Question about 3TB drive...

Soldato
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I'm thinking of doing the following and want to make sure it's the right move...

- OS and applications on SSD
- My Steam library on another SSD (this will just be for games)
- EVERYTHING else (files etc.) on a 3TB SATA drive

I'm talking A LOT of stuff on the 3TB, moving everything from my current two drives on to this one drive (currently circa 2TB worth of stuff). Is that going to pose any issues with slow down etc. given I'll be accessing and using quite big files in respect to Photoshop, video editing apps etc. Or would I be better keeping it split across 2-3 separate drives?

What would be the best 3TB (or bigger) drive to opt for?
 
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Ok the first question is will you be keeping a backup of all of the data stored on the 3TB drive? I strongly suggest you do because if for whatever reason the drive fails you will lose everything.

I currently have a similar setup to your proposal.

SSD (128GB) for OS and Applications
HDD (1TB) Samsung for Steam games
HDD (2 x 3TB in mirrored RAID) for Pictures, File, Music, Video etc

In my opinion this is the best setup to go for as it provides great performance where it is needed (OS and Apps) and large storage where required too (Files, Music etc).

The reason I have 2 x 3TB HDD's in mirrored mode for storage is to protect the information should one of those drives fail for whatever reason. In the event of a failure of a single drive I would still have a complete copy of the data on the other. Under Computer the drive will appear as 1 x 3TB drive but the data is copied/deleted onto/off both drives whenever that change is made.

It is very important to note that although this prevents data being lost from drive failure this is not a backup as if you accidentally delete information it is gone for good, whereas a backup will retain the information so you can restore it. So it is important to keep things backed up as well.

As far as HDD choice goes any of these would be my choice and I would say go for a minimum of 3TB. Personally I would be looking at getting a pair of 6TB drives and running them in mirrored RAID to prevent data loss in the event of drive failure.

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1 x Western Digital Caviar Red 3TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache WD30EFRX - OEM HDD £89.99
Total : £604.51 (includes shipping : £8.00).

 
Thanks for that. My plan was to backup yes, and what you suggest had crossed my mind, although I've never run a RAID setup before. Is that easy to setup (it's RAID 1 you're referring to, is that correct)? Is there any difference in performance if you're using that vs a single drive?
 
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Make sure you motherboard supports UEFi so can use the GUID Partition Table for larger HDD capacities. The older MBR type only supports up to 2.2TB drives, regardless if it's partitioned.
 
As my Steam folder is approaching 2TB I upgraded to 2 x 3Tb and 2 x 6TB Mirrored.

I also took the option of getting a seperate LSI Raid card for pci-x that supports 8 HD.

This would give me future options of moving and introducing large raids to new builds and expand more drives as technology moves forward. Seeing as 15TB will be introduced next year it looks like that will happen.

3dguru article http://www.guru3d.com/news-story/hdd-capacity-to-hit-15tb-by-2016-with-hamr-technology.html
 
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My Steam folder is only a paltry 180GB in comparison lol! So I was planning on a 250GB SSD for that. I can't say I play games THAT often to justify anything bigger. The rest of my data though, that always seems to add up quickly, especially with Photoshop and video stuff.
 
Thanks for that. My plan was to backup yes, and what you suggest had crossed my mind, although I've never run a RAID setup before. Is that easy to setup (it's RAID 1 you're referring to, is that correct)? Is there any difference in performance if you're using that vs a single drive?

You have two options Software and Hardware Raid.

Software RAID is done in windows and is very easy, you just go into Computer Management and highlight the drives you want to mirror and then it will do it for you.

Hardware RAID is a little more complicated to setup but by no means hard and is done through the BIOS. Would be best to consult your Motherboard Manual to ensure you find where the settings are located.

My Steam folder is only a paltry 180GB in comparison lol! So I was planning on a 250GB SSD for that. I can't say I play games THAT often to justify anything bigger. The rest of my data though, that always seems to add up quickly, especially with Photoshop and video stuff.

My personnel advice would be to get a 500GB Samsung EVO SSD or a 512GB Crucial MX100 SSD which can be had for £159 and £149 respectively. I say this because more and more games now are over 30GB with a few being in excess of 50GB. That will soon eat up the space on a 250GB drive as you should always have 20% free space to ensure the best performance. You must also consider that a 250GB SSD will have about 236GB of useable space due to the bit/byte difference and so will eat up into your space allowance.
 
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