rpm and USB 3.0, but I'm trying to save a little money and get something in the 500 gb range. But mostly what I find with that capacity are "portable" external hard drives that are powered through the bus, and not independently powered. I'm a little leary of this. Are portable external drives such as this, adequate?

http://www.amazon.com/HGST-7200RPM-High-Performance-Portable-0S03733/dp/B00IVFDQ98/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1432776963&sr=8-6&keywords=external+hard+drive+500gb+usb3.0+7200rpm

[Eriksimon]

I cannot vouch for individual brands or makes, but the conditions are: 7200 RPM disk inside that is not a "green" disk, USB3 or Thunderbolt, and I would go for 1 TB, becaues the price difference is really not that much of an issue and you may run out of space quickly.

It being powered via USB should not be an issue, your iMac can handle that easily.

The most "breakable" thing with certain USB devices is the female (mini)connector on the enclosure. Don't wiggle that about, or you may break soldered contacts.

An alternative route is to buy empty enclosures or docks (for 2.5 or 3.5 inch) and separate disks. Mounting a disk in such an enclosure is very simple and can be done with minimal technical knowhow or skill.

[coetgan]

HI, I am setting up my Macbook Pro, running Logic 10, purchased two external hard drivs. I record primarily acoustic music, so while I use some settings and effects, and a few software keyboard tracks, not a whole lot of sounds. How to set the drives up? Per this thread, I I'm thinking to leave the library on the internal drive, set up one external drive for projects and one for backup. Make sense?

 

Forrest

[stardustmedia]

This is is the best setup:

a) OS, apps and plugins on boot drive

b) Projects (= also audio recording) on second drive

c) Sample libraries on third disk

d) Backup disk(s)

 

Amen

 

That's what I do too. You might think that it costs some money, but in the worst case scenario, it will save you so much time. Not to forget all the emotional value you might loose, that cannot be measured with time and money. With a smart backup strategy, you can be up and running with a new machine within half a day, without loosing any data.

[skillzmcgavern]

This is great to read about and have clarified by our own forum users. I have a few questions based on my own setup.

 

I run Steven Slate Drums 4 Platinum, with expansion packs - should I install the software on host drive and all the samples on separate drive?

Should I install Logic's additional content (some of which are samples, loops, etc) on that same drive?

 

Are there other general or specific tips for these kinds of optimization practices that anyone can elucidate further?

I'm migrating to a new MBP and want to set it up right the first time, avoiding wear & tear on hard drive(s), and be more efficient than ever.

[rickenbacker360]

Sorry to be a bit contrary but an Internal SSD makes all the difference.

 

I formerly subscribed to the a, b, c, d outline in this thread. Now, I put my active project(s) on the SSD in a late-2011 MBP. My former IO issues (using FW800 to 7200 RPM non-green Glyph HD) disappeared. The added advantage is the ability to do post production mixing, etc. without being tethered to an external drive. Yeah, my drum samples might be missing but I can do EQ, Melodyne, and other stuff.

 

Other threads on the Logic forum have supported an internal SSD being allowed to have projects on it.

 

One caution, if using something like Carbonite, turn it OFF during sessions AND turn off Spotlight indexing of project folder(s). I had issues when recording audio to have spotlight immediately start indexing the newly-created track(s) and slow things down—crash even.