Optimal External Drive Setup

Ok, I have read through all of the posts in this forum related to USB vs. Firewire, and optimal drive setup (regarding recording files, samples, etc.). I have Logic Pro 8/7 installed on my internal drive. I currently have a USB 2.0 drive for my samples, and a FW400 drive for my audio recording. I am upgrading the audio recording drive now (as it is only 250GB), and am wondering if I should upgrade the samples drive while I am at it.
There are two FW ports on my iMac. Currently, my PreSonus Firepod is plugged into one, and my audio recording drive is plugged into the other. Here's my question in relation to the Samples drive. Would it be faster to continue using the USB 2.0 drive, or to purchase an additional FW400 drive and daisy-chain it to the audio recording drive? I understand that FW400 is generally faster and more reliable than USB 2.0, but is that still the case when daisy-chaining?
Related question: if it were faster to daisy-chain the extra FW400 drive, should I daisy-chain it to the audio recording drive, or to the Firepod? Or should the Samples drive have its own bus, and the audio recording drive be daisy-chained to the Firepod?
Thanks so much for your help.
Adam

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Best external drive setup?

I guess I can't be called 'new' to Macs, I've had the mini since May of 2005, but I would like to know what you would recommend in terms of external drive setup.
As I began to fill the 80 gb internal, I added a FW 250gb external. It's not full (about 90gb free and 20 gb free internal), but I have virtually all my video and photographs on the external...and it makes me nervous.
So, I saw a Lacie 320gb for under $100 and decided to get it. Originally I thought, even though it is USB 2 only, that I could set it up as a bootable drive, like I could w/ the FW drive...but I don't think I can do that.
Now, I wonder if it is best to leave it as MS-DOS, or should I format this as Mac OS extended? what are the benefits?
Should I move everything from the FW to the USB? and then reformat the FW?
thanks
ultimately, my goal is to use one external as the location for my working files, and the other as a backup...is there a better way?

Thanks Gordon,
In terms of speed, I still feel the FW drive will be slightly faster than the USB 2 drive, so I plan to use that drive for the work drive and the 320 to backup to.
My internal is an 80gb...and I have only 19-21 free at any given time. Over 25 gb is in my photos and another 10 in Music. I think now that I have the 2 externals, I can use those for photos only and clear the internal.
The dilemna is my internal drive is silent...both externals are noticeable when spun up...so I let them sleep after when not in use.
I have SilverKeeper from LaCie for backup...so I'll use that for now.
thanks again.

Whats the best external drive setup for FCP and accompanying software?

With all the external Hard Drives out there I am hoping that other users could suggest the best options when setting up FCP to work with an external drive. I am working with both SD and HD and am planning to use DVD Studio, Soundtrack Pro along with Motion and AE.
With all the info out there claiming to be the 'best' it gets a little confusing. I bought a 2T WD HD with Firewire 400, 800 and eSATA connections. With the amount of footage I have to capture this wont last long. And the intention is to archive this footage and making it easy to access in a year or two.
Which is best type of connection? Firewire 800 or eSata? Any Suggestions as to a really good external hard drive set up that I can add to as finances allow?

Not quite sure what this question has to do with Qmaster, but what the heck.
The simple response is get the fastest and biggest external you can. If you are getting a drive mechanism without swappable disks, purchase 2 mechanisms - 1 for use when editing and the second for backing up. Purchase a 3rd drive to back up your system drive.
If you go the swapable drive bay route, you'll pay more for the mechanism but you'll recoup the cost as you can purchase additional bare drives for a fraction of the cost of another whole mechanism.
The fastest connection speed is esata then FW800 then FW400. USB is not appropriate to editing video (but can be used for simple backups).
If you have the resources, something like a Caldigit HDOne is a high performer. If that's out of your range, look into their VR line or something from MacBurley. Granite Digitial also makes good basic devices.
Have fun.
x

Optimal Hard Drive Setup for 3D and CS6 Motion Graphics?

