Partition size suggestions

[FredGarvin]

Hello everyone.

I just received my Mac Pro 2.66 Quad with a 250GB drive in Bay 1 for Boot/Apps. I have successfully installed 2GB of RAM (for a total of 3GB) and a 500GB Seagate HD in Bay 2.

Primary use for this machine will be Photoshop CS3 and Final Cut Pro. I will not be installing BootCamp or Windows, nor will I use this for gaming.

I'd like your help in determining the best way to use this 500GB drive. It's main use will be for scratch, but I also want to use it as a backup for the main drive. From the bits of info I've picked up in other threads, I should partition the second drive and use partition 1 for scratch and partition 2 for backup. Does that sound right?

If so, I'd like to know the best way to divide the space. How much scratch space will I ever need in Final Cut (assuming the longest piece of video does not exceed 1 hour)? And what would be the minimum size I'd want to establish in partition 2 for backup purposes?

I plan to add a large external drive in the future for long-term storage and as a second backup.

I'd appreciate your analysis. Thanks!


Fred