New MacPro Owner

[Scuba-EMT]

OK gang, I am moving up from a 2010 IMac to a MacPro (always my dream machine). What I just ordered was 2 x 2.66 MHz, 32GB Ram, 4 x 2 TB HD, ATI HD 5870 and 2 x 27" displays. I will be running mostly Mac SW, but I will also be using Parallels with Win 7 Pro, in order to run AutoDesk Inventor.

I bought the big machine as I am heavy into my Doctoral Dissertation and needed the space for research and the power to run Mathcad, Maple and Mathmatica as well as SPSS Statistical Analysis software at various points along the way. Plus, the cost was granted to me.

Any advice you would impart for key first day activities that I need to do with a MacPro?

 

[Lone Deranger]

Any advice you would impart for key first day activities that I need to do with a MacPro?

Run some heavy multithreaded calculations, open Activity monitor, press CMND+2 and enjoy the speed thrills.

 

[LeicaM8]

Implement And Follow A Good Backup Scheme!!!

Hard Drive Will Fail, Period.

OK gang, I am moving up from a 2010 IMac to a MacPro (always my dream machine). What I just ordered was 2 x 2.66 MHz, 32GB Ram, 4 x 2 TB HD, ATI HD 5870 and 2 x 27" displays. I will be running mostly Mac SW, but I will also be using Parallels with Win 7 Pro, in order to run AutoDesk Inventor.

I bought the big machine as I am heavy into my Doctoral Dissertation and needed the space for research and the power to run Mathcad, Maple and Mathmatica as well as SPSS Statistical Analysis software at various points along the way. Plus, the cost was granted to me.

Any advice you would impart for key first day activities that I need to do with a MacPro?

 

[Scuba-EMT]

I plan on a G Technology eSATA 4 drive 12 TB external array for TimeMachine.

 

[LeicaM8]

I plan on a G Technology eSATA 4 drive 12 TB external array for TimeMachine.

Note: If you keep your OS & Apps Drive Cloned to a seperate drive than Time Machine, if boot drive goes clunk or gets corrupted, etc.. Just plug clone in and zip-boom-bang you've cut the time to return to full operations by 90%+. If you're on deadline, that can mean the world.

I'm no Pro at this, maybe others can weigh in, but I see emmense value in a clone+Time Machine strategy.

 

[Coldmode]

Note: If you keep your OS & Apps Drive Cloned to a seperate drive than Time Machine, if boot drive goes clunk or gets corrupted, etc.. Just plug clone in and zip-boom-bang you've cut the time to return to full operations by 90%+. If you're on deadline, that can mean the world.

I'm no Pro at this, maybe others can weigh in, but I see emmense value in a clone+Time Machine strategy.

Indeed. SuperDuper plus Time Machine, plus offsite backups. The first two defend from drive failure, the last from natural or manmade disaster.

 

[calaverasgrande]

a clone just gives you a system image restore. The drawback is that you need to update your clone everytime you install a new app. But you want to keep the previous clone until you are sure the new app (or update!) doesn't cause issues.
So it's a good idea to maintain 2 clones.
I just use disk util to rip an image of the system. Though Carbon Copy Cloner is better for preserving application authentication.
It's also a good idea to keep all your data/projects on seperate volumes than the mac system and applications. Increases performance and also means you can back up/restore them by different means.

 

[mobilehaathi]

Run some heavy multithreaded calculations, open Activity monitor, press CMND+2 and enjoy the speed thrills.

Nothing like seeing a process running at 2400% CPU power...

 

[Phrygian]

apologize to your bank account for wasting money?

No seriously, Mps not worth it now.

... but gratz, new comp feeling is always a good feeling.

 

[Scuba-EMT]

No need to apologize to my bank, I just need to say Thank You to one of my research sponsors, they wrote the check!

 

[Phrygian]

No need to apologize to my bank, I just need to say Thank You to one of my research sponsors, they wrote the check!

Baller bro.

In that case, Geekbench it and upgrade the ram while its cheap. Longer you wait, more it will cost.

and i don't know much about raid to be honest, but if i was you i'd get a SSD on the start up disk

 

[tamvly]

I plan on a G Technology eSATA 4 drive 12 TB external array for TimeMachine.

I suggest, as others have, taking a good look at image copies of your internal disks instead of relying only on TimeMachine.

 

[Scuba-EMT]

Not to sound uninformed, but it is as easy as just buying spare HDD carriers and drives, cloning them, and moving them to a freinds house? What software is involved?

 

[SuperCyborg]

TimeMachine is junk. Its only for casual users, if your data has ANY value you really must use a rotating-clone backup scheme (2-4 external and/or off-site drives, using the oldest backup for the next).

For me, an internal 1TB backs up my important data and archives modified/deleted material for 1 month. An external 3TB FW800 drive is updated with a block clone of all my drives every month and kept off-site.

 

[calaverasgrande]

Not to sound uninformed, but it is as easy as just buying spare HDD carriers and drives, cloning them, and moving them to a freinds house? What software is involved?

DiskUtility is built into Mac OS. But you basically need a 2nd mac to rip a copy of your own mac.
Carbon Copy Cloner is an app you buy. It tends to be a bit faster and less DRM-anal than Disk Util.

 

[SuperCyborg]

Carbon Copy Cloner is an app you buy.

Not if you switch a tab in it's plist file.