Hello, I'm trying to figure out the best way to separate the following into different hard drives for best performance...
- OS (probably Windows 7 or 8 64bit)
- OS page swap disk
- Programs (Cinema4D and Adobe CS6)
- Adobe Media/Disk Cache
- Project files
- Source/Import Data Files
- Render/Output Data Files
So far, I'm thinking of...
- One Internal SATA3 SSD for OS, OS swap, Programs, Adobe Media Cache
- One Internal SATA2 HDD for Project and Source/Import Data Files
- One External USB3 HDD for Render/Output Files
I'm wondering if separating the files in a different way would be more optimal, and/or if adding more SDD hard drives for the Page Swap file and Media Disk Cache would we worth the money. Particularly, should the OS, OS swap file, Programs, and Media Cache be separated into different drives?

1. Why separate Project and Media(I'm assuming you mean footage/photoshop/ect.) files? Aren't project files very small?
Premiere Pro and After Effects project files aren't that large, but on this drive I also include any audio and stills used in the project, as well as the Encore project. Essentially anything you would need to rebuild the project down the line would go here, except the media. That goes on it's own dedicated drive.
Depending on the complexity, a project folder can easily get into multi-gigabyte range.
2. If I have one SATA3 SSD with OS(plus page file) and programs on it, would it be better to put the Cache/Scratch/Previews there as well, vs. on a separate slower SATA2 HDD disk?
I'd go separate. Don't put anything on the System drive but the OS and Windows.

Opinions sought: What is the optimal external hard drive setup for LP8?

I've got a MacBook Pro with only 10GB left on the HD after installation. I'm going to grab a nice big external Lacie 750 GB 7200RPM HD (via FireWire 800) solely for use with the Logic Studio suite. I have a few questions about optimal setup.
Option A: I leave the Logic programs on my MacBook Pro, and use the Lacie to record to.
Option B: I delete the Logic stuff from my MBP, and re-install all programs and content on the Lacie.
Option C: I install Mac OSX on the Lacie (making it bootable, I presume), circumvent my MacBook Pro's internal HD altogether, and run Logic from that.
Anybody? I'm particularly interested in hearing about what the issues are concerning latency and such.
Thanks in advance...
c.

Glad to see you chose "B"!
Just to clarify... I meant to say what Rohan suggested, i.e., apps on system drive, not on the Lacie.
Now, what's "content"? Well, it can be a lot of things...
• projects (including .bak song files)
• audio files
• sampler instruments and their samples (EXS)
• non-EXS sampler instruments and their samples
• apple loops
Three scenarios I'd suggest:
*OPTION 1*
Use your external drive for recording audio only. Store everything else on your system drive (sampler instruments/samples/apple loops, etc.). Also save your projects to your system drive. In this scenario your record path for audio would be your LaCie (create an audio folder specifically for each project). When you do routines saves of a project, leave the audio on the LaCie. Don't "move" them.
Thing is, you want to keep a certain amount of your HD space free and clear (I think the going figure is 20%) and this is for system use. It's important. But as you add more sample libraries as well as projects, you'll start to eat up your system HD space. But at least your audio recordings will be contained on a separate drive and not impinge on your HD space, keeping as much of it as free and clear as possible.
Anyway, if you go with this scenario, when you want to archive a project to another external HD or DVDs, you have a few choices:
a) do a re-save of the project to a new folder so that you've consolidated all of the material into one place, or...
b) do a re-save of the project to a new folder, include all sampler instruments & samples and everything else except audio; keep the audio in its own folder (just as it exists on the LaCie) and copy that to your archiving medium separately.
There are probably other strategies as well, but those are just two suggestions...
*OPTION 2*
Have TWO external drives: one for audio recording only, and another one for all other "content" (apple loops, samples, maybe even EXS sampler instruments, depending on how big your EXS library is). Store your projects on your system HD. With this scenario you keep your system HD very clear for system use.
I guess the main gist of the above two suggestions is that you dedicate your audio drive for audio. The less extraneous stuff on your audio drive, the higher your track count will be.
OPTION3
Same as above, having two external drives, but saving your projects to the second drive (not the audio drive). If your songs typically don't contain a ton of audio tracks, this should work fine.
Finally, a word about LaCie drives... I have three of them and have never had a problem. However, people who have reported problems with them are often quite vociferous in advising others to avoid them (and who could blame them?). So, just some perspective for ya.

