multi disk optimization

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robman_rob

Limp Gawd
Joined
Mar 7, 2006
Messages
273
Hey there,

I've been reading the benefits of having 2 or more hdd's in your system and I just want to run by you guys what I will later implement to see in your opinion, if it will actually do what I think it will do.

2 hard drives, I'll call them 1 and 2.

I'll partition the 1st, faster hd into 3 parts:

a small part for the OS (windows xp) and applications that run at startup (60 gb)?
a larger part for games and user starting applications (rest of hd)
another part for storage (25%)

on the 2nd disk, again 3 partitions,

a small part for the swap files for OS system and maybe some redirected temporary file folders (both of which I don't know how to do yet, maybe 40gb worth of space)
a middle partition for storage / programs (rest of hd)
a last part for storage (25%)

Would this utilize two hard disks to maximize performance? This is from reading about Zoned Bit Recording where the outter parts of the disk have higher sustained transfer rates (STR), so putting the OS and swap files there should lead to increased performance. Then the middle sections of the HD are for applications and games. The inner parts of the disk (the 3rd partitions) have the slowest STRs and such are meant for storage of data, such as music, movies, back up, etc.

lastly, any suggestions on what to do if I want to dual boot XP and Vista? I was not able to figure out a reasonable way to do dual booting like this.

thanks for any input.

ps. oh i don't want to raid 0, moreover I can not because my two hd's are different sizes.
 
You did not mention the drive sizes or model numbers, but here s what I would do in your situation assuming 2 equal sized drives.

drive 1 partition 1, 30 gig or so, XP install.
drive1 partition 2, 5 gig for Vista swap file.
drive 1 partition 3 rest of drive for programs and storage.

drive 2 partition 1 60 gig or so for Vista install.
drive 2 partition 2 5 gig or so for XP swap file.
drive 2 partition rest of drive for programs and storage.

Search the web for dual boot instructions.

Don
 
Sorry because I have not actually figured out my 2nd hard drive yet (a 500gb or 750gb probably, maybe the 640gb unreleased 320gb platter wd's) and my first one is 250gb. (WD2500KS)
I know how to dual boot install, but I just didn't want to dump both OS on the same partition, thanks for tell me how to do it with partitions though =)

And did you mean "drive 2 partition 2 5 gig or so for XP swap file." ?
 
You want to put the swap file on a separate drive from the OS if possible. That way hits to the swap file aren't slowing down your main system drive.

Obviously, the faster drive should get the OS you expect to use the most.

And did you mean "drive 2 partition 2 5 gig or so for XP swap file." ?
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Yep, look at the time I was typing that post. I'm amazed it was coherent at all. :cool:

Don
 
With sufficient RAM, the swap file should not be much of an issue, I've not had it with 2 GB RAM on XP Pro. But if you don't correctly anticipate Vista's usage, and the swap file becomes heavily utilitzed, then I'd recomment having it at the front of the drive as the first partition. Besides, moving the OS back 5 GB to be the second part on a 250 GB drive will not be noticeable, but the reverse is not true.

And from what I recall, you cannot install Vista in the same partition anyway, so you don't need to worry about that. Also, it is likely that your new drive will be the faster drive as well. Frustrating, since what we need speed for is not what we usually need space for. That is why I like Raptors. That, and reliability.
 
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