Mac Pro Drive Configuration - Home User

Question

Mac Pro Drive Configuration - Home User

Hi all

I'm trying to determine the 'best' drive configuration for my needs... I'm not a pro-user (although, I do use DVDSP and Motion for some DVDs I make from EyeTV) and so I don't think I want to set up a RAID or anything like that... here's a little background

I was recently having my MP operate really slowly (in terms of disk paging) because of my boot drive (a Seagate ST3500630AS at 3.AAC) was

1) Rather full - < 100GB free - lesser impact, I think
2) Some directory corruption - drive stopped booting from diskarb error

I was able to resolve the issue by wiping out the drive and it's working much better now.... but the whole thing got me thinking about my config... I had pretty much just been 'slapping' drives in as I needed drive space (I have the shipping 250GB, my old 200GB Seagat, a new ST3500630AS and a FW800 500GB Maxtor)

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I've been doing some reading and it seems that it's optimal to not have one's boot drive have anything but the OS (w VM swap files too, right) and Applications... it seems that the two best options are either a WD 'Raptor' (either 74GB or 150GB) or a Maxtor Maxline III to serve as the boot drive... I understand why the 'Raptor' is a better option (compared to my ST3500630AS - faster RPM) but why is the Maxtor (laying aside the firmware issue on the ST3500630AS)? Is it because the Maxtor's are supposed to be better at handling small files (the OS and the swap files are that, right?)? It seems to me that the 'Raptor' isn't the option I want to choose because I don't think I actually 'need' it... 74GB seems a little small to me (but perhaps not) while the 150GB seems a bit expensive when considering if I even 'need' the 'Raptor'

I'm anticipating that the Maxtor MaxLine III will be what I want to get for my boot drive... how would I want to back that up? Does it really matter if it's external? Someone had mentioned that you can do it to a disk image but then how do I boot off of that if I have an issue? Or is that just for the purpose of 'snapshotting' the system?

As I mentioned, I have the ST3500630AS and the external FW800 500GB Maxtor... they're a perfect match in size and I like having access to all of my home data on an external drive... that way if my MP dies (as my old G5s did), I can simply connect my FW drive to my old PBG4 and I'm up and running without a hitch... but I'm a little peeved about the whole firmware thing and the handicapped performance (is there anyway I can address this or should this drive be relegated to a backup status?)...

Another question - the Seagate's have the new perpendicular technology... it seems to me that people aren't that concerned about it - I thought it was supposed to be a really good thing?

What would people do in my shoes? If a solution needs more than one additional drive - I am game for ditching my smaller existing SATA drives.... Any and all suggestions would most appreciated...

Thanks!

Mac Pro 2.66, 2.0 GB RAM, 23 Apple Cinema HD Display, Mac OS X (10.4.9), EyeTV 200, Powerbook G4/667, 512 MB RAM

Posted on Apr 29, 2007 5:05 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

Kappy

Level 10

361,741 points

Apr 29, 2007 8:53 AM in response to Justin Surpless

The only real answer to your question is to do what you want. There is no such thing as an "optimal" configuration or "best" drive because what's optimal is dependent upon what you do and need. The best drive depends upon what you want from the drive.

The Raptors are very fast but also very expensive. About twice the cost of a Maxtor Maxline Pro. However, if you feel the need for speed on your startup drive, then the Raptor is what you want. If you would rather compromise between speed, storage space, and noise then the Maxtor is a good choice. However, Seagate purchased Maxtor some time ago. The Maxtor Maxline Pro drives are being phased out (in the 300 GB and larger sizes) so as not to compete with Seagate's line of products.

You can find useful benchmark tests on hard drives at http://www.barefeats.com/ and http://www.storagereview.com/.