Video capture setup to external drive

hi guys, I'm a new FCP user, my Canon XL2 is about to arrive any day and I understand I'll need an external drive to prevent screwing up my internal drive. Maxtor has been recommended and has been reliable I see so I'm looking at one of those, but I'm just a little confused about how to capture to an external drive if I only have one FW400 port. I'll use the FW400 to capture video from the camera. But to get it to the external drive, does that mean I have to purchase a USB 2.0 external drive for my MBP 15"? What are my options to have an optimized performing system? Anybody with a MBP15 out there with the ideal setup for running FCP with an external drive (corporate video work, 2GHZ, 2G RAM) and how best to optimize it?
Thanks.

quick clarification please? After some research I've netted it down to this...
For optimum speed when video editing, I'll can utilize FW800 support using my ExpressCard/34 slot:
Get an eSATA drive(Seagate 500mb? however no FW connect ports on it? some have FW400 and FW800 ports I understand?)
Purchase Express/34 FW800 adapter. This gives me optimum external drive transfer speed into my MBP.
Connect eSATA drive to adapter and I have FW800 external drive capability.
My camera is limited to FW400 for output so I can use my FW400 port to capture through to the faster external drive. Caputuring will always be limited to FW400 anyway (by camera default), however I will take advantage of FW800 external connection when editing the digitized captured material.
I think I got it! Any compatibility problems I should be aware of specifically? Brands? Sounds like a good reliable setup. However, no EC/34 dealers up in here in Canada yet. Any internet recommendations?
Thanks for your help.
macbook pro intel Mac OS X (10.4.7) 2gig ram, 2GHZ, MBP15", FW400, 2 USB ports,

Questions regarding setup of new external drive in disk util?

Hello I just got a new HD and external enclosure i will be using for storage. The Drive is a 500gb seagate sata in an Thermaltake max 4 enclosure that is hooked up via usb to my macbook.
Now I have a few questions about how to best to format the drive for use. As this is my data drive I plan to be able to use it on my linux box by mounting it as HFS+ if needed for some rare occasion(ex: macbook breaks and goes in for repair) since this is my only mac.
So the main question is what should I chose as a partition scheme for this new drive?
Is the default Apple Partion Map ok? will linux be able to read it as HFS+(MAC OS Extened(Journaled)) using that scheme. I wont be booting of this new drive so thats not an issue. Also my linux pc's(older boxes) don't have the EFI bios that GUID uses supposedly if that makes a difference.
The last question is do i need to have the Mac OS 9 disk drivers checked when creating the partition? I don't think I need as I don't have OS 9.
I guess the best thing would be if anyone here has any experience using an external drive on both mac and linux using HFS+. How did you guys setup your drives?
Thanks

Hello I just got a new HD and external enclosure i will be using for storage. The Drive is a 500gb seagate sata in an Thermaltake max 4 enclosure that is hooked up via usb to my macbook.
Now I have a few questions about how to best to format the drive for use. As this is my data drive I plan to be able to use it on my linux box by mounting it as HFS+ if needed for some rare occasion(ex: macbook breaks and goes in for repair) since this is my only mac.
So the main question is what should I chose as a partition scheme for this new drive?
Is the default Apple Partion Map ok? will linux be able to read it as HFS+(MAC OS Extened(Journaled)) using that scheme. I wont be booting of this new drive so thats not an issue. Also my linux pc's(older boxes) don't have the EFI bios that GUID uses supposedly if that makes a difference.
The last question is do i need to have the Mac OS 9 disk drivers checked when creating the partition? I don't think I need as I don't have OS 9.
I guess the best thing would be if anyone here has any experience using an external drive on both mac and linux using HFS+. How did you guys setup your drives?
Thanks

