Is there a consensus for optimum DP hard drive systems/file

[Buzzy]

I am expecting a new 6 core mac pro before the end of the month with 64GB of RAM and one 512GB flash drive. I always assumed I would buy a 4 bay drive rack and use it in a RAID 0 and 1 configuration so that two drives would be acting as one, sharing the track file writing load while the other two would be backing these two up in real time. After searching here and reading some posts though I have read that RAID may not be the way to go for audio production.

It seems JBOD and manual file back-up or a configuration with a time machine backup drive might be the way to go? (I have no experience with time machine btw). But I would really apprecieate some opinons here before I begin this investment. I also have a 3.5" East-West drive with all of their samples on it that I will need to buy a 'toaster' for and connect with thunderbolt or USB 3 or ethernet or ...??

Then as far as program/file allocation, is it preferable to leave the flash drive exclusively for the computer system? Or should the DP program (and Reason program) also reside here apart from the track files? Or are there any other recommendations regarding this?

Any advice appreciated here.

[mikehalloran]

Time Machine definitely. It works in the background and, since Mavericks (you have no choice in the OS) you won't know when it's working. Manual backup is a great way to waste time. Since OS 10.8, you can have more than one backup - TM will rotate through those backing up to a different drive each hour.

You can dedicate a drive over USB 3, TB, Ethernet or wireless. Speed is not an issue when backing up - the first one seems to take forever but it will finish eventually. If you ever want to restore, you'll like a faster setup.

Since the nMP supports the latest WiFi spec, a Time Capsule is a good idea as it is faster than Ethernet if your host supports the new protocol. The nMP does. It's not unusual to have one Time Capsule hidden and working over wifi.

RAID is faster, especially with SSDs but there are threading advantages to JBOD. Platter speed is a bottleneck in JBOD. SSDs are much faster. Audio apps won't notice much, if any difference but video certainly well. We're talking much, much faster data transfer than was ever possible over FW or USB 2 - both of which have all the band width that most audio pros need.

[HCMarkus]

Congrats on the new MP Buzzy!

I'll give a +1 to Mr. Halloran's recommendation re: Time Machine; I have a pair of slow USB 3TB Tim Machine drives I rotate on and off site every week or two. But I also do manual backups of DP projects on two internal 7.2k HDs periodically and before closing sessions for the day. I can't afford to lose data. My DP work drive is a 120 GB SSD.

Your internal flash drive should house your system and programs. Booting will be uber fast and programs will open in a jiffy. That's the easy part. Then you have to decide what, if any, data you want to house on the flash drive.

If you want VI's to load quickly and you don't have too much sample data, you could put the samples on flash. Advantage is the data is pretty static (read-only), so you won't have to worry about filling the drive up as you work. But 512 GB (less whatever space is used for OS/Programs) isn't really all that much...

You could store your working projects on the flash drive. They will open quickly. Just keep an eye on the flash drive free space. My research suggests you want to maintain about 20% free space on SSDs to allow garbage collection and trim to function properly and to avoid write amplification from taking its toll on your SSD's lifespan. One way to do this is to create a 20% partition and never use it.

I'd suggest off-loading big data that doesn't require quick access... move your photos, iTunes library and downloads folders to external USB3 HDs.

If you need more space for project/sample data, go with USB3 or Thunderbolt-connected SSDs or, if you have massive sample or video data, RAID HDs. Transfer that East-West data to a new drive and save the original as a backup... if you don't, you are out of business when the EW drive dies (and it will, someday, at an inconvenient time).

As long as you don't count on spinning drives to deliver data you need in a hurry, you are going to be amazed at how responsive your system is. Have fun!

[Buzzy]

Thanks for the initial replies guys! Lots to chew on there.

It looks like it might be simpler than I imagined. What I take from here is to definitely use Time Machine as the backup solution. I like the Time Capsule as well as the second offsite backup drive concept. I will consider a second SSD drive to house the read only samples and perhaps a couple USB 3 or thunderbolt drives for project data.

Can't wait for this thing to arrive

[HCMarkus]

Can't wait for this thing to arrive

You are not alone... lots of sturm and drang over at Macrumors.com.

Hope it shows up soon for you!

[mikehalloran]

Last October, Flextronics announced that they are hiring 1,700 to build the nMP in Austin. I think that Apple is serious about this thing.

[BKK-OZ]

I love mine.