Regarding backing up LP collection. Wouldn't it be cool to be able to take a 3D snapshot of the record with what the needle is doing and play it back from a virtual record player? Did I just invent a new concept? Play a record into some sort of program that creates a .stl file and plays them back. "Softplate"?
It depends how you read "back up". You can use RAID strategies for backing up your data. Simply by adding more RAID servers in your intranet fabric.
Corporate users will also leverage their storage servers across geographically separate data centers... thus achieving back up as well. In the home, yes, the safest way to "back up" your data is to store in element safe storage.
Read how I described my configuration. If an OS crashes, it takes me five minutes to swap local hard drive. If the user machine crashes, I got two more ready to rock. If one NAS crashes, I got another one. If both NAS crash, I got three more RAID hosts... All on line.
Quadruple redundancy. With backup of drivers, hardware, host machines, local drives.. etc...
Everything is external...
I also store the data in large 10TB drivers, monthly or so, and store that in a fire/water proof safe.
I have been looking at stuff like this for a few years now but I haven't pulled the trigger yet:
https://www.amazon.com/ioSafe-218-DISKLESS-Diskless-Fireproof-Waterproof/dp/B079VR38V1
Unfortunately, I don't know how to "backup" my LP collection... and, no, don't tell me to use an AD/DAC... I'm doing that, but then I go and update the turntable/phono preamp/cartridge.... and I'm back to square one.
My post is directed at original poster.
I replicate my Truenas to another Truenas running ZFS 2, similar to RAID 6, but better at controlling corruption and can survive a motherboard or controller failure. Copied via Rsync between truenas nodes and to a Open Media Vault nas to single removable disk as a safety.
Regarding backing up LP collection. Wouldn't it be cool to be able to take a 3D snapshot of the record with what the needle is doing and play it back from a virtual record player? Did I just invent a new concept? Play a record into some sort of program that creates a .stl file and plays them back. "Softplate"?
Sadly you just reinvented hot water.
20 years ago there was a concept about optical 'reading' in place of stylus ( mainly interesting for archive). To my knowledge it never took off despite the very good idea.
And if you thoughts about using tape to store digital...
https://www.vintagedigital.com.au/sony-pcm-3348hr-dash-digital-recorder/
Or
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaz_drive
Iomega's solutions were consummer kind, the same system were used in bank, etc,etc,... much more reliable but very pricey ( Jaz and Zip where f...ing unreliable...).
Both vinyl and tape have known and relatively long shelf life. Digital storage media...😧
For LP backup ( i only buy LP for more than 10years now- except for albums only availlable digital of course...) i digitize them through my 'better' TT and Stylus ( Technics SL10/310mc or SL12XXmk2/Ortofon Club mm), and a selection of Riaa pre ( Rjm's phonoclone, Rca Ba-21a (tube), Freevox's desk). Adc are the one of my Dolby Lake.
Then a bit of Izotope RX treatment.
It saves on my stylus ( mc mainly) and vinyls.
Once digitized i have cloud and hdd physical storage. When i was still running studio i used raid5.
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The problem about digitizing LPs, and I've been doing this for almost 20 years now, into 24/96 WAV files....
...change cartridge, preamp, upgrade turntable (a Linn LP12) AD/DAC....
...and suddenly all of those recordings are obsolete and you got to start again.
So, as much as my current set up is pretty good ( using an RME ADI2 Pro RS ) I'd rather keep vacuuming the records, keeping the cartridge clean and hope we don't have a fire.
I just don't have the time to record all of them, again and again and again.... going around in circles.... how apropos!
And to think that once upon a time I would use Cubase to zap the pops! Got pretty good at it too.... I guess I just gave up, keeping the records and stylus very clean seem to do the trick.
As it turns out, LPs are pretty good at surviving quakes... my old coworker's very extensive LP collection, which took a whole room in his house, survived the Northridge quake, even though they all ended up on the floor. Turns out that when thousands of LPs all come down together they make a pretty strong set... even if it took him like months to reassemble it.... He told me it took him two weeks for him to gather the strength of character to even open the door to assess any damage... turns out only the shelves were damaged.
...change cartridge, preamp, upgrade turntable (a Linn LP12) AD/DAC....
...and suddenly all of those recordings are obsolete and you got to start again.
So, as much as my current set up is pretty good ( using an RME ADI2 Pro RS ) I'd rather keep vacuuming the records, keeping the cartridge clean and hope we don't have a fire.
I just don't have the time to record all of them, again and again and again.... going around in circles.... how apropos!
And to think that once upon a time I would use Cubase to zap the pops! Got pretty good at it too.... I guess I just gave up, keeping the records and stylus very clean seem to do the trick.
