Is it ok to store samples on primary HD?

[summer2000]

Hey guys,
I'm in the process of getting a new workstation built (Miko), would it be best to have a smaller primary hard drive like 80 gigs in size (for the OS and program installs) and have a bigger secondary HD like 200 gigs (or more) for my samples?

The reason I ask is I'm not sure if programs like Kontakt, Sampletank, and any other VSTi's that uses huge samples work best and more efficiently if the samples are being streamed of a secondary hard drive rather than the same HD the actual VSTi program is installed.

My first option was to build a system with 250gb primary HD and 500gb for the secondary in order to maximize my storage needs. I would be installing samples on both of them. Would that be fine or should I limit the samples on just the secondary HD and get 80gb for the primary? Does it make any difference on which configuration I choose?

Thanks for any and all feedback!

Summer2000.

[Sepheritoh]

With many synths you do not get a choice, eg Dimension Pro installs everything in the program files folder wiout asking you. Sampletank installed everything in the vst folder and GPO ask you, but it does not work properly if you do not use the default.

In short, it is not ideal, but it will not break anything if you install samples on the primary disc.

[Sepheritoh]

PS: and for those exact reasons, it is usually a good idea to make sure your primary disc is big enough. 80G is more than big enough in my opinion.

[ew]

Personally, I think keeping ANYTHING on your OS drive that doesn't need to be there is asking for trouble...

On my OS drive (an 80 GB), I have Windows, my mp3s (media players throw a fit if your music ISN'T in My Music), and things that insist on installing to C. My primary slave's an 80 GB as well- that has all my NON-music programs on it.

My secondary master's my music drive- it's a 160 GB with both programs and audio files on it. The secondary slave's my DVD burner.

The reason? If you have to reformat and reinstall your OS, all your data's still safe. I'll be adding a SATA drive soon and using that for my OS drive, and move all my audio programs to what was my primary master drive. Everything will be on separate drive channels that way- my OS, my audio programs AND my audio files (no bottlenecks).

ew

[cyanogen]

I bought a secondary drive for samples a few months ago, and was pleasantly surprised that it still has no fragmentation. My primary drive is another story. The other day I was playing a song on my keyboard and I kept getting an occasional "buzz!" It turned out that the primary drive just needed to be defragmented.

[ew]

You bring up another important point there, cyanogen

Disk maintenance is ESSENTIAL. Invest in a good defragmenter and temp file cleaner and USE them. I clean out temp files and defrag all my drives daily- it makes a HUGE difference

ew

[summer2000]

Well in my case, the Miko has room for only 2 internal hard drives. I have a lot of Akai samples, Acid loops, and not to mention a bunch of space hungry VST synths like Sampletank, Sonik Synth, and Kontakt to name a few. So I wanted to have as much HD space as much onboard the Miko to truly make it as portable as possible.

That's why I was thinking of going with the 250 + 500 HD's configuration. I don't plan on surfing the web and only choice audio programs will be installed on it so I'm not to worried about catching a virus. If the primary hard drive should fail (as everything is prone to go bad at some point), I can easily have access to all my stuff since I always have all programs and samples backed up on DVD's.

What do you all think?

Summer2000

[tee boy]

I tend to keep the bulk of my samples on a seperate HD. But quite often, if Im using some for a project Iv move them over (or just import them into my Cubase pool on the main HD).

TB