Laptop Hard drive---internal/external? cache size? priorities discussion

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500gb is a lot of samples!! :shock:
i was thinking that you could get an enclosure and pop an SSD in there.. but, not if it needs to be more than 64-128gb..

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They say that most of the hard drive should be vacant space. It's not 500GB of samples, but all applications and system items + samples. ha

EDIT: OOOOOOH a specific enclosure. That would work if I knew of a good enclosure, but fw800 will limit the transfer speed tremendously, and devoting an SSD to only one sample library would be silly.

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well - that certainly would not matter on a Solid State Drive - no spindles to move.. however, it looks like you already checked and the external SSDs are indeed in progress and USB 3.0 to capture good data rates..

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I don't even have the Apple Thunderbolt... eSATA and USB 3.0 ha... :( The expresscard for eSATA would probably slow down the transfer rate.

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So...yeah. :( I haven't received any response from Glyph regarding the hard drive, which is rather suspicious.

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BREAKING NEWS: Both OWC and Glyph drives contain Seagate Barracudas. (One is 32mb, the other 64mb.) It must be some sort of hardware standard.

Alas, I continue to be at a standstill.

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Now what should I do?

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Toss coins? Flip bits? Then get the G-Speed since it's the best deal ATM. Yes, it's $30 more than the 1TB OWC and Glyph drives, but the G-Speed is 2TB, which should perform better because of the increased data density. However, performance differences between all these drives over FW800 will be marginal. So, you're back to flipping and flopping. :D
perception: the stuff reality is made of.

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So the cache size isn't really important at the moment? How would I replace the drive within my selected enclosure if I want to do so? Would I have to do any complex transferring?

Also, would I get a bigger difference between the drives if I were to use eSATA?

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Cache size and data density will show better using eSATA. However, the cache won't help much once you attempt to load more than one sample that is larger than 64 megs - which is very likely. Data density will show better on eSata tho.

Which enclosure do you have? Can you pop it open without breaking it? If it's a SATA enclosure, it will be easy to swap to a bigger faster drive. If it's an old PATA enclosure, not so much.
perception: the stuff reality is made of.

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Well, if you read a few posts before this one, I HAVE no enclosure. I'm hoping to get an external package (enclosure + internal drive built in) There is a Glyph and OWC drive with similar specs, and I'm using it with a laptop (macbook pro). To use eSATA, I'd have to purchase an expresscard, which may or may not decrease transfer speed in general.

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In that case you can get an external case that meets your specs.

Expresscard should help not hurt: http://macperformanceguide.com/Reviews- ... FW800.html

Single Hitachi 2TB drive using eSATA card:http://macperformanceguide.com/Reviews- ... 7-HDD.html

Just noticed the performance issue with drives over 1TB on FW800 - short stroking would help, but eSATA is better.
perception: the stuff reality is made of.

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I really don't know anything about enclosures, hence why I could simply purchase the Glyph Drive with 1 or 2 TB and 32mb cache. The drive is a Seagate Barracuda...yet I hear that they are not very trustworthy. Is this true?

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Seagate aren't my fav, but statistically they fare no worse than WD/Hitachi. That's why you have a warranty. Hard drives usually fail in the first month or when you have the maximum amount of vital data that hasn't been backed up in the last year. If the Seagates were really as horrible as some say, why would Glyph continue to use them?

Note: If you're decide to stay on FW800, then a 1TB drive is probably the best choice.
perception: the stuff reality is made of.

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Okay then, that sounds like a plan. Still, the 2TB drive is not more than $20 more expensive than the 1TB on Amazon...

Here are my eSATA options, and there ar eplenty:

http://eshop.macsales.com/search/expresscard/34+esata

I'd naturally go for the least ugly one, but maybe you or others would know which choice is the best so I can have a happy medium, slightly shifted towards the performance side.

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