As it turns out, LPs are pretty good at surviving quakes... my old coworker's very extensive LP collection, which took a whole room in his house, survived the Northridge quake, even though they all ended up on the floor. Turns out that when thousands of LPs all come down together they make a pretty strong set... even if it took him like months to reassemble it.... He told me it took him two weeks for him to gather the strength of character to even open the door to assess any damage... turns out only the shelves were damaged.
I get your point tonyEE but... are you sure about the improvement when you upgraded things in your TT chain?
I mean a 0,1db difference will make you prefer the loudest one 100% of time. This is a real issue when comparing things.
Of course some improvements are obvious ( the difference between 310mc and Ortofon OM40 (mm) is obvious) but once you are past a treshold in quality it often is more a personal preference than a real step up in quality.
I decided to not enter the circle of confusion, i choosen ADC/DAC some 10 years ago and did some test during this period of time: yes there was better convertors but the price to pay didn't made it for me, so i still use them. Same with cartdrige ( that said i have still to listen to something better than SL10/310mc couple... i've never been convinced by anything i've heard even costing 100x the value...).
Preamp is a bit different i agree and why i have different one ( the music style play a role too: why i still have an Ortofon concorde/1200mk2 for electronic music as it often sound just 'right).'
I came to same conclusion as you about cleanness of stylus/records. Kind of OCD for me: each play see the record and stylus cleaning...
If you can try to find an evaluation copy of Izotope RX. I still use RX7 for 'restauration': it's the fastest and most efficient piece of software i've used for this kind of things ( even used Cedar in pro context but i prefer RX).
I mean a 0,1db difference will make you prefer the loudest one 100% of time. This is a real issue when comparing things.
Of course some improvements are obvious ( the difference between 310mc and Ortofon OM40 (mm) is obvious) but once you are past a treshold in quality it often is more a personal preference than a real step up in quality.
I decided to not enter the circle of confusion, i choosen ADC/DAC some 10 years ago and did some test during this period of time: yes there was better convertors but the price to pay didn't made it for me, so i still use them. Same with cartdrige ( that said i have still to listen to something better than SL10/310mc couple... i've never been convinced by anything i've heard even costing 100x the value...).
Preamp is a bit different i agree and why i have different one ( the music style play a role too: why i still have an Ortofon concorde/1200mk2 for electronic music as it often sound just 'right).'
I came to same conclusion as you about cleanness of stylus/records. Kind of OCD for me: each play see the record and stylus cleaning...
If you can try to find an evaluation copy of Izotope RX. I still use RX7 for 'restauration': it's the fastest and most efficient piece of software i've used for this kind of things ( even used Cedar in pro context but i prefer RX).
The whole point of spending money on my LP reproduction chain may be past the law of diminishing returns but...
In the last year I got a highly customized (scary BoM) Pearl 2 preamp with an awesome real panel ( great work... ) with knobs that I can use to set the capacitance, resistance and gain. Now, I'm thinking I need to Xono power supply - don't need to controller part, just the part for the analog.
Mind you, just four years ago I had my preamp, a CJ PV9, fully restored and they added the teflon caps ( preamp has a really good phono stage ).
So, now, I got two phono stages that are world class.
Of course, I'm getting a Radikal bearing.
TT got the Trampolin-2 upgrade four years ago... and it's Lingo'd... so maybe I need a Lingo 4.
And, naturally, I did the upgrade to the Grado Master 2 - low gain. But maybe I need a better MC?
I'm trying very hard to avoid the Keel, because that will lead to an Ekos. Right now I'm happy with an Ittok LV-II.
Sure, I also did upgrade to the RME which is insane, but I got it used with low miles from another guy who realized that it was overkill for his needs... it is for mine, but then... why not?
Right now I'm busy getting the SiT amps... and then figuring out how to stage the 2nd F4... And I'm thinking I need to open up the Burson Swing DAC and swap the updated v5 Op Amps for the v6 Classics that I bought last year.
So, I decided that I maybe don't have the time to re-record everything. I find that Tidal HiFi has about 80% of the music I want to play. (*).. and then when I get serious, I pull out the LPs.
(*) I was amazed they have a good collection of Hot Rize and Red Knuckles And The Trailblazers....
In the last year I got a highly customized (scary BoM) Pearl 2 preamp with an awesome real panel ( great work... ) with knobs that I can use to set the capacitance, resistance and gain. Now, I'm thinking I need to Xono power supply - don't need to controller part, just the part for the analog.
Mind you, just four years ago I had my preamp, a CJ PV9, fully restored and they added the teflon caps ( preamp has a really good phono stage ).
So, now, I got two phono stages that are world class.
Of course, I'm getting a Radikal bearing.
TT got the Trampolin-2 upgrade four years ago... and it's Lingo'd... so maybe I need a Lingo 4.
And, naturally, I did the upgrade to the Grado Master 2 - low gain. But maybe I need a better MC?
