Newbie to storage

EnthUK

EnthUK

EnthUK

Associate
Joined
20 Apr 2011
Posts
6
Hello Overclockers forums!

I'm currently using a 120GB OCZ Vertex 3 SSD for my OS, programs and any high-end games that at the time I am playing. I also have a 1TB 7600RPM HDD that I keep my 500GB Steam folder on, alongside video etc.

The issue is that I'm running out of space. I have less than 100GB of space left combined and I'm wondering what the best option is to move forward: to install another large HDD or purchase an external drive and dump all the video/audio/wallpapers etc on it. I'd also like to run a raid setup for my steam library at least as I'm getting 2MB out of my internet connection and I really don't want it to fail and have to download all of my games again.

I have never set up a raid configuration before. I'm wondering whether I could partition either of these drives and run part of say a 3TB HDD as a backup. I only consider an external option due to the fact that the Marvell controller on my SATA 3GBS ports (ASUS P8P67 Motherboard v 1.xx) can apparently fail when used.

If anyone could offer some advice or insight I would be very grateful! Thanks in advance! :)
 
AS per Wazza, get another big drive.
However, I'd also be looking at some sort of external drive for backing up your media and games to. That way, should the system fail, you have a copy somewhere.
 
Hi Enth,

You should only consider an external disk for this purpose if you need to be able to use it to transport data (physically). I'm guessing you're stuck on USB2.0 at the moment, so an external disk will be comparably slow and also susceptible to physical damage, plus the risk of failure of the PSU for it.

The risk of failure of the controller on your motherboard is a side point unless you choose to use RAID. If it fails, you should not lose your data - it will just be inaccessible until you fix the controller or replace it.

Some options:
1) Buy another internal disk and use it as a normal "standalone" disk - pick your size. 3TB disks are around for well under £100 these days.
2) Buy two internal disks and put them into a RAID1 array. This will give you some peace of mind around your steam games, as you can now tolerate one disk failure and lose nothing. This is however redundancy and not backup. If your PSU (for example) failed, it could take out both disks anyway.

The problem with partitioning your existing disk is that to do so, you really need to empty it first. There are some ugly hacks, but they would risk your data and just aren't worth it.

Personally I would recommend option 2, and additionally once you have migrated your data, you could purchase an external 3.5" HDD USB caddy and install your old 1TB drive into it. Once you've done that, you could use it as an external backup drive for your irreplacable files - I don't mean your steam games, worst comes to the worst you can download them again (although feel free to backup if you want!), what I mean is your personal files, pictures and things like that which you cannot get back.

HTH
Rob
 
Flareon said:
Hi Enth,

You should only consider an external disk for this purpose if you need to be able to use it to transport data (physically). I'm guessing you're stuck on USB2.0 at the moment, so an external disk will be comparably slow and also susceptible to physical damage, plus the risk of failure of the PSU for it.
Click to expand...

The essence of back up is to seperate the data from the original machine. Hence an external drive. They are not particulalrly susceptible to damage, and are mostly USB-bus powered, so there is no PSU to consider.

Flareon said:
The risk of failure of the controller on your motherboard is a side point unless you choose to use RAID. If it fails, you should not lose your data - it will just be inaccessible until you fix the controller or replace it..
Click to expand...

Not that easy to do with a MoBo controller, unless you buy another MoBo with exactly the same controller. Given that the reason for such a purchase would be that the controller had failed, this doesn't look like a good solution.

Flareon said:
Some options:
1) Buy another internal disk and use it as a normal "standalone" disk - pick your size. 3TB disks are around for well under £100 these days.
2) Buy two internal disks and put them into a RAID1 array. This will give you some peace of mind around your steam games, as you can now tolerate one disk failure and lose nothing. This is however redundancy and not backup. If your PSU (for example) failed, it could take out both disks anyway.

The problem with partitioning your existing disk is that to do so, you really need to empty it first. There are some ugly hacks, but they would risk your data and just aren't worth it.

Personally I would recommend option 2, and additionally once you have migrated your data, you could purchase an external 3.5" HDD USB caddy and install your old 1TB drive into it. Once you've done that, you could use it as an external backup drive for your irreplacable files - I don't mean your steam games, worst comes to the worst you can download them again (although feel free to backup if you want!), what I mean is your personal files, pictures and things like that which you cannot get back.

HTH
Rob
Click to expand...

Agreed. The best solution would be a RAID in the main box with the external caddy re-using the 1Tb HDD, but it would depend on the OPs budget.
 
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