I will buy a new PM this summer or fall and I'm looking for some advice/knowledge on adding and arranging hard drives for my needs. I currently have 3 drives in my G4, a 40 GB start-up with pretty much just applications, an 80 GB for music, photos, and a couple of apps, and a 120GB for video. From what I have been able to glean so far, this 3 drive arrangement is a logical approach. When I do get my G5 I would like to expand upon this a bit further and need some sage advice from those that have already gone this route.
A little background on my uses/needs. Typical iLife user plus photoshop. Music, lots of still images, and video. I don't make money off of my work but it is still very important to me, as is my time so setting up a system for max efficiency and protection is where I'm headed, even if I have to spend a bit more.
Here are my thoughts...
First, the start-up drive. I've heard about a new 10,000RPM drive (not sure about brand) and would assume that a 60 or 80 GB would be a good choice as a speedy start-up. I thought I'd buy the G5 with a single 250 and use that for music and photos and then buy and add the 10,000 RPM as the start-up.
Then video. I've seen a few posts a while ago about adding a 3rd, 4th, and possibly 5th drive to the G5, setting them up as a RAID, and using that for video. A few questions. If I would raid a 3rd and 4th drive together in the G5 and use it for editing video (scratch disk) then would it be wise to move completed projects off of that when they are done? Should I also set this RAID arrangement as my photoshop scratch disk as well? Download the photos onto the 3rd and 4th HD, edit them, and then move them to the 2nd HD for storage? I'm trying to get an idea as to the proper workflow and use of drives. I'm also new to RAID.
Can anyone recommend specific hardware to set up the 3rd, 4th, and 5th drives including bracket and SATA controller (and anything else)?? What drives offer a good balance of price/capacity/performance for use as a 3rd, 4th, and 5th drive currently?
thanks for any and all input.
fishguy
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