I'm trying very hard to avoid the Keel, because that will lead to an Ekos. Right now I'm happy with an Ittok LV-II.
Sure, I also did upgrade to the RME which is insane, but I got it used with low miles from another guy who realized that it was overkill for his needs... it is for mine, but then... why not?
Right now I'm busy getting the SiT amps... and then figuring out how to stage the 2nd F4... And I'm thinking I need to open up the Burson Swing DAC and swap the updated v5 Op Amps for the v6 Classics that I bought last year.
So, I decided that I maybe don't have the time to re-record everything. I find that Tidal HiFi has about 80% of the music I want to play. (*).. and then when I get serious, I pull out the LPs.
(*) I was amazed they have a good collection of Hot Rize and Red Knuckles And The Trailblazers....
There is a lot of information to filter through. I'll take a good look at ZFSMy post is directed at original poster.
I replicate my Truenas to another Truenas running ZFS 2, similar to RAID 6, but better at controlling corruption and can survive a motherboard or controller failure. Copied via Rsync between truenas nodes and to a Open Media Vault nas to single removable disk as a safety.
Guys
I totally understand the use of these really sophisticated systems. My situation is though fairly light duty. I have highlighted my exact circumstance. My budget is extremely tight and being in a 'tiny home', so is the space. How much continuity and redundancy would I achieve with the following parts and stratagem (let's leave memory upgrade aside as I will be migrating to macOS in the future and will max the RAM out on that and leave this PC as the HTPC only). I am in the middle of the one room (bedroom, studio, workstation) renovation and all these will have to share desk space and aesthetics with the Roland Aira and Akai based studio gear. I chose the clear cases to match with the deck savers for the audio gear. I am building a narrow granite look desk with bamboo flat plates allocated to existing and impending items. My strategy to remove clutter and prevent the Mrs and I from putting things on any available flat surface
The only one that I need setting up for is my collection of YouTube music video clips. This is around 150gb now and not likely to exceed 500 at all. This pair of SSDs tout protection against power outage. The array will only get written to once when filing a clip. The collection is sorted into two playlists, family safe and Raw. One of the two playlists is playing 24/7 in the background on random and only played from VLC on the HTPC
The only problem that remains is 3D modelling. This seems to max out the 8gb RAM and use a lot of virtual memory on top. Would adding an extra SSD as dedicated virtual memory relieve this situation?
https://www.mwave.com.au/product/cr...1047?cfclick=a8066fa6c06d441885d7b3926392a71d
x 2 for RAID 2 use for filing and playing back music video clips (already bought)
x 1 for virtual memory for 3D work and will move to the new mac after migration
https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/182951696225
x 2 (already bought) attached to the Windows 10 PC to house the SSD RAID 2 pair and will stay there. Will switch OS to Linux once the mac migration is done. Then the PC will only be used for Firefox, MediaMonkey and VLC. Would this be the simplest way to have a standalone box that can manage its own file system without any intervention from Windows 10? Would the simple RAID 2 array be sufficient to ensure music video collection continuity?
x 1 for virtual memory SSD
https://www.officeworks.com.au/shop/officeworks/p/toshiba-canvio-ready-hard-drive-1tb-tocvrdy1tb
x 1 as scratch disk for media remastering before filing to clip library or iCloud music and photos. Being a workstation peripheral, this will move to the mac too
Google Drive for work files (CAD, graphic designs, docs)
You folks sound like you have this thing well in hand. Could I please request help with aligning my strategy and items to something that can cover us for the next 5yrs or so? I have chosen some of the items due to price vs performance as the budget is really very tight and space extremely limited
Thanks and regards
Randy
Sadly you just reinvented hot water.
20 years ago there was a concept about optical 'reading' in place of stylus ( mainly interesting for archive). To my knowledge it never took off despite the very good idea.
I should elaborate to fully appreciate the concept
The groove is a physical analog timeline wrapped up in a spiral, isn't it?
Can this be scanned to a .stl file? A 3D model of the record, not a recording
Can something like Roland's analog circuit behaviour be used to run a virtual needle along this groove and famous stylus, pres and players emulated?
This is very different to recording the track from the record
Wouldn't this mean that the record will only be under 10 or so megabytes?
Why would this file size not be a great way to archive not only records but make our own virtual 'softplates' to store an albums worth of music in a tiny space?
SSD ALWAYS WRITE.
It's called garbage collection.
Even though the user may think they only write the file once, in reality the physical blocks that make up that file are routinely going through a read/write/erase cycle to ensure the viability of the storage.
You see, the NAND cells hold the charge for only so long, it's due to entropy. So, cells are "aged" and when they exceed some age the entire block gets read out and written to a different block. The original block is then erased ( which resets the hardware by annealing the transistors ) and put back in the available for write pool.
