Thanks for the quick response.
I guess it would just be a matter of whether or not the additional drive was picked up as part of the backup job. Does anyone with this setup know that it works ok with Time Machine?
Yes it will work fine. The SATA connector for the optical drive is no different from the one for the default HD, so there won't be a drive detection problem.
On a different note however, you should not use a HDD in your Optibay. The caddy doesn't have vibration dampeners so its better to use a SSD in there instead and have the HDD in its original place.
Wouldn't it result in sleep issues, etc? I was under the impression that the system expects the OS to be in the space where the HDD originally sits and that putting the OS drive where the Superdrive sits is not ideal (hiberation / sleep issues).
Completely off topic, but the best way IMO is to put the SSD in the stock position (to allow hibernation mode to work) and then get a 3rd party HDD with motion sensor built in.
None that I'm aware of. The system boots from whichever disk it finds the OS in, irrespective of the slot. You can even have two operating systems working on your two internal drives without sleep problems.
Excuse my ignorance, but hibernation mode = sleep mode ?
Anyhow, my suggestion was based on stock HDD, ie. no additional purchases. But the Hitachi drives that Apple ships do have motion sensing in them, don't they ?
How big a risk is lack of the rubber dampening (which is separate from the sudden-shock issue) in the Optibay?
So then it seems there are tradeoffs either way you go. If you put the SSD in the built-in drive bay, and an HDD in the Optibay, then you can boot off the SSD and hibernation works fine. But you would lose sudden-shock protection on the HDD unless you buy a drive with it built in (in which case you would have to use the terminal to disable the built-in Apple shock protection), and the drive might get bumped around more due to the lack of rubber dampening.
If, on the other hand, you put the SSD in the Optibay, then you either have to boot off the HDD (which defeats the purpose of the enterprise), or you lose hibernation.
Is this right?
How big a risk is lack of the rubber dampening (which is separate from the sudden-shock issue) in the Optibay?
I currently have a Scorpio Blue 640GB. It is in the optibay, and my SSD, intel x-25m G2, is riding in the HD bay. Prior to a week ago, I was running the hitachi in place of the Scorpio, and there were notable differences. First of all, the hitachi made horrible clicking sounds whenever I put it to sleep regardless of any kind of jarring or movement. Secondly, both HDs soak up a lot of power compared to the original optical disk, so you will notice a decrease in battery life ( to the point that energy saver might warn you to replace it). I'm not sure if there is a difference in battery life with the HDs in the HD bay.
This is kind of an advanced question, but if it could swing this argument in favor of putting the secondary HD in the optibay slot, then it might help steer people toward a decision. The question is: How does one prevent access, not just to the partitions of the drive (/etc/fstab) but to the entire drive, as to keep it from consuming power? I apologize if this is off topic.
Depends on how hard you drop it.
The fit is tight enough in the Optibay such that the drive doesn't "rattle" around in it. The drive's own vibration are very low to amplify into a resonance, so don't worry about that.
The easiest way out is to ensure that once you close your laptop's lid and pick it up to carry it, the disk has stopped rotating.
Besides, a careful person doesn't smash his notebook on the floor. C'mon - its an expensive laptop after all, right ? I carry mine like I'm carrying a live human baby that doesn't belong to me.