Personally, I would configure the system in such a way that you have sufficient storage space on one or two separate drives that can be used to backup the rest of the system. As an example, in my system I use three 300 GB Maxtor Maxline Pros (this system was setup last September.) One drive is used as my main startup drive. The other two are configured as a mirrored RAID. I use the RAID as the backup for the main startup drive. The mirrored RAID provides both backup and redundancy for added data protection. I use backup software (Synchronize! Pro X) to perform automated backups on a daily, weekly (entire Users folder,) and monthly (entire drive) basis.

Of more importance than drive configuration is maintaining your system for optimal performance:

Kappy's Personal Suggestions for OS X Maintenance

For disk repairs use Disk Utility. For situations DU cannot handle the best third-party utilities are: Disk Warrior; DW only fixes problems with the disk directory, but most disk problems are caused by directory corruption; Disk Warrior 4.0 is now Intel Mac compatible. TechTool Pro provides additional repair options including file repair and recovery, system diagnostics, and disk defragmentation. TechTool Pro 4.5.2 is Intel Mac compatible; Drive Genius is similar to TechTool Pro in terms of the various repair services provided. The current version, 1.5.1, is Intel Mac compatible.

OS X performs certain maintenance functions that are scheduled to occur on a daily, weekly, or monthly period. The maintenance scripts run in the early AM only if the computer is turned on 24/7 (no sleep.) If this isn't the case, then an excellent solution is to download and install a shareware utility such as Macaroni, JAW PseudoAnacron, or Anacron that will automate the maintenance activity regardless of whether the computer is turned off or asleep.

OS X automatically defrags files less than 20 MBs in size, so unless you have a disk full of very large files there's little need for defragmenting the hard drive. As for virus protection there are few if any such animals affecting OS X. You can protect the computer easily using the freeware Open Source virus protection software ClamXAV. Personally I would avoid most commercial anti-virus software because of their potential for causing problems.

I would also recommend downloading the shareware utility TinkerTool System that you can use for periodic maintenance such as removing old logfiles and archives, clearing caches, etc.

For emergency repairs install the freeware utility Applejack. If you cannot start up in OS X, you may be able to start in single-user mode from which you can run Applejack to do a whole set of repair and maintenance routines from the commandline.

When you install any new system software or updates be sure to repair the hard drive and permissions beforehand. I also recommend booting into safe mode before doing system software updates.

Get an external Firewire drive at least equal in size to the internal hard drive and make (and maintain) a bootable clone/backup. You can make a bootable clone using the Restore option of Disk Utility. You can also make and maintain clones with good backup software. My personal recommendations are (order is not significant):

1. Retrospect Desktop (Commercial - not yet universal binary)
2. Synchronize! Pro X (Commercial)
3. Synk (Backup, Standard, or Pro)
4. Deja Vu (Shareware)
5. PsynchX 2.1.1 and RsyncX 2.1 (Freeware)
6. Carbon Copy Cloner (Freeware - 3.0 is a Universal Binary)
7. SuperDuper! (Commercial)

The following utilities can also be used for backup, but cannot create bootable clones:

1. Backup (requires a .Mac account with Apple both to get the software and to use it.)
2. Toast
3. Impression
4. arRSync

Apple's Backup is a full backup tool capable of also backing up across multiple media such as CD/DVD. However, it cannot create bootable backups. It is primarily an "archiving" utility as are the other two.

Impression and Toast are disk image based backups, only. Particularly useful if you need to backup to CD/DVD across multiple media.

Visit The XLab FAQs and read the FAQs on maintenance, optimization, virus protection, and backup and restore.

Additional suggestions will be found in Mac Maintenance Quick Assist.

Referenced software can be found at www.versiontracker.com and www.macupdate.com.

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Answer 2

Apr 29, 2007 9:18 AM in response to Kappy

Hey Kappy

Thanks for the input... I guess I want to make sure that the drive I get will work well as a boot drive... for example, I didn't think about it when I got the ST3500630AS... it seemed like a fine drive but as it got more full, it was noticeably slow on the swap files...

If Seagate is phasing out the larger Maxtor drives - does that mean they'll make their drives better for smaller files? Speaking of them, are their newer drives not subject to slow performance some have mentioned on these forums?