This process can also have unintended consequences, because it may be that "logical storage" spread across several blocks might be coalesced into fewer blocks... so, it may be that many blocks are read/write/erase cycled during garbage collection. And then you got Write Amplification.
SSD is NOT like HDDs, they are very different animals... that's why I do not recommend they get used for RAID at all... and not for any kind of long term storage. ( Note: I have spent years doing R&D on such.... ).
My simple advice is to get a simple Mediasonic RAID enclosure, stuff it with four small discs... like 4TB each, configure it as RAID 5, mounted via USB3 to a Windows or Linux machine, format them as NTSC and export them via SMB. The Macs should see that since this is a standard.
A more advanced solution would be to install an NAS, equally with smaller drives. One of the advantages of going with the NAS is that it's easier to share and updating/enlarging the RAID is done by inserting one larger drive at a time and letting the array rebuild itself. With no downtime. It also removes the complexity of having a PC to share them.
Oh, something else, NAND is HEAT SENSITIVE. Don't let it get hot.
CACHING and memory:
HDD and SDD are not good for caching! USB and network are worse.
As a rule of thumb, there are two ways of using cache (and storage)... sequential and random. Sequential can usually take advantage of software heuristics to pipeline the data, so it is much faster. This means that the firmware controlling the storage ( L1, L2, L3 cache; DDR and HDD/SSD ) can operate in parallel with the core processor to move data into some intermediate cache so when the processor asks for it, it is already there... the processor doesn't have to wait until it get searched, it only has to wait for the read the transfer.
Hence, the cost of using storage of any kind as cache comes down to type of access and the type of storage ( ie: how far from the core processor the storage is).
L1, L2 and L3 caching are closest to the core and have very fast access times. L1 caching can be pipelined easily and accessed in one clock cycle. L2 caching requires a few more clock cycles. L3 caching is usually used for multi core access so it needs to go through some multi core synchronization so access is longer. In any event, the L caches are accessed via the core's local Address/Data buses... very close, or right next, to the core.
Access to DDR ( RAM ) takes far longer and is accessed via a MMU, or some memory manager peripheral chip. It takes MUCH longer to access than cache memory access. This is because it requires going to a memory address/data bus and other peripheral devices and processors might try to access it concurrently. The MMU may have some caching in it as well. Access to DDR takes three or four orders of magnitude over local L'x' cache.
SSD and HDD go out from the core to another peripheral bus controller.. could be PCI, PCIe or even a network peripheral controller, At this point it really depends on the hardware architecture. In any event, this takes like 100,000 more time that doing a simple access into L'x' cache. It is really SLOW.
( I won't even discuss network storage... it will make things run slow... so keep your data out there, but keep the caching data local! ).
So, for applications running, using logical cache in DDR is the slowest... hopefully if you have lots of L1, L2 and L3 cache it will be stored in there. Much faster!
Do not replace DDR cache with a hardware, or even and SSD. Remember that if using an SSD, it will create TONS of small random writes and it will use up a lot of power and wear out your NAND. Even with the SSD/HDD drives that feature lots of their own cache... still, it will NOT work.
If you need more RAM, buy more. 8GB of RAM today is nothing. Routinely you should be running at least 16GB or more. You should also think about the applications you are going to use when you buy the computer since L level cache is not upgradeable. If you are going to use machine intensive processing, you should buy as much cache as you can afford and then stuff it with as much fast RAM as you can afford. Only then, get a nice big hard drive with lots of internal caching... ONLY THEN... as a final solution.
++++
Anyhow, that's my business... have fun. I might retire soon. Time to go back to building analog stuff.
It's called garbage collection.
Even though the user may think they only write the file once, in reality the physical blocks that make up that file are routinely going through a read/write/erase cycle to ensure the viability of the storage.
You see, the NAND cells hold the charge for only so long, it's due to entropy. So, cells are "aged" and when they exceed some age the entire block gets read out and written to a different block. The original block is then erased ( which resets the hardware by annealing the transistors ) and put back in the available for write pool.
This process can also have unintended consequences, because it may be that "logical storage" spread across several blocks might be coalesced into fewer blocks... so, it may be that many blocks are read/write/erase cycled during garbage collection. And then you got Write Amplification.
SSD is NOT like HDDs, they are very different animals... that's why I do not recommend they get used for RAID at all... and not for any kind of long term storage. ( Note: I have spent years doing R&D on such.... ).
My simple advice is to get a simple Mediasonic RAID enclosure, stuff it with four small discs... like 4TB each, configure it as RAID 5, mounted via USB3 to a Windows or Linux machine, format them as NTSC and export them via SMB. The Macs should see that since this is a standard.
