My proposed HDD setup-comments/help please

[Rachner]

Since my last post I've done more research and have given up on RAID....too many potential probs for the benefit I would receive. So now I'm faced with a single drive or JBOD decision.

Plan A:74gb Raptor for OS and need for speed programs and 2nd data drive...probably a 250gb WD Cav SE16 Sata 3gb/s. (total cost on newegg $230) (side question for those who do this...do you set up a separate OS partition on your raptor and how big if you do...OS will be XP Pro 32bit)

Plan B:Single big drive like 400gb Cav SE16 WD4000KD Sata 1.5gb/s which in recent articles are pretty fast (though not Raptors) and create several partitions. ($180 with rebate at newegg)

I've had some suggest the 150gb Raptor but its speed increase over 74 not enough to justify the $281 and I would probably need a 2nd drive for data and video so even more $.

Also since I'm not going Raid 1, any recommendations for a simple backup program I can use with my external HDD. Need it to do scheduled nightly backups so I don't forget.

Lots of questions but any help with any or all of these would be appreciated.

 

[Sport1031]

If you don't mind spending the money, option A would be faster. Your OS would load faster, and progams would run faster.
325GB for $230

If you don't want to spend the extra money, you could get more space for less money, (400GB for $180) but it would not run as fast.

Really it just depends on how you want to spend your money.

As far as the partition goes, I do have a separate partition for my OS. I have heard it goes faster, and it does save space because the sectors are smaller. The size of mine is 20GB, but you could probably get away with 15GB with no problem. The OS requires about 9 ish, so 10 is a little risky.

Hope this helps!

 

[Rachner]

Thanks for the input...I'm leaning toward Plan A

 

[cobalt817]

putting your OS in a second partition is only a added means of security. it will help contain certain viruses, and if your OS goes down, you can still get access to your files on the other partition(s). be aware that the install files are put into windows in most cases,even though the program(s) might be on a different partition. so you might not be able to run them with a new OS install. another thing is, you might loose one of your data partions, which can make the whole thing pointless. just something to think on.

 

[Nitestick]

Plan A sounds good to me. i don't use my raptor for windows boot though. i just use it for programs and games

 

[nylax4]

74gb raptor and then 250gb external slave

 

[bryan64]

DANTZ Retrospect works very well. I use it at home and at work. It tends to come with CD-RW drives and such, that's how I got my copy.

Plan A is almost exactly the plan I just came up with as I too realized the hassle for RAID did not outweigh benefits at least to me. I opted for the 150GB Raptor as I needed more space for the graphics programs I will run.