I have a mac mini early 2009 model with a 120GB hard drive but need more space for photo editing. I was wondering how a external hard drive works? Is it something like a 2 hard drive raid set up or would I have to transfer my stuff to the mac mini internal hard drive to edit them then back to the external to store the edited versions? I know this is a beginner question but I have never had to look into external hard drives before
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external hard drive on mac mini?
- Thread starter ranmart
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Connecting an external drive -- regardless of whether the computer is running Windows, OS X or Linux -- is like connecting any other drive. Just the physical location of the device is outside the enclosure instead of inside the enclosure.
You can store all your photos on the external drive. You can store them on the internal drive. You can move stuff back and forth... but that's going to create work for you. But that's no different than if you had scratch folders on the same disk as part of your workflow, or two disks located inside the computer's enclosure.
For example, I have a 500GB Momentus XT inside the Mini. I use it for the OS, apps, and my profile data.
However I moved my iTunes library to a 1.5TB external disk hooked up via FireWire800. The idea being that my iTunes library is large. When I launch iTunes, it just works, because I moved my iTunes library there. I also keep VMWare Virtual Machines on the external drive. However I do create some additional virtual disks (for SQL Server TempDB) on the internal drive for better performance (dedicated drive for TempDB, external disk for the rest of the apps I work on).
Again. They're just hard disks. The only difference is their physical location. They work the same as any other hard disks. If you move stuff, you may need to reconfigure applications. This is no different than, say, moving your iTunes library to some new location on the same disk it was currently on.
ok but should we have the editing software on the same drive the media is being stored on or does that matter?
It doesn't matter. You can work on the files anywhere as long as the media is connected when you want to use them. I would use the external for all your media (music, photos, movies, etc) and keep your internal system drive rather clean.
When I did video editing we always had the editing software on the internal and the media and scratch on the external. IDK if that was the "correct" way to do it but we were told that it was the right way to do it. The "common sense" logic I suppose is that having the media and the software in the same place causes the same drive to have to stack more destinations instead of pulling from one and pulling from another, I would keep them separate.
(Though someone who knows more about this should feel free to call me out 😛)
you can specify the location of your media in your case the external HD and keep the Applications on the Internal
speedwaygirl
macrumors member
Any idea whose drive is going into those Iomegas? I'd be curious to know that before plunking down the $166 and change.
Hi Stan, how did you connect 7 external hard drives to a mac mini? I need to connect 4 or 5 separate 1tb 3.5" hard drives to a mac mini.
They are all for separate things, and I do NOT want to use raid.
Thanks
kerochan
macrumors member
Why is this? I have never had an external hard drive! I have been recording with Pro Tools to the system drive for decades, if theres something important I need, I save it to a usb stick!
Celerondon
macrumors 6502a
Sorry kerochan but gameface has not posted anything on Macrumors in almost two years. 🙁 That last comment was a necropost. The actual thread is from 2010 but your method is okay if you use a backup method. Otherwise a storage failure can wipe you out. Please make sure that you keep a copy of your important files in a second location and use Time Machine or some other system to protect you from disaster. 😱
kerochan
macrumors member
[doublepost=1452501353][/doublepost]Thank you, though I am still nit sure what a back up method is, isnt a USB stick sufficient? If I have an external drive can I save my whole Pro Tools package and mbox drivers etc? Or will it just save the session files?
Many thanks
Tulani
macrumors 68010
kerochan
macrumors member
Yes I am baffled with this too!
I have been producing music for years on a G5 with 150gb hard drive, never have I needed an external drive! 150gb is HUGE! And for any important stuff I save a back up on to usb stick! Sorted, as long as you keep deleting unwanted stuff.