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Answer 3

Apr 29, 2007 9:20 AM in response to Justin Surpless

If Seagate is phasing out the larger Maxtor drives

They're not discontinuing larger Maxtor drives but certain product lines. Unfortunately they're doing it to the MaXLine series drives which I think is one of Maxtor's two best products, and keeping the DiamondMax, which I think is rather average. Don't ask me the logic in that but I'm sure there's some method in their madness.

In your situation, the MaXLine III would make a great boot drive.

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Answer 4

Kappy

Level 10

361,741 points

Apr 29, 2007 9:27 AM in response to Justin Surpless

All drives become slower as the fill up. This is completely normal. If your computer is using the swap file enough for it to noticeably slow down the system, then you don't have enough RAM installed. It's also important to maintain a percentage of space on the startup volume as free space - about 15 percent of drive capacity is a good rule of thumb.

Each manufacturer designs their drives for optimum performance in a given environment. Some work better with larger files than smaller ones, however, any throughput will slow down substantially when transferring a large number of small files versus large ones. There is a trade-off. If you set up a drive for best performance on small files, then it will do worse on large ones, and vice-versa.

I did a quick review of Barefeats.com:

http://www.barefeats.com/hard68.html
http://www.barefeats.com/quad08.html
http://www.barefeats.com/hard68.html
http://www.barefeats.com/hard88.html

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Answer 5

Kappy

Level 10

361,741 points

Apr 29, 2007 9:33 AM in response to infinite vortex

I think that's what I said, Ned. The DiamondMax line does not compete directly with their main large drive ensemble but the Maxlines did, and that's why they are being phased out. It's a smart business decision from Seagate's point of view.

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Answer 6

The hatter

Level 9

60,990 points

Apr 29, 2007 9:40 AM in response to Justin Surpless

Get more RAM. 2GB is minimal for its needs, even for non-professionals. Add RAM until you aren't hitting swap or creating any additional files.

Use your 3 other internal drives bays some.

I've tried Seagate and read of their slow small file performance, and now a Maxtor which runs fine but hot, 43º. I use to be Hitachi for ATA and Maxtor Atlas for SCSI. I just love having 10K Raptor boot drive and RAID for everything else, which gets backed up to one internal plus multiple external FW800.

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Answer 7

Apr 29, 2007 11:44 AM in response to infinite vortex

Saw some of the Barefeat reviews and it definitely seems like a good drive... so I'd want to use it only for booting and applications? And I could use NetInfo Manager to change the path of my home directory to another drive?

How would you recommend backing it up?

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Answer 8

Apr 29, 2007 11:46 AM in response to The hatter

I'm pretty sure that I'll end up getting more RAM as well... I was thinking I'd get 2x1GB pair...

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Answer 9

Kappy

Level 10

361,741 points

Apr 29, 2007 11:57 AM in response to Justin Surpless

Although it's possible to move the Home folder to another drive it isn't recommended. Apple recommends against moving, renaming, or deleting all OS X system files and folders. Personally, I would recommend against it also as there is no particular benefit gained from moving the Home folder.

If you read my other post I believe I've outlined information on backup and restore options along with several informative links on the topic.

Why reward points?(Quoted from Discussions Terms of Use.)
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Answer 10

Apr 29, 2007 12:11 PM in response to Kappy

Hmmm, that is an interesting point... I had planned to move all of my personal files onto another drive (including preferences, etc) but since they're smaller files (typically) - it would be better on the boot drive, right?

Though, I thought that people recommended not keeping any of your personal files on the boot drive?

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Answer 11

Kappy

Level 10

361,741 points

Apr 29, 2007 12:24 PM in response to Justin Surpless

There is nothing problematical about keeping personal files on a separate drive or volume. However, keep in mind that most applications expect to find their data files in specific locations. If you feel the need to store your personal data on a separate drive then my suggestion is that you move only the Documents, Movies, Music, Pictures, and Sites folders (all located in your Home folder) and then put aliases to the new location in your Home folder. Be sure the alias names are the same as the actual folder names. This way applications expecting find those folders in the Home folder will be re-directed by the aliases to the actual locations on the other drive.

