KVR Audio

dadinjo · Post by **dadinjo** » Wed Sep 28, 2022 10:35 pm

Hi everyone. I get a lot of conflicting opinions on this.

Many production websites say that having a drive with OS and non-music software or eventually DAW with FX plugins and the other drive for sample sounds and VST libraries is the way to go. On the other hand, I've been scrolling through various forums where people say otherwise: that this idea of separate drives stems from years back when tech wasn't at current level of development and to just buy a large SSD and have everything running from there. (not to mention it's simpler and there's 1 drive less to fail). I also want to note that I've already got a 1TB HDD which I'll use for general backup and less important stuff.

What are your takes on this and what setup do you guys/girls use? I've found a great deal for Gigabyte Aorus Gen 4 NVMe 2TB so right now I'd go the single drive route.

Pictus · Post by **Pictus** » Wed Sep 28, 2022 11:25 pm

They are very fast you can go with just one and will not have performance bottleneck for audio workflow.
But to create a system image it will not be practical, so create a smaller partition for the OS or use another drive for the OS.

dadinjo · Post by **dadinjo** » Thu Sep 29, 2022 8:50 am

Pictus wrote: ↑Wed Sep 28, 2022 11:25 pm They are very fast you can go with just one and will not have performance bottleneck for audio workflow.
But to create a system image it will not be practical, so create a smaller partition for the OS or use another drive for the OS.

Tnx for answering. So in a nutshell, if I go with just one drive, I should make 2 partitions, right? C:/ for system and whatever other letter for music work?

Pictus · Post by **Pictus** » Thu Sep 29, 2022 2:10 pm

IF you use any software to create system image, yes.
Software like Macrium reflec or Acronis True Image.
Even if you do not use, it makes easy to reinstall the operational system from
scratch as you can format the partition C without affecting the partition D.

dadinjo · Post by **dadinjo** » Fri Sep 30, 2022 9:45 pm

Pictus wrote: ↑Thu Sep 29, 2022 2:10 pm IF you use any software to create system image, yes.
Software like Macrium reflec or Acronis True Image.
Even if you do not use, it makes easy to reinstall the operational system from
scratch as you can format the partition C without affecting the partition D.

But can't I just create two partitions during Windows installation and call it quits? Without any additional software? I don't realIy understand what this "system image" is.
For almost 4 years I've been running OS and miscellaneous programs from C:/ and DAW + samples + projects from D:/, but both partitions are of the same drive and I haven't had problems.

Is running things from one SSD that complicated?

Pictus · Post by **Pictus** » Fri Sep 30, 2022 10:45 pm

It does not create any problem, it is the same behavior as with HD, but if you
have the operational system installed into a 2TB drive HD or SSD, a system
image of it will take too much time and too much space because a system
image is a "photocopy" of the drive.
You do not use, so forget about.

ATS · Post by **ATS** » Sat Oct 01, 2022 12:10 am

I have like 11 GB of HD space and that is just enough for me. I have one 2 TB drive just for Komplete.

dadinjo · Post by **dadinjo** » Sat Oct 01, 2022 11:06 pm

Pictus wrote: ↑Fri Sep 30, 2022 10:45 pm It does not create any problem, it is the same behavior as with HD, but if you
have the operational system installed into a 2TB drive HD or SSD, a system
image of it will take too much time and too much space because a system
image is a "photocopy" of the drive.
You do not use, so forget about.

Tnx for all the help. So I'll be good to go with just a single 2TB drive and no cloning/imaging, just regular project backup?

dadinjo · Post by **dadinjo** » Sat Oct 01, 2022 11:06 pm

ATS wrote: ↑Sat Oct 01, 2022 12:10 am I have like 11 GB of HD space and that is just enough for me. I have one 2 TB drive just for Komplete.

Are those 11 gigs on the same 2TB drive or come from a separate one?

Pictus · Post by **Pictus** » Sun Oct 02, 2022 12:38 am

dadinjo wrote: ↑Sat Oct 01, 2022 11:06 pm Tnx for all the help. So I'll be good to go with just a single 2TB drive and no cloning/imaging, just regular project backup?

I am glad to help.
No problem, it will be the same as you do today.

Clem4 · Post by **Clem4** » Sun Oct 02, 2022 1:19 pm

Pictus wrote: ↑Wed Sep 28, 2022 11:25 pm They are very fast you can go with just one and will not have performance bottleneck for audio workflow.
But to create a system image it will not be practical, so create a smaller partition for the OS or use another drive for the OS.

In case of a dedicated music production computer with a 2To ssd:
What size for the OS partition do you recommend ? If I understand, the DAW and plugins must be installed on the second partition in case we have to back up the OS or to format it and re-install the OS.

Pictus · Post by **Pictus** » Sun Oct 02, 2022 1:41 pm

You mileage will vary a lot...
Anyway, I would say +- 250GB.
Here I have a 500GB SSD for the OS.

Clem4 · Post by **Clem4** » Sun Oct 02, 2022 1:55 pm

Pictus wrote: ↑Sun Oct 02, 2022 1:41 pm You mileage will vary a lot...
Anyway, I would say +- 250GB.
Here I have a 500GB SSD for the OS.

Do you install the DAW and all your plugins on the second partition ?

Pictus · Post by **Pictus** » Sun Oct 02, 2022 4:03 pm

agharta · Post by **agharta** » Sun Oct 02, 2022 4:18 pm

Clem4 wrote: ↑Sun Oct 02, 2022 1:55 pm
Pictus wrote: ↑Sun Oct 02, 2022 1:41 pm You mileage will vary a lot...
Anyway, I would say +- 250GB.
Here I have a 500GB SSD for the OS.
Do you install the DAW and all your plugins on the second partition ?

I have a 500GB boot SSD and install all my software to that.
The apps themselves don’t take much space so I’d rather have them with the OS.
So a system image holds everything but the sample libraries which are installed to my data SSDs.

One large M.2 NVMe drive or 2 smaller ones?