Radified Community Forums - Partitioning Strategy

Rad

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Re: Partitioning Strategy – Audio Optimized, Multi
Reply #15 - Sep 23^rd, 2006 at 1:50pm

As I said, partitioning is a personal thing. I've had drive letters up to T and never had a problem.

There are some things you *need* (want) to have a separate partition for .. such as each O/S .. if you want to run Windows Vista and/or Linux in the future, etc.

But as NightOwl says, it can be over-done (and he's usually right).

There are speed differences related to each part of the disk. This can be easily seen with benchmarking prgms:

http://radified.com/Benches/hdtach_75gxp_w2ksp2.htm

But the differences are admittedly minor .. especially when compared to the differences you would experience by purchasing a faster disk, such as a 10K-rpm Raptor or 15K-rpm SCSI beast (both seek/access times & STRs).

http://radified.com/Benches/hdtach_x15_36lp_wme.htm

.. which is what I've always recommended for those looking to optimize the speed of their storage system:

namely, a small fast disk to run the O/S, apps & swap .. and a big slower disk for tons of cheap mass storage. I call this a 'hybrid' approach.

http://scsi.radified.com/

You have other considerations with you audio system that most folks don't have .. which is why this thread is interesting .. such as the need for *quiet* I'd guess .. which is why the faster (louder) 10K & 15K drives might not appeal to you.

You also have to be cafeful that people don't project their own needs onto your particular system. Everybody's needs are different, which is why we see so many different partitioning schemes. Something that works well for someone else might niot work so well for you.

And your needs appear to be *very* different from most others I've seen.

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zenzone

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Re: Partitioning Strategy – Audio Optimized, Multi
Reply #16 - Sep 24^th, 2006 at 8:23am

Rad wrote on Sep 23^rd, 2006 at 1:50pm:

You have other considerations with you audio system that most folks don't have .. which is why this thread is interesting .. such as the need for *quiet* I'd guess .. which is why the faster (louder) 10K & 15K drives might not appeal to you.
...
And your needs appear to be *very* different from most others I've seen.

Thanks, Rad, for the insights and links and for keeping my mind focussed. Yes, the need for quiet was a big influence in choosing the components for the system.

I went with smaller disks than I might have -- 250 GB Samsung SpinPoint P series (sorry, misreported the size in first posting, will have to rejig my partition sizes). These are Sata II (3.0 GB/s) drives with a reputation for running quietly, cooly and with impressive data transfer times. (Not as impressive as the SCSI drive you pointed to, though.)

For read transfer comparisons, see:
http://www.tomshardware.com/2005/12/21/samsung_adds_capacity_to_fast_and_quiet_t...

250 GB seemed to be the cut-off point for power consumption, too. The P series uses 7.5 Watts at idle and 9.5 Watts during a seek, larger disks use around 12 Watts just at idle. I wanted to keep the surface temp of the disks low, to cut back on resulting fan noise. According to Tom's Hardware, the P120 disks achieve a surface temp of 45 deg, which is amongst the lowest.

For surface temp comparisons, see:
http://www.tomshardware.com/2005/12/21/samsung_adds_capacity_to_fast_and_quiet_t...)

But I'll have to tackle the fan noise issue with a fan controller of some kind anyway, since at the moment the drive fan is the noisiest one in the system and is always on, not having read the test results, I guess. :-)

Other quietness considerations led to a 380 W Antec power supply. Again, lower-rated than others might choose, but the desire was to keep generated heat to a minimum, thence reducing cooling needs and fan noise. The lower rating puts the power supply into its 'efficiency sweetspot' on my system (hopefully), so less wasted capacity and heat. The power supply fan hardly runs at all (during initial power up tests, anyway), and is virtually noise-free. Big change from my old system.

Finally, relying on onboard video only in this machine, by virtue of the same power consumption/heat/fan reasoning. My understanding is that reducing overall temp inside the case will mean the case and other fans can run at reduced speed. As you suggest, important during in-house recording.

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Pleonasm

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Re: Partitioning Strategy – Audio Optimized, Multi
Reply #17 - Sep 24^th, 2006 at 9:49am

Brian, following up on Reply #7 concerning the capability of having multiple Window XP "C:" partitions on the same PC...

Are you saying that BootIt NG automatically fixes the drive letter problem so that when you boot from one of several instances of a Windows XP operating system partition it is recognized and interpreted as "C:", regardless of the order/number of the partition itself?

I was confused by your comment that "I followed Dan's instructions…" combined with "BING does this", so I'm not sure whether the process is manual (performing an action recommended by Dan Goodell at Fixing Windows 2000/XP Drive Letters) or automated within BootIt NG.

Thanks for the clarification.