A more advanced solution would be to install an NAS, equally with smaller drives. One of the advantages of going with the NAS is that it's easier to share and updating/enlarging the RAID is done by inserting one larger drive at a time and letting the array rebuild itself. With no downtime. It also removes the complexity of having a PC to share them.
Oh, something else, NAND is HEAT SENSITIVE. Don't let it get hot.
CACHING and memory:
HDD and SDD are not good for caching! USB and network are worse.
As a rule of thumb, there are two ways of using cache (and storage)... sequential and random. Sequential can usually take advantage of software heuristics to pipeline the data, so it is much faster. This means that the firmware controlling the storage ( L1, L2, L3 cache; DDR and HDD/SSD ) can operate in parallel with the core processor to move data into some intermediate cache so when the processor asks for it, it is already there... the processor doesn't have to wait until it get searched, it only has to wait for the read the transfer.
Hence, the cost of using storage of any kind as cache comes down to type of access and the type of storage ( ie: how far from the core processor the storage is).
L1, L2 and L3 caching are closest to the core and have very fast access times. L1 caching can be pipelined easily and accessed in one clock cycle. L2 caching requires a few more clock cycles. L3 caching is usually used for multi core access so it needs to go through some multi core synchronization so access is longer. In any event, the L caches are accessed via the core's local Address/Data buses... very close, or right next, to the core.
Access to DDR ( RAM ) takes far longer and is accessed via a MMU, or some memory manager peripheral chip. It takes MUCH longer to access than cache memory access. This is because it requires going to a memory address/data bus and other peripheral devices and processors might try to access it concurrently. The MMU may have some caching in it as well. Access to DDR takes three or four orders of magnitude over local L'x' cache.
SSD and HDD go out from the core to another peripheral bus controller.. could be PCI, PCIe or even a network peripheral controller, At this point it really depends on the hardware architecture. In any event, this takes like 100,000 more time that doing a simple access into L'x' cache. It is really SLOW.
( I won't even discuss network storage... it will make things run slow... so keep your data out there, but keep the caching data local! ).
So, for applications running, using logical cache in DDR is the slowest... hopefully if you have lots of L1, L2 and L3 cache it will be stored in there. Much faster!
Do not replace DDR cache with a hardware, or even and SSD. Remember that if using an SSD, it will create TONS of small random writes and it will use up a lot of power and wear out your NAND. Even with the SSD/HDD drives that feature lots of their own cache... still, it will NOT work.
If you need more RAM, buy more. 8GB of RAM today is nothing. Routinely you should be running at least 16GB or more. You should also think about the applications you are going to use when you buy the computer since L level cache is not upgradeable. If you are going to use machine intensive processing, you should buy as much cache as you can afford and then stuff it with as much fast RAM as you can afford. Only then, get a nice big hard drive with lots of internal caching... ONLY THEN... as a final solution.
++++
Anyhow, that's my business... have fun. I might retire soon. Time to go back to building analog stuff.
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OK, so what do you want?
Hopefully this will explain a number of things... and will open up your eyes as to what the stuff is doing behind the Green Curtain. The vast majority of people do not understand these things and often will reject advice that is technically very sound. Not everyone has the advantage of professional and academic backgrounds to understand how these things work.
So, DO NOT USE SSD in any kind of RAID.
Realize that SSD will wear out faster than HDD. All other things being equal, the magnetic storage in the platters is far more stable than the stored voltage in the NAND cells.
Do not use SSD for any kind of logical data and application caching... NONONONONONO
Understand that using HDD for application caching will slow things down tremendously.
If you want to use NAD for application caching, make sure you got a good coffee machine you can spend lots of time fiddling with while the code runs.
Anyhow, that's my business... have fun. I might retire soon. Time to go back to building analog stuff.
Hopefully this will explain a number of things... and will open up your eyes as to what the stuff is doing behind the Green Curtain. The vast majority of people do not understand these things and often will reject advice that is technically very sound. Not everyone has the advantage of professional and academic backgrounds to understand how these things work.
So, DO NOT USE SSD in any kind of RAID.
Realize that SSD will wear out faster than HDD. All other things being equal, the magnetic storage in the platters is far more stable than the stored voltage in the NAND cells.
Do not use SSD for any kind of logical data and application caching... NONONONONONO
Understand that using HDD for application caching will slow things down tremendously.
If you want to use NAD for application caching, make sure you got a good coffee machine you can spend lots of time fiddling with while the code runs.
Anyhow, that's my business... have fun. I might retire soon. Time to go back to building analog stuff.
Thank you for going to the effort, I understand what you are saying. My pc is an i5 refurbished from eBay for a $130
I am trying to spend towards the move to the Mac workstation, which will be a mini, maxed out with ram. I’ll be limited to that architecture and performance and would have to be satisfied with that. This is primarily for the graphics, 3D and music studio. Has to be macOS and tiny footprint
Ok so no SSD on raid, thank you for explaining that. Having already spent on the SSDs, this WD below is the most that I can possibly afford to buy two of for now
https://www.mwave.com.au/product/wd...sata3-128mb-cache-hard-drive-wd10spzx-ac11347
2x for RAID 2 over USB 3. Does this ensure video library continuity?
