SSD and home directory question

[strausd]

I originally posted this in the MP forums but they said I would probably have better luck here...

So I am contemplating getting an SSD as my boot drive. I read a huge article on anandtech talking about how SSD degradation works.

So I would only want the OS and Applications I have to be on the SSD. I know how to change my downloads to go to a different drive and set up my iTunes music folder somewhere else too.

However, how could I make the desktop be on a drive in bay 2? Or photo booth pictures to go to the drive in bay 2? Or an iPhone backup? Basically, how can I get everything to not go on the SSD besides just the necessary files for the OS and my applications?

I just don't want a bunch of random files being written to the SSD. I want to try and keep the SSD at peak performance for as long as possible. The guys on the Mac Pro forum said that it would mean changing the location of my home directory so if that's right, how would I do that?

Thanks in advance for the help!

Edit: Kind of off topic, but if Time Machine backups all available volumes besides the TM volume, where are they located on the TM drive?

 

[kasakka]

Stop worrying about it and just use the SSD like you would use a normal hard drive. I've had the 160 GB Intel X25-M G2 for the last 8 months and have noticed no change in performance. Even if there is one it's only noticeable in synthetic tests and not real world use and even then the SSD is several times faster than a HDD.

 

[strausd]

Stop worrying about it and just use the SSD like you would use a normal hard drive. I've had the 160 GB Intel X25-M G2 for the last 8 months and have noticed no change in performance. Even if there is one it's only noticeable in synthetic tests and not real world use and even then the SSD is several times faster than a HDD.

I'm not too worried about it. But I would prefer that when I drag stuff to the desktop that it goes to a separate drive instead of the SSD.

 

[VideoFreek]

Move your home folder to the second drive. You can google for instructions, or just use these:

http://chris.pirillo.com/how-to-move-the-home-folder-in-os-x-and-why/

 

[strausd]

And if I did that, would it still keep my applications and OS files on the SSD?

 

[VideoFreek]

And if I did that, would it still keep my applications and OS files on the SSD?

Yes, this is covered at the end of the article I linked to. If in doubt, you can easily check the contents of your home folder to see exactly what is stored there.

 

[strausd]

Thank you very much! It even helps to explain the 4 main folders and definitely answered my questions!