HDD configuration for HDV editing...

OK, I'm slowly spec'ing out a new desktop PC workstation for editing HDV. Leaning twds a Core 2 Duo E6600 with 2GB DDR2800 WinXP setup. Now for HDD configuration, what is the optimum setup. C: drive setup for OS and programs and a RAID0 drive for the output? Do I need a separated (3rd drive) for a scratch disk?

Drive 1 (320GB 7200rpm SATA2): OS and programs

Drive 2 (2x320GB 7200rpm SATA2 RAID0): project and output files

Additional single drives to be used in external housings for storing/ archiving original HDV clips or final products.

how about 4gb Ram

Drive 1 make that 2 of those 320gb and mirror it with a RAID1 (after my HD crash i like the Raid 1 idea and two drives for OS etc) a 320 is cheap for that and you have instant backup

Drive 2 4x320 and Raid 5.... i am not sure what is better though, a more computer savvy (nerd ) person may comment on 0 vs 5

i like spending your money...

RAID5 is a waste in my case. I'd reckon Drive 2 "the work drive" would benefit more from the striped RAID0. Redundancy wouldn't be a concern as I would then transfer the final products to single archive HDD's. Sure I'd be pissed if the RAID0 crashed during a project, but at least my archives would be OK. Remember, I'm just an amateur hobbyist... As for RAIDing the OS/ program drive, I'd rather just back up a clean install copy.

Mike, as for your HDD crashing, well you gotta stop downloading that porn nightly...

edit: 4GB RAM? not until I upgrade to Vista... otherwise it's a waste on XP...

how about 4gb Ram

 

Drive 1 make that 2 of those 320gb and mirror it with a RAID1 (after my HD crash i like the Raid 1 idea and two drives for OS etc) a 320 is cheap for that and you have instant backup

 

Drive 2 4x320 and Raid 5.... i am not sure what is better though, a more computer savvy (nerd ) person may comment on 0 vs 5

 

i like spending your money...

i'm with mike on the memory there, 4gb will be needed

RAID 0 speed is king

RAID 1 means redundancy at the cost of some speed

RAID 5 is redundancy and rebuild capabilty at the cost of some speed (and if it fails during rebuild it could cost ALL of your data)

if not in terms of drives, i'd try to have at least 3 onboard drive sets for:

- Set 1: apps and OS (don't know if RAIDing is worth it, but making a recoverable image of it certainily is)

- Set 2: application scratch - no need for RAID i guess on this one

- Set 3: data - raid 0 with a backup to an external RAID 1 or 5 system, then i'd be paranoid and backup that to another drive - hard drive space is cheap enough in my mind to do that

drive sizes will depend on your data needs, but if you are going the HDV way then i would not look at anyting smaller than 500Gb.

spending other people's money is great

thanks Paul.

oops, I guess the newer mobo's and dual core's can access the full 4GB of memory...

thanks Paul.

 

oops, I guess the newer mobo's and dual core's can access the full 4GB of memory...

no worries.

i recently went through the same thought process, tried out 4GB on my windows system and saw it provided a marked increase in performance but then decided it was high time for me to get back to playing with mac's and got a macpro

have fun setting up the new system...

One drive for the operating system.

Build it and put all your software onto it, config your emails to go to another drive and then make a ghost copy of your complete c: drive onto another drive and make a ghost boot floppy.

Then anytime you have a system problem, put your boot floppy in, bring your mirror back, make a cup of coffee, reboot and perfect computer again. Just never save anything to your c: drive. Been running like this since 1999

Just normal Sata drives in just your Sata ports is fine or build a Sata tower with a single e-sata connection.

Get EDIUS and edit till your hearts content with DV, HDV or whatever and encode out whatever easy:)

You can even firewire out in realtime when editing HDV to a camera as you play or scrub the timeline;

Get a twin port graphics card, 128 megs or more.

With a Core2Duo you can get many tracks of Canopus HQ HDV wth effects in realtime no problems.

Stay away from VISTA...it takes sooo much computer power to run, stick with XP.

I run a mac but same principles apply:

drive 1: 250gb 7200 rpm with OS and apps

drive 2-4: 750gbx3, 7200 rpm sata 2 in raid 0 with all app data

8gb ram

drive 5-6: 500gbx2 sata2 in raid 0 in external enclosure drive for back up of all primary data

Screaming fast and easy to recover apps/os drive. Redundant and fast back ups.

My 36Gb Western Digital 10,000 RPM SATA Raptor drive's been going great for 3 years. Very fast, more than enough room for XP and as many apps as you could dream to put on it. The perfect choice for your C: drive.

not until I upgrade to Vista...

I would not call Vista an upgrade. I am a independent computer/network consultant and I have had nothing but problems with any customer using this OS.

As for redundancy, the only way to have true redundancy is off site storage via tape or large capacity removeable storage. I personally don't understand buying umpteen drives, worrying about RAID configs, and eventually loosing everything anyway due to electrical shock, fire, etc. If you are going to go the route of RAID, I would ensure I can always remove/replace a drive and keep the additional in off site storage. (this means no RAID 0). This also requires 3 (or more) drives and some some maintenance on your end. I find most people today confuse RAID0 with RAID0+1. Pure RAID0 does not get you any redundancy, just linked volumes that all fill up in sync. Lastly, hardware RAID controllers are always preferred to software RAID.

Off site storage doesn't have to be fancy, I personally use a safe deposit box at a bank.

Just my .02

Ryan

Two laptops the same.

One has XP on it with a battery that will last 5 hours.

Same laptop with VISTA on will only go for about 4 hours

Ryan, LOL, I agree about that comment on Vista... I'm staying away from that until software companies start coming up with true 64bit programs... Had an interesting phone call from a friend and fellow amateur u/w videographer late last nite. He had a local PC Shop build him a new dual core PC and they seemed to have screwed up a number of Vista drivers and are just driving him batty just trying to get his sound and USB connections working....

Thanks everyone for the feedback. I'll most likely go with a 4 HDD configuration with two of them in a RAID0. Now let's see how long it takes for blueray or HD-DVD burners to start dropping in price...

1 last question for the techies here: SATA1 (150gb/s) vs SATA2 (300gb/s). In real life performance, is there a significant benefit?

sidenote: it always amazes me how fast PC technology changes... My last PC build was just 2 yrs ago and I haven't kept up to speed on the newest and greatest lately. I feel like I'm starting all over again with all this new technology that's out there today...