Reformatting external drive to Mac OS Extended but maintaining RAID setup

Hi again,
I am considering taking the leap finance-wise and purchasing [this external drive|http://www.amazon.com/Western-Digital-WDH2Q20000N-Studio-Interface/dp/B00 16P7H3Q/ref=cmcr_pr_producttop]. It comes pre-formatted to HFS+ or something, so I guess I will need to reformat it to Mac OS Extended to use it with FCE.
So here are the questions:
*1. Would it make more sense to use it in RAID 0 mode for faster speed, or RAID 1 mode to keep a safer backup of my files?*
*2. Would reformatting it to Mac OS Extended for use with FCE still allow it to use normal RAID abilities?*
I realize this is not the right forum for posting this, but I thought someone here might be knowledgable about backup in general and how to best format an external drive for use with FCE, while maintaining the ability to have a "mirrored" RAID setup. Any thoughts?
Thanks in advance,
Sasha
Message was edited by: skalicki`

So just one more question because I'm pretty new to this whole RAID thing:
Say I formatted the drive to RAID 1 so in theory I have 1TB of space that is "mirrored" over to the other external drive.
*When I ingest my footage, will copies be stored to both drives, so if one fails, I will still have my media?*
I gathered this was the idea but didn't know how it works with FCE.

I have a windows 7 desktop with an external hard drive setup on my home network, will i be able to access this on my home network to save and retrieve files from my mac air?

i have a windows 7 desktop with an external hard drive setup on my home network, will i be able to access this on my home network to save and retrieve files from my mac air?

Troubleshooting Home Sharing - http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2972

While trying to setup a time capsule backup to my MyBookLive external drive, I got the following error message: The network backup disk does not support the required AFP features. What's up with this?

While trying to setup a time capsule backup to my MyBookLive external drive, I got the following error message: The network backup disk does not support the required AFP features. What's up with this?

This means that your NAS does not support the required encryption. Update your NAS to the latest firmware or ditch it and buy a Time Capsule (they are the most reliable when using TM).

External Hard Drive Setup

Hello! I am an amateur filmmaker aged 17, and for the past couple years I have been using my school's excellent computers (iMac 2010 27"), software (FCP 7), and external hard drive setup (500GB LaCie Rugged Firewire 800).
I'm gonna be a senior this year and am looking to create my own setup. I got myself a 15" MacBook Pro Retina with 16gb memory, 2.3GHz quad core processor, 500GB internal solid state storage, and am using Premiere Pro as my software. The only real thing I'm missing (besides audio setup, which isn't as important to me right now) is external drive for faster editing. I want a lot of storage but at the same time high speeds all for the lowest price. I also want to use my external drive for other stuff like family photos and music.
MY idea was to get a 500GB 7200rpm hard drive (not sure which one) to store all the footage I want on hand and then get a 4TB desktop hard drive (cheaper) for all the rest of my stuff and to store footage I no longer need quick access to.
My questions are:
What hard drives should I get?
Is this a good solution?
Is 4TB overboard?
Should I be spending this much as a 17 year-old?
Should I just stick with internal storage for now and not pay for external drive?
btw, one of the 500gb drives I was looking at was by Touro. Trustworthy?
Amazon.com: HGST Touro Mobile Pro 500GB USB 3.0 7200 RPM Portable External Hard Drive (0S03105) [Amazon Frustration-Free…

"Yeah it was in the wrong area but hey who's keeping score. "
Actually, I am - LOL!

