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View Full Version : Solid state drive in a multiple HDD setup




psychometry
Feb 10, 2010, 07:48 PM
Do any of have SSDs installed in your Mac Pros as part of a multiple HDD setup? Due to the price of large-capacity SSDs, they're not really practical for file storage, but I was thinking they might be effective for Photoshop scratch disks or maybe even for mounting / (with your user folder on a different disk drive). Any thoughts?



VirtualRain
Feb 10, 2010, 07:53 PM
Do any of have SSDs installed in your Mac Pros as part of a multiple HDD setup? Due to the price of large-capacity SSDs, they're not really practical for file storage, but I was thinking they might be effective for Photoshop scratch disks or maybe even for mounting / (with your user folder on a different disk drive). Any thoughts?

This is a sensible approach for sure... you may want to search for SSD in this forum to find related posts.

At any rate, I run a SSD RAI0 array (3x80GB) for system, apps, docs, and active projects while using a 1TB drive for archiving my project work. I also have a 1TB Time Capsule for backups.

Spanky Deluxe
Feb 10, 2010, 08:57 PM
I have a 256gb ssd for OS X and Windows and have my user directory mounted on a seperate drive. I keep a "speed working" folder on the root of the ssd with a link to it on the desktop for scratch use etc. All works great once you get the user directory set up right! :-)

nanofrog
Feb 10, 2010, 10:24 PM
Do any of have SSDs installed in your Mac Pros as part of a multiple HDD setup? Due to the price of large-capacity SSDs, they're not really practical for file storage, but I was thinking they might be effective for Photoshop scratch disks or maybe even for mounting / (with your user folder on a different disk drive). Any thoughts?
SSD's are great for OS/application drives, but you don't want to use it for scratch data if at all possible, as SSD's have a limited number of writes per cell.

The reason is, as the capacity is so expensive compared to mechanical, you have to use smaller capacities. That means that once you get the initial software installed (OS and applications), you're not likely to have much capacity remaining for wear leveling to replace dead cells (re-mapping). So you'd shorten the lifespan of the disk for write situations if you do (reads will still work, you just won't be able to write to it any longer).

It's best to place scratch on mechanical as it's cheaper. Additional RAM is the best bet though, as it would reduce or even eliminate the need for scratch (which was created during a time when physical memory was horribly expensive, and not feasible to obtain an adequate capacity).