Keep in mind that if you use one drive for OS X and another drive for your data storage, that you will also want to have a drive on which you can keep backups of everything. For example, if you use a 74 GB Raptor for you boot volume and a 300 GB second drive for data storage, then you want a 400 or 500 GB third drive for backup. The third drive would be partitioned into two volumes - one the size of the boot volume and the other the remainder of the drive to backup your data drive.

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Answer 12

Kappy

Level 10

361,741 points

Apr 29, 2007 12:27 PM in response to Justin Surpless

Ideally for best memory performance RAM should be added in fours not twos. If you presently have four 512 MB modules, then buy four more 512 MB modules to upgrade to 4 GBs or buy four 1 GB modules to upgrade to 6 GBs.

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Answer 13

The hatter

Level 9

60,990 points

Apr 29, 2007 12:33 PM in response to Justin Surpless

The only thing "recommended" is to leave applications where they get installed by default. Has nothing at all to do with home directory or that it "won't work" or "not supported" by the system.

What gets damaged the most? system boot drive, not data drive. Data needs to be backed up, all your data and home preferences. System is more 'as needed.'

The system also gets a lot of work. When you run 10.4.9 update and such it scatters files all over the drive.

The first 30% of a drive is where you get optimum performance, too.

I've had my home directory on another drive from 10.2.2 on. Maybe even earlier. The ONLY thing that was trouble was moving the entire "/Users" - so I always leave a small default /Users on the boot drive so that some programs will see it and want/need to put something in the "Shared" folder.

Using a symbolic link should work (it is, afterall *nix based) but that is iffy.

Having "my_account" anywhere is easy and possible and doesn't break anyone's rules (Apple etc, anyone that matters).

NetInfo Manger: Users: "my_account"

Home entry field:

was: /Users/my_acccount

is: /Volumes/volume name/Users/myaccount

where "volume_name" is whatever you call the partition or volume where you put your home folder.

Mac OS X Missing Manual, page 154 (or so) has method and photo.

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Answer 14

Apr 29, 2007 12:42 PM in response to Kappy

Thanks again for the info...

This is what I think I'm going to be doing... from what people are saying and the reviews I saw, it seems that the 300GB MaxLine III would make a nice boot drive (not the best but also quite reasonable in cost) - I'd use this for all my applications as well... and perhaps other temporary storage so long as I kept the free space >= 50GB... though, one thing I just noticed - it's only a SATA-1 drive? Does that even matter since any given drive can't come close to saturating the bandwith?

As I mentioned, most of my other 'work' is on larger files - mostly MPEG-2 files and the like that I get from EyeTV... as well as things in Motion and DVDSP... it seems like the 500GB Seagate I have now is a real dog - mostly because of the firmware issue... though, I must confess I am somewhat confused on this issue...

The way I understand it is that there are two issues... slow write performance that only applies if you have a single stand-alone drive (not applicable in a RAID) and the other issue is extremely slow (even slower than it should be for a drive excelling at faster larger file activity?) read performance for small files... I have revision 3.AAC and so I think I suffer from both of these issues - I think that 3.AAE fixes the slow write issue but not the extremely slow reading issue... does that sound about right?

Based on this, it seems that as long as I didn't use it for a boot drive, it'd be a good drive, no? But then again, it seems that Barefeats rates it as one of the worse drives in terms of speed... whereas with perpendicular drive tech, it should be better, no?

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Answer 15

Apr 29, 2007 12:46 PM in response to Kappy

I do presently have 4x512MB modules... I think what I would do (so as to not 'lock myself out') is get the 2x1GB for now and if I want more memory, get an additional 2x1GB to round out the pair at a later date...

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