Recording and storing samples on system drive

[apanacci]

Hey guys saw a post recently about a discussion about recording and storing samples on your system drive. I have my 2013 trash can that has a 1TB drive . I am running with 64 gigs of ram. Is it still better to have an external drive for recording to and another with samples on it . What are your thoughts about this thanks !!!

[HCMarkus]

Is it still better to have an external drive for recording to and another with samples on it

I think it pretty much just depends on what drives you have.

If you are talking NVMe SSDs, if you can fit everything on your internal, one drive can do it all. These SSDs are plenty fast to handle everything. You only need a separate drive for backups. If you do put projects and samples on your boot drive, you may wish to compartmentalize things by using APFS Volumes.

On my Mac Studio, I have my 2TB onboard SSD set up as two Volumes, 1) macOS and Applications, 2) Current DP Projects/Audio.

I house my VI samples on external TB-connected NVMe drives because I need more space.

[mikehalloran]

A 2013 MacPro 6.1 can handle up to a 4TB NVMe blade with the right adapter and a heat sink with enough clearance. An 8TB blade runs way too hot — one manufacturer told Bob Ludwig to stop trying.

The 6.1 has a 2 Lane bus which means that max speed is about 1500MB/s read and 1300MB/s write for data. This is the same as Thunderbolt 2 on these machines. TRIM on externals is only supported over Thunderbolt on one of these. The oft-quoted 20Gb/s spec includes video overhead, excluded from the other numbers.

Your USB-A ports support USB 3.0 speeds around 500MB/s, same speeds as 2.5" SATA III drives. No USB 3.1 or faster.

There is a way to use TB3/USB4 storage with one of these.
https://eshop.macsales.com/blog/72701-t ... olt-2-mac/

The catches are is that a) you are limited to the 1500MB/s speed (no biggie, your Mac can't go faster) and b) bus power is not supported—devices will not work unless externally powered or you have a powered hub after the adapter. Don't worry, OWC has powered hubs.

If you want go this route, there are plenty of 1TB–8TB blades and inexpensive USB4 housings to hold them, some with fans. Best bang for the buck is 4TB.