Storage Setup

Discussion in 'Mac Pro' started by nedlah, Oct 20, 2011.

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  1. nedlah, Oct 20, 2011

    nedlah macrumors member

    Joined:
    Jul 25, 2011
    #1
    Seeking advice on planning hdd set up for macpro

    Main use will be internet etc - only very occasionally handle photo/video files.

    Presently have eMac G4 (what a great machine! thanks Apple - 15 years without missing a beat). Only have an external hdd at present for very infrequent clone(and video files on second of two partitions) - slack of me I know - I must lift my game on back up.

    Want to add 2 drives to existing installed drive - at least start off with 3 but wondering how I should use them - should I think it wise for even low-end user such as myself to seperate my working files from system&apps? I was only considering maybe using Time Machine and perhaps cloning but wondered how exactly I should divide functions between the hdds (and partitions ?). Anyone with suggestions appreciated.
     
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  2. minifridge1138, Oct 20, 2011

    minifridge1138 macrumors 6502a

    Joined:
    Jun 26, 2010
    #2
    Here's the setup I used for a long time. My goal was reliability and zero loss of data (unless my house burns down or someone steals my computer).

    HDD 1 for OS and all personal files.
    HDD 2 for a clone of HDD1 (I use carbon copy cloner because it is free). In case HDD 1 fails.
    HDD 3 for time machine. Let's me have a history of HDD1 in case I want something back.

    All 3 were 1TB drives.

    As my library got larger i switched to this:
    HDD 1 (1TB) for OS and applications
    HDD 2 (1TB) for iTunes
    HDD 3 (2TB) for time machine

    If you're going for speed, most people go with SSD and/or raid.
     
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  3. VanneDC, Oct 20, 2011

    VanneDC macrumors 6502a

    VanneDC

    Joined:
    Jun 5, 2010
    Location:
    Dubai, UAE
    #3
    Minifridge, i like your setup quite a lot, nice redundancy there.

    The only redundancy i have built in atm is time machine backup in slot 3. (1 TB drive)

    my setup as of last week consists of...

    slot 1. 60GB SSD drive (Trim enabled, Thanks Cindori :)
    slot 2. 500GB Home drive (all my drawing files/Itunes/couple of movies games etc)
    slot3. 1Tb timemachine drive/storage data
    slot4. 1 TB Windows 7 drive into 3 partitions (200gb Winslows, 200gb apps and 600gb games/movies etc) All my HDD's are WD Black (7200rpm) aside from my Timemachine drive which is a WD Green.. (5200-7200rpm) <--very quiet.
     
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  4. nedlah, Oct 20, 2011

    nedlah thread starter macrumors member

    Joined:
    Jul 25, 2011
    #4
    Thanks minifridge1138 & VanneDC - gives me plenty to think about. Anyone else most welcome to share your MacPro setup...
     
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  5. nanofrog, Oct 21, 2011

    nanofrog macrumors G4

    Joined:
    May 6, 2008
    #5
    You could consider the following:
    1. Use the existing disk as your OS/applications volume.
    2. Then use one of the disks' you plan to buy as a separate data volume (projects, documents, ...).
    3. Use the 2nd disk you as both a Clone and Time Machine volume (partition ~ the same capacity at most as the OS/applications drive, and use it for the clone, then the rest <remaining partition> is used for Time Machine for the data volume).
    Data would be best on a 7200rpm disk due to the additional performance, and a Green drive would suffice for the clone/Time Machine disk.

    Hope this helps. :)
     
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  6. gabicava83, Oct 21, 2011

    gabicava83 macrumors regular

    Joined:
    Aug 31, 2010
    #6
    Hi,

    An alternative solution would be, get an external system such as a Negear Pro/Synology, which as redundancy built in.

    Then hook it up with a 1gb switch.

    Mount individual shares as required.

    :)

    Having everything in the Mac Pro is actually quite nice though and minifridge1138 has a logical structure for the setup.

    G.
     
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