1x for media remastering before filing, to the RAID array, scratch disk. Is this a reasonable approach to a scratch disk?
I also don't understand requiring a dedicated NAS. After the mac move. The pc will become a Linux based music and video player with the two Raided WD hard drives. It has 8 Bluetooth connection dongle, an excellent Wi-Fi dongle. It's the same size as my Yamaha MG12XU sub mixer, and they have been planned to sit on a pair of tiered bamboo plates under the desk in one corner. Would this not be the NAS and not require further desk space?
The PC has only one internal drive and 8gb ram. What's the best strategy for handling virtual ram in my case? With current needs being the PC for the next 6 months at least and then a new Mac mini. I really don't have the funds for a performance workstation on top of that. The mac will have to do
What then would be a good use for the two new SSDs?
I think my circumstances are based on these five questions and finding a usable and compact solution for each that fits a tiny budget. Please do not read any arrogance on my part, its just ignorance and limitations
Thanks and regards
Randy
I am trying to spend towards the move to the Mac workstation, which will be a mini, maxed out with ram. I’ll be limited to that architecture and performance and would have to be satisfied with that. This is primarily for the graphics, 3D and music studio. Has to be macOS and tiny footprint
Ok so no SSD on raid, thank you for explaining that. Having already spent on the SSDs, this WD below is the most that I can possibly afford to buy two of for now
https://www.mwave.com.au/product/wd...sata3-128mb-cache-hard-drive-wd10spzx-ac11347
2x for RAID 2 over USB 3. Does this ensure video library continuity?
1x for media remastering before filing, to the RAID array, scratch disk. Is this a reasonable approach to a scratch disk?
I also don't understand requiring a dedicated NAS. After the mac move. The pc will become a Linux based music and video player with the two Raided WD hard drives. It has 8 Bluetooth connection dongle, an excellent Wi-Fi dongle. It's the same size as my Yamaha MG12XU sub mixer, and they have been planned to sit on a pair of tiered bamboo plates under the desk in one corner. Would this not be the NAS and not require further desk space?
The PC has only one internal drive and 8gb ram. What's the best strategy for handling virtual ram in my case? With current needs being the PC for the next 6 months at least and then a new Mac mini. I really don't have the funds for a performance workstation on top of that. The mac will have to do
What then would be a good use for the two new SSDs?
I think my circumstances are based on these five questions and finding a usable and compact solution for each that fits a tiny budget. Please do not read any arrogance on my part, its just ignorance and limitations
Thanks and regards
Randy
https://www.officeworks.com.au/shop/officeworks/p/toshiba-canvio-ready-hard-drive-1tb-tocvrdy1tb
This is a good price for me. How much slower would a pair of these be for the raid 2 when compared to the WD hard drives?
This is a good price for me. How much slower would a pair of these be for the raid 2 when compared to the WD hard drives?
First off, at our price point, stop looking at the 2.5: driver, they are expensive, look at the larger 3.5" drives, they are cheaper and more reliable.
Are you planning on putting two USB-3 portable drives in your system?
One for main storage and a secondary one as backup? Mounted as different drives: ie: F:/ and G:/
That will work... just forget RAID for the time being, it gets expensive and you likely don't need it.
You could do that... currently I got two WD 6TB greens on one of those USB3.0 dual docks. I can copy one drive to the other or I can mount them as two drives -which is how I run it. I use one as primary, and the other one as backup... On a weekly basis I do a synchronization.
https://www.amazon.com/Dual-Drive-Docking-Station-3-5in/dp/B00KILQTS8
You likely don't need a "fast" drive since you'll be going out through USB anyhow...
https://www.amazon.com/CAVIAR-BLACK-SATA-7-2K-64MB/dp/B0038FWEV2/ref=sr_1_18?crid=1DDW18Q31AYRY&keywords=wd+black+2tb+hard+drive&qid=1679985182&refinements=p_n_feature_two_browse-bin:7817230011&rnid=562234011&s=pc&sprefix=wdc+black+2tb+hard+driv,electronics,142&sr=1-18
But, you could use the SSDs too. Assuming your SSDs are SATA3? If so they will also fit into that enclosure, just do NOT use them as RAID. Do manual backups.
