Optimal storage configuration - SATA, IDE, Optical!

[Participant]

Hi all

I'm trying to plan the best (fastest) way to arrange storage with the below constraints. One of the problems I have is the fact that I will have three IDE devices with the DS3P I gather only offering 2 IDE channels.

Total relevant kit list is:

- Gigabyte DS3P
- 2 x 320Gb Seagate Barracuda SATA
- 2 x WD 120Gb IDE
- 1 x Optiarc DVD-RW IDE

I was thinking of the following:

- Barracudas in RAID 0 with Windows, Games, and then everything else (downloads etc) on their own partitions
- Swap file on its own partition also on the Barracudas
- Both Western Digital drives on the available IDE channels to be used for weekly scheduled overnight backup of critical information i.e. documents, photos, MP3s etc.
- Buy a SATA-IDE adaptor for the optical drive

I was also thinking of selling both the IDE drives and getting another 320Gb Seagate since they're only 50 quid, but I'd get barely anything for the WDs and it seems a shame to get rid of them when they're fine for storage.

How reliable are these SATA-->IDE adaptors anyway? Is this how you would do it and does anyone have opinion on a better way to arrange this gear?

 

[Participant]

Hmmm ok thanks a lot for that info. An external caddy - don't really understand how these work. Would they plug into the SATA slot and then I could quickly unplug the drive should I want to hide it / move it somewhere? Would they just fit at the front of the case like an optical drive? Will do some research on these as I know nothing of them. In any case I like the idea of having no more than two IDE devices as I don't really want to have to bother fiddling with adaptors etc of which I'm skeptical.

Regarding the page file, this is another argument for having 3 x SATA drives I think, as I suppose there are benefits like you say of having the page file on an entirely seperate drive. The question here is: would a swap file on the same RAID array as the system files be faster than a swap file on a seperate single identical SATA disk?

I suppose the decision I have to make is exactly how much backup space do I need. The only things I need to back up are Documents and MP3s, which total approximately 70Gb so would easily be covered by one of the WDs, but it would be nice to be able to make images of other parts of the drive for ease of reinstallation etc.