Projects folder and Sample folder on the same external ssd?

[midilance]

Is there any reason not to place my Projects Folder and my Samples Folder on the same external ssd?

[hammerman]

I don't see why not. I used to have separate drives for everything: system, instruments, projects, videos, backup. Now I put it all in the M2 Mac Studio - they're all folders now. I don't see the point of partitioning or containers as they are called in APFS either. It's all instant. I just back it up. Twice!

[midilance]

Thanks. I used the same thought process you had regarding this so all is well.

[mikehalloran]

You bought one of these, IIRC.

https://www.amazon.com/Fantom-Drives-Ex ... r_1_3?th=1

Should be fine.

There has been no advantage to running samples, projects etc. on different partitions and drives since SATA was introduced with the G5.

Do not partition APFS formatted SSDs. If you need to run a different MacOS, create a bootable Volume in Disk Utility instead—Apple has instructions for this. This allows all the unused space to be available to all Volumes.

All Applications need to be installed on your System Drive. This installs your Application Support Libraries in their proper locations. Plug-ins, too.

VIs can be offloaded. With so many having their own installers nowadays, you may have to follow the instructions to make sure they install properly and are available to your apps.

Your Apple Music library can be offloaded seamlessly since Mojave. Again, Apple has instructions. You can stick a SATA III SSD into that old LaCie TB housing you have since it doesn't need to be fast at all.
https://www.amazon.com/Crucial-MX500-NA ... r_1_1?th=1

3.5" to 2.5" adapters don't cost much
https://www.amazon.com/Fenlink-Internal ... ef=sr_1_10

[James Steele]

I don't see the point of partitioning or containers as they are called in APFS either. It's all instant. I just back it up. Twice!

I just did it just because it feels more "organized" to me. Just how my brain works. Does it make logical sense? Perhaps not. But I divided my internal 2TB drive into 2 volumes: "MacStudio HD" which is my boot volume and "DP Projects" which is self-explanatory (although I do have folders on it for my very few PT, Cubase, and Logic projects). What I like about APFS is that the volumes can be dynamically allocated. You no longer have to determine how much space to allocation to each and then once you "partition" it, it's set.

I have pretty much ALL my sample libraries on a 2TB NVMe drive in a USB 4.0 enclosure. I get pretty fast read/write times from it. About 2500MB/s. I am looking to upgrade to get another enclosure wit a 4TB NVMe to take over sample library duties, then repurpose my 2TB NVMe for Final Cut Pro projects.

[mikehalloran]

I don't see the point of partitioning or containers as they are called in APFS either.

If you need to have more than one MacOS on your machine, each needs to be in a separate Volume. This has become more complicated in Ventura where the OS is now in its own Volume group.

What is the difference between container and volume in macOS?

Each volume uses only part of the overall container, so the available space is the total size of the container, minus the size of all volumes in the container. On your computer, macOS is installed on a set of volumes known as a volume group.

If your Mac supports an older OS (mine supports High Sierra and Mojave), these can be installed in their own Volumes.

Partitions are obsolete as of MacOS 10.13.6 High Sierra and do not make free space available to other partitions.

[Killahurts]

I'm old school about this. I have incredibly fast PCIe RAID drives for both, projects and samples. I have a lot of libraries that require super fast access/read times from the drive. I don't want the audio drive to have anything to do with the sample drive, which is essentially read only.