If your SSDs are M.2, they also make USB3 to PCIe/M.2 adapters, I got one hooked up to a Dell MFF.
https://www.amazon.com/Sabrent-Type-C-Tool-Free-Enclosure-EC-SNVE/dp/B08RVC6F9Y/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?crid=3PN5OKDDPAX4F&keywords=usb+3+to+m.2+pcie+adapter&qid=1679985687&s=electronics&sprefix=usb+3+to+m.2+pcie+adapter,electronics,159&sr=1-1-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEzOVZGQU9NTzlQNjNXJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwOTY4MDcyMVo5TlVGMVVPRDdLUSZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwMTIzNDY5RE44NEozRDdHOUVRJndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfYXRmJmFjdGlvbj1jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==
Not being a RAID, the quality of your backups will only be as good as how often you schedule it BUT you will avoid the wear and tear and save a lot of money. You will have to manage the backups.
The price difference between 1TB and 2TB 3.5 drives is not that great. And in such configuration you likely do not need to buy the NAS drives (ie: WDC Red) because there is no parity drive.. meaning there is less HDD I/O. And as I noted earlier, being a USB3 connected drive, you don't need the speed.
Toshiba vs. WDC.... well, I like WDC/HGST because they paid my mortgage for a few years and I got a deal... but, honestly, they are probably just as good. Be aware thought that the "external drives" in a brick contain 2.5" drives and those are not as reliable as the larger 3.5" drives.
You might get away with just buying the adaptor and reusing the SSDs, NOT in RAID mode.
LOCAL RAM... are you sure your PC can only handle 8GB of RAM? Do a search on the Internet and look for your model number and see what kind of memory it can handle.
https://www.crucial.com/products/memory/memory-buying-guide
Are you planning on putting two USB-3 portable drives in your system?
One for main storage and a secondary one as backup? Mounted as different drives: ie: F:/ and G:/
That will work... just forget RAID for the time being, it gets expensive and you likely don't need it.
You could do that... currently I got two WD 6TB greens on one of those USB3.0 dual docks. I can copy one drive to the other or I can mount them as two drives -which is how I run it. I use one as primary, and the other one as backup... On a weekly basis I do a synchronization.
https://www.amazon.com/Dual-Drive-Docking-Station-3-5in/dp/B00KILQTS8
You likely don't need a "fast" drive since you'll be going out through USB anyhow...
https://www.amazon.com/CAVIAR-BLACK-SATA-7-2K-64MB/dp/B0038FWEV2/ref=sr_1_18?crid=1DDW18Q31AYRY&keywords=wd+black+2tb+hard+drive&qid=1679985182&refinements=p_n_feature_two_browse-bin:7817230011&rnid=562234011&s=pc&sprefix=wdc+black+2tb+hard+driv,electronics,142&sr=1-18
But, you could use the SSDs too. Assuming your SSDs are SATA3? If so they will also fit into that enclosure, just do NOT use them as RAID. Do manual backups.
If your SSDs are M.2, they also make USB3 to PCIe/M.2 adapters, I got one hooked up to a Dell MFF.
https://www.amazon.com/Sabrent-Type-C-Tool-Free-Enclosure-EC-SNVE/dp/B08RVC6F9Y/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?crid=3PN5OKDDPAX4F&keywords=usb+3+to+m.2+pcie+adapter&qid=1679985687&s=electronics&sprefix=usb+3+to+m.2+pcie+adapter,electronics,159&sr=1-1-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEzOVZGQU9NTzlQNjNXJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwOTY4MDcyMVo5TlVGMVVPRDdLUSZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwMTIzNDY5RE44NEozRDdHOUVRJndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfYXRmJmFjdGlvbj1jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==
Not being a RAID, the quality of your backups will only be as good as how often you schedule it BUT you will avoid the wear and tear and save a lot of money. You will have to manage the backups.
The price difference between 1TB and 2TB 3.5 drives is not that great. And in such configuration you likely do not need to buy the NAS drives (ie: WDC Red) because there is no parity drive.. meaning there is less HDD I/O. And as I noted earlier, being a USB3 connected drive, you don't need the speed.
Toshiba vs. WDC.... well, I like WDC/HGST because they paid my mortgage for a few years and I got a deal... but, honestly, they are probably just as good. Be aware thought that the "external drives" in a brick contain 2.5" drives and those are not as reliable as the larger 3.5" drives.
You might get away with just buying the adaptor and reusing the SSDs, NOT in RAID mode.
LOCAL RAM... are you sure your PC can only handle 8GB of RAM? Do a search on the Internet and look for your model number and see what kind of memory it can handle.
https://www.crucial.com/products/memory/memory-buying-guide
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No, 3 x USB 3.0 drives
2 of them in a raid 2 array directly connected to pc USB and raid set from disk management. Both drives seen as one. Will change OS to Linux after the mac move
1 of them for just temporary saving the downloaded media to before they are remastered in FL studio and filed to the raid pair. Same for graphics and stuff, before filing to cloud. Just a big temp work disk
SSD or hard drive for this job?
