second partition for media files?

[Bathplug]

I bought a mac book pro today which has a 500gb hard drive. I believe its just one partition. I was thinking about another partition for my media files such as movies, music etc and the smaller partition for the os and apps.

On my windows xp computer I had it set up like this:

C drive - windows xp and programs
D drive - movies, music, pictures, files etc

I had it set up like this to keep my data safe while I'd reinstall windows every couple months.

So is this same set up common on macs or should I just put my music in the music folder in finder on the same partition as the os for example?

 

[MacForScience]

I bought a mac book pro today which has a 500gb hard drive. I believe its just one partition. I was thinking about another partition for my media files such as movies, music etc and the smaller partition for the os and apps.

On my windows xp computer I had it set up like this:

C drive - windows xp and programs
D drive - movies, music, pictures, files etc

I had it set up like this to keep my data safe while I'd reinstall windows every couple months.

So is this same set up common on macs or should I just put my music in the music folder in finder on the same partition as the os for example?

Buy an external drive and get time machine running and partition your internal drive for bootcamp. The rest of that partition junk you mentioned can be discarded.

Cheers

 

[Fishrrman]

"I bought a mac book pro today which has a 500gb hard drive. I believe its just one partition. I was thinking about another partition for my media files such as movies, music etc and the smaller partition for the os and apps."

Sounds like a good idea to me.

It will also make it easier for backups -- certainly, quicker.

BTW, speaking of backups, you should start thinking about backup strategies. If you value those movies, you don't want them on only a single drive.

Rather than buy an "external drive", I'd suggest you investigate "SATA docking stations". To see what I'm referring to, look here:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias=aps&field-keywords=usb+sata+dock&x=0&y=0
(various items shown)

Just combine one of those with one or more "bare" drives of your choice, and you have a handy and inexpensive system to keep things backed up.

If you need more speed, Other World Computing has a "Voyager Quad" dock with firewire800, firewire400, USB2, and eSATA (it's a little more $$$, though).

 

[Bathplug]

Thanks guys. I'm interested in those hd docks for backup. Do you think there will be ones with thunderbolt ports?

 

[Fishrrman]

"I'm interested in those hd docks for backup. Do you think there will be ones with thunderbolt ports?"

I wouldn't expect to see that for a while, if it's going to happen at all.

These things seem to be pretty much exclusively USB2 (with some eSATA as well). There will certainly be USB3 versions, but won't help much unless and until Macs get USB3 ports.

For speedy connection on the Mac, Firewire800 is the way to go right now, and probably for the foreseeable future. If you have a Mac with a Firewire800 port, this would serve you well for backups.

Of course, things could change.

 

[Panch0]

Thanks guys. I'm interested in those hd docks for backup. Do you think there will be ones with thunderbolt ports?

Yes, there will be Thunderbolt devices. They will probably be available fairly soon, as several manufacturers have already committed to building them, but they are going to be overkill for backup and media library purposes.

USB2 or Firewire 800 are both sufficient for those purposes.

Also, expect to see Thunderbolt devices that allow you to plug in FW800, USB2 and USB3 devices upstream. Having one each of those ports would require less bandwidth than Thunderbolt provides...

 

[hfg]

Partitioning your drive to keep large data stores separate from your OS and apps was smart on windows, and it is also smart on OS X. Just be sure to keep a good external backup of all your files on both partitions. If somehow your OS becomes corrupted and you have to fully re-install, you won't wipe out your large music, photo, and video folders in the process.

I would suspect it won't be long until there are thunderbolt drives available from multiple sources. Hopefully the small pocket sized ones will appear soon as they would probably of most interest for MBP owners for portability since USB2 is slow and FW-800 is gone from the computers.

-howard

 

[densmtl]

Partitioning your drive to keep large data stores separate from your OS and apps was smart on windows, and it is also smart on OS X. Just be sure to keep a good external backup of all your files on both partitions. If somehow your OS becomes corrupted and you have to fully re-install, you won't wipe out your large music, photo, and video folders in the process.

-howard

Hi,

I have the same configuration as the OP, and I am totally new to the Mac world. What would be a good size for the OS partition?

Thank You

Denis.

 

[hfg]

Hi,

I have the same configuration as the OP, and I am totally new to the Mac world. What would be a good size for the OS partition?

Thank You

Denis.

It would depend on your needs regarding apps and data library collections. OS X can be installed with most standard apps in less than 20 GB of disk space, with the "user" directories on the larger drive or partition. I would probably allow at least 60 - 100 GB for the OS X boot/app partition, and the remaining 400 GB for user data including music, photo, video, etc. libraries.

If you are also installing a dual boot Windows, you would need to determine what you were going to be doing in each environment to determine how to initially divide up the total space. Keep in mind that Windows has some limitations with respect to partition count ... I think it is 4 before the Windows boot partition.

 

[redsteven]

80 gigs is plenty of room for my Windows 7 partition for games. It's not like I'm going to be playing 17 games at the same time; i'll never need more than 3 or 4 large games installed concurrently.

Right now I've got Mass Effect 2, Battlefield Bad Company 2, and Arkham Asylum installed on my windows partition, as well as a few other indie games.

And I've still got 18 gigs free.

 

[applesith]

Rather than buy an "external drive", I'd suggest you investigate "SATA docking stations". To see what I'm referring to, look here:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias=aps&field-keywords=usb+sata+dock&x=0&y=0
(various items shown)

Just combine one of those with one or more "bare" drives of your choice, and you have a handy and inexpensive system to keep things backed up.

If you need more speed, Other World Computing has a "Voyager Quad" dock with firewire800, firewire400, USB2, and eSATA (it's a little more $$$, though).

That's a great idea using the docs. I have about 3TB of video and stuff that I want to back up but I don't want to throw down so much for a WD or Seagate external. Plus I don't need to readily access all of my back-ups, so using the dock is a good way to keep the drive from constantly spinning.

Would that prolong the life of a drive? Are there any disadvantages to keeping a harddrive full of data off for extended periods of time.

 

[hfg]

I would think it would depend on how long you intended to store the drives without ever powering them up. Storing data on them for short term storage would be ok ... but they are magnetic, and subject to magnetic decay for archive storage. For short term storage, a powered off and disconnected drive is probably the safest way to protect large amounts of data ... and keep 2 copies!

The lubrication and bearings of the drive platter can also be a problem if they are allowed to dry up and seize. This may not be as much a problem with a new drive, but old drives are notorious. We used to have Unix workstations all around my work which were on 24/7 and were never shut down except over Christmas shutdown. They worked on the power distribution systems during that 2 weeks and all electricity had to be shut off. When we returned to work and started the system up, we would always have an abnormal number of drive failures where they just wouldn't rotate any more after the bearings cooled off.

Any drive experts here?