ITunes hangs with external drives; Genius is totally impossible to setup

iTunes very frequently hangs when I am using tracks on my external hard drive. I have verified the correct xml of the library files, and the drive's permissions are good. I also recently defragged it. However, oftentimes if I am editing the tags on or simply playing a track, the beach ball comes up and does not go away. When I force quit, I cannot reboot iTunes because it remains in the dock, with an arrow under it, even though it no longer is running.
After much trial, error, and grief, I found that when I physically disconnect the firewire drive (improperly, as it's still running, and won't eject due to having its files allegedly in use), the hang magically goes away. I can then sometimes replug it back in and work again, at least until iTunes hangs once more. I am sure this is not good for the drive and its files.
This did NOT happen under previous versions of iTunes and using previous system versions (I'm on iTunes 8, 10.5.5). It is a VERY. BIG. PROBLEM.
One of its many effects is that I have not been able to get the Genius function to work on my machine, as it always hangs. The Genius setup is so slow that I've never made it much past the first step. I have an 800GB or so library, and there MUST be a way to get this to work.
Are there any quick fixes to this drive issue? If not, can Apple PLEASE correct it ASAP? Not everyone has a little bitty iTunes library that fits on the internal disk.

Bummer that this remains a problem. I suspected it was the external drive I was using and from what I read here it seems confirmed. My library is much smaller that both of the ones listed here so I wonder if it's not so much size but the external drive. I thought maybe I just had a crappy network but iTunes has been uncooperative ever since moving my files to the external drive. And I've only got about 50 gig of files. Well, I guess I don't feel so bad now. But it's still crappy.

External hard drive setup for time machine reading as a virtual cd

Why is my MacBook Pro reading my external hard drive setup for time machine reading as a virtual cd?
Thanks

Hi Christian,
Is this something that has happened from the start? If so, I would reformat the disk and setup TM from scratch again.
Prepare the external HD by connecting to the Mac, open Disk Utility, select the manufacturer’s name of the external HD, select Partition and choose GUID Partition Table, format to Apple OS Extended (Journaled); quit Disk Utility.
Open System Preferences.
Click on Time Machine.
Click on “Select Disk.”
Click just to the left of "On" to turn TM on if it's not already on.
Click on the disk or partition you want to use.
Click on “Use for backup.”
Leave external HD connected, and TM will automatically do its thing.

External Hard Drive Setup for Backup and Final Cut Express?

I have 500GB internal storage on my iMac, using TimeMachine to back up to a 500GB Seagate FreeAgent (about 1.5 yrs. old) via FireWire 400. I currently use the internal storage as my scratch/capture disk (I know -- very bad). I recently bought an HD video cam, and my storage is running out fast.
I've done a good amount of research on external storage, and I am thinking of getting an external Mercury Elite enclosure from OWC (4 bays, connects via eSata, Firewire 400/800) and two 1.5GB Seagate LP hard drives. (I figure I might as well get the enclosure with 4 bays and an eSata connection for the future, even though the iMac has no eSata connection.) I plan to continue to use the FreeAgent to backup my internal storage (via FireWire 400), and with the FireWire 800, use one of the 1.5GB external drives as my scratch/capture disk and the other to back it up. Since TimeMachine allows only one backup volume (I think), I figure I can use ProSoft (which comes in a bundle with the enclosure) for the other backup (or for both backups for that matter). Dealing with RAID seems excessive to me at this point -- I'm mid-tech, I would say.
Any thoughts would be appreciated -- thanks!

Thanks for replying again. I think you've convinced me to scale back. But I still think I should go with an expandable 4 bay enclosure, but just starting with a 1TB drive, to back up my internal 500GB and the 500GB Seagate, which I'll use as scratch. Then, when that fills up, I can add a 2TB drive to the enclosure to back up the others, and use the 1TB drive as the scratch.

How do i setup itunes only on external drive with windows

well i have windows xp running on bootcamp. i have my main library on my internal drive on my os x partition.
i want to have music with xp without putting music on my bootcamp partition ( i think my size is 25 or 35 gig). how do i do this on my external drive? do i install itunes on my windows external partition and just copy my music folder there and then import?
i want to make sure i have a good idea of what to do before i start fooling around. my windows partition is fat 32 while my bootcamp is ntsf

Move the iTunes music folder to the desired location, and then drag it into the open iTunes window. iTunes itself must be on the startup disk.
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Optimal External Drive Setup

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