What to do with my two new SSDs?
2 of them in a raid 2 array directly connected to pc USB and raid set from disk management. Both drives seen as one. Will change OS to Linux after the mac move
1 of them for just temporary saving the downloaded media to before they are remastered in FL studio and filed to the raid pair. Same for graphics and stuff, before filing to cloud. Just a big temp work disk
SSD or hard drive for this job?
What to do with my two new SSDs?
You are trying to configure a "software RAID" which is doggone slow.
I would say you forget about RAID for the time being... just mount the drives separately and do manual backups.
Do RAID when you can afford a hardware enclosure that can handle at least FOUR SATA 3 3.5" HDDs.
I would say you forget about RAID for the time being... just mount the drives separately and do manual backups.
Do RAID when you can afford a hardware enclosure that can handle at least FOUR SATA 3 3.5" HDDs.
That makes sense too. I'll give the ssds ago when they arrive. Options may change by the time I get the mac anyway
BTW... so long as the SSDs are powered up, they will refresh themselves.
But, if you are going to shut them down, wrap them tightly in aluminum foil and plastic wrap and then put them in the freezer.
You might want to take them out every couple of months and power them up for a couple of days so they can refresh themselves.
So far as I know, HDD can be kept for much longer. Just make sure to wrap them in foil too.
The idea is to prevent strong magnetic fields from affecting the storage, both SSD and HDD.
Heat and time are their enemy. They are subject to decay due to entropy.
But, if you are going to shut them down, wrap them tightly in aluminum foil and plastic wrap and then put them in the freezer.
You might want to take them out every couple of months and power them up for a couple of days so they can refresh themselves.
So far as I know, HDD can be kept for much longer. Just make sure to wrap them in foil too.
The idea is to prevent strong magnetic fields from affecting the storage, both SSD and HDD.
Heat and time are their enemy. They are subject to decay due to entropy.
That's very good advice on SSD's. I've seen too many disasters with SSD's that turn out to be completely death and unrecoverable after prolonged storage without use. Very sad when people wrongly believe that SSD's are the safest most durable thing on earth and loose all their precious data.
My 1TB Toshiba USB3 hard disk and the two 500gb Crucial SSDs arrived yesterday
I'll start with the HDD and transfer all the videos to this, as well as move Windows user document folders. This should only leave the OS, applications and virtual memory on the internal drive. This Toshiba HDD will basically be a temp place to keep things before final editing and filing away to cloud or the SSDs
Would this be the best way to use this HDD in my setup?
What would be the best format for file system if used with Windows 10 then migrated to Linux?
Serious question
Is there any merit to using my 130 amp hour deep cycle battery and 200w solar panel to power some USB3 hubs to get all my bus powered gear like External SSDs and HDD, Roland VT-4 and E-4, 3x flash drives, Akai FIRE and MPK mini mk3, 2x iOS device chargers, 2x SD readers plus wall powered Roland MX-1 and JD Xi. I would need a small inverter type thing for the wall powered units. Are the battery and solar panels enough for this? These items are always connected and on
I'll start with the HDD and transfer all the videos to this, as well as move Windows user document folders. This should only leave the OS, applications and virtual memory on the internal drive. This Toshiba HDD will basically be a temp place to keep things before final editing and filing away to cloud or the SSDs
Would this be the best way to use this HDD in my setup?
What would be the best format for file system if used with Windows 10 then migrated to Linux?
BTW... so long as the SSDs are powered up, they will refresh themselves............
Serious question
Is there any merit to using my 130 amp hour deep cycle battery and 200w solar panel to power some USB3 hubs to get all my bus powered gear like External SSDs and HDD, Roland VT-4 and E-4, 3x flash drives, Akai FIRE and MPK mini mk3, 2x iOS device chargers, 2x SD readers plus wall powered Roland MX-1 and JD Xi. I would need a small inverter type thing for the wall powered units. Are the battery and solar panels enough for this? These items are always connected and on
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Plug into your computer's USB port ( hopefully it has USB3 ).
With disk management mount it a single drive. N:/ or something like that... Format it as NTFS.
You might want to make it "shareable" too if in the future you want to export it to the Mac. If some, it will be useful to name it something like "N_drive".
With disk management mount it a single drive. N:/ or something like that... Format it as NTFS.
You might want to make it "shareable" too if in the future you want to export it to the Mac. If some, it will be useful to name it something like "N_drive".
The back panel has 6 blue USB ports and 4 ports on the front, of which 2 are blue. All are currently unused, as I haven't unpacked any of the new gear yet. The two black USB ports on the front hold the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth dongles, to which three qwerty keys and two mice are connected. I am looking for some good reliable powered USB3 to USB3 and C hubs to use with the FrankenUPS
- Home
- Source & Line
- PC Based
- Raid 1 for media library