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Brian

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Re: Partitioning Strategy – Audio Optimized, Multi
Reply #18 - Sep 24^th, 2006 at 4:21pm

Pleonasm, since none of the WinXP partitions had "seen" any of the other WinXP partitions, they were all happy to continue using their original drive letter, C: It's an innate function of WinXP to be a C: drive unless the other conditions that Dan describes get in the way.

If you just had 2 or 3 WinXPs and you were using Boot Magic as the boot manager then the same applies. The active WinXP is C: drive. Where BING is smarter is that it allows OS in logical volumes to boot. And BING can be configured to hide all other OS and data logical volumes if you desire. Boot Magic can't boot OS in logical volumes.

Quote:

I followed Dan's instructions and there were no drive letter problems.

I should have said, "I followed Dan's instructions and there were no problems." The drive letter comment was not necessary.

Clear as mud?

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Pleonasm

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Re: Partitioning Strategy – Audio Optimized, Multi
Reply #19 - Sep 24^th, 2006 at 5:56pm

Brian, I think some of the confusion is dissipating. To reiterate, the procedure you followed was (?):

Can you kindly edit the above list of steps to improve their accuracy and completeness?

Thank you.

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Brian

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Re: Partitioning Strategy – Audio Optimized, Multi
Reply #20 - Sep 24^th, 2006 at 6:16pm

Pleonasm wrote on Sep 24^th, 2006 at 5:56pm:

Brian, I think some of the confusion is dissipating. To reiterate, the procedure you followed was (?):

Sure. I already had a backup image which I'd made a few months ago. This was stored on the second HD. Using PM, I partitioned the empty first HD into 3 primary partitions and an Extended partition containing 6 logical drives. Using the Ghost 9 RE, I restored the backup image to the 3 primary and 5 logical partitions and left the last logical partition as a potential data partition. Again using PM, I made sure the first OS partition was marked Active and the other 7 OS partitions were marked Hidden. I then continued as in reply #11.

Now, when you start the computer you see a list of 8 OS in a BING window. You make your choice, click OK and that OS boots. The other 7 OS are hidden. The common data partition is visible to all 8 OS.

Keep asking questions if it's not clear.

Quote:

On the second HD you will have multiple Logical Volumes.

I was referring to zenzone's second HD.

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Brian

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Re: Partitioning Strategy – Audio Optimized, Multi
Reply #21 - Sep 25^th, 2006 at 4:48am

Pleonasm wrote on Sep 24^th, 2006 at 9:49am:

I was confused by your comment that "I followed Dan's instructions…" combined with "BING does this", so I'm not sure whether the process is manual (performing an action recommended by Dan Goodell at Fixing Windows 2000/XP Drive Letters) or automated within BootIt NG.

Pleo, by "Dan's instructions" I meant his full website.

http://www.goodells.net/multiboot/index.htm

Quite a lot if information.

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Pleonasm

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Re: Partitioning Strategy – Audio Optimized, Multi
Reply #22 - Sep 25^th, 2006 at 9:51am

Brian, I think I’m following the process.

It appears to me, though, that in this scenario BootIt NG is only required if the user has an operating system stored on an extended/logical partition; otherwise, couldn’t the user achieve the same result by using Partition Magic to mark one of the primary partitions containing the operating system as active and the remainder as hidden (plus – if required – editing the Boot.INI file)?

In other words, for a user to have multiple Windows XP “C:” operating system partitions on a single hard disk drive where the partitions are all primary, is BootIt NG really necessary?

ple • o • nasm n. “The use of more words than are required to express an idea”

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Brian

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Re: Partitioning Strategy – Audio Optimized, Multi
Reply #23 - Sep 25^th, 2006 at 1:55pm

Quote:

where the partitions are all primary, is BootIt NG really necessary?

Brian wrote on Sep 21^st, 2006 at 5:43pm:

You really only need BING if you want to install more than 3 operating systems on your first HD.

Pleo, that's correct. There are lots of ways that you can boot 3 or less OS installed in primary partitions. It's the ones installed in logical partitions that need assistance from BING.

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Pleonasm

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Re: Partitioning Strategy – Audio Optimized, Multi
Reply #24 - Sep 25^th, 2006 at 4:59pm

Thanks, Brian.

This is a nice technique for keeping the existing operating system partition intact while being able to boot back into a prior state of the PC, thereby allowing (1) sequential comparisons of a prior state to the current state for debugging purposes, or (2) for the evaluation of new software tools without risking the integrity of the day-to-day operating system partition.

I recommend that Zenzone add a primary partition to his plan that is as large as the largest of his operating system partitions, in order to allow him to partake of this approach.

This line of thinking should be represented in all partitioning strategy guides, in my opinion.

ple • o • nasm n. “The use of more words than are required to express an idea”

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