Advice on plethora of HDD's & 2 SSD's

Nathanr411

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Location
Opelousas LA
Let me first list my HDD'S & SSD inventory

I have 6 HDD'S 4 of the 1TB Each so that's 4TB & 2 more @ 500GB = 1TB= (in total 5TB) in HDD storage.
I also have 2 SSD's @ 120GB each = 240GB
....So
If anyone has ever dabbled in home studio recording and on top of that uses "Virtual Instruments" (not the cheap kind either) will know that you need a heck of a lot of storage space. Virtual instruments alone can have a massive sound library and if you have a lot of instruments, then it is a good idea to buy storage. Especially how cheap it is these days. The way I have it set up currently is, on one SSD I have win7 and this past Sunday I purchased win 8 and put it on my second SSD. I labeled both accordingly.
My current setup for my HDD's is setup as the following. I have a 1TB HDD that is labeled "Dedicated to sound library's and drum loops" the next one is a 1TB labeled dedicated to studio recordings. Then another 1TB labeled "location backup" (backup is done by crashplane, both online and physical backup) then I have a 500GB labeled "saved documents & videos"
So I'm left with 1TB HDD & 1 500GB HDD.

My question is this. First, is it possible (if so would it make sense) to Raid configure 2 SSD's? And is my current setup any good? I'm trying my best to keep as many installed programs on other HDD's and keep my SSD'S with the OS only. I'm just curious how you guys would do it. Without a doubt it's you guys here on this forum give the best ideas and the smartest of all on windows and all things computer tech. Thank you for taking the time reading this and appreciate anyone's advice. Cheers my friends.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    windows 10
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus
    CPU
    Intel i7-4500 CPU @ 1.80 GHz
    Motherboard
    Asus Q550LF
    Memory
    8GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Nvidia GeForce GT 745M
    Sound Card
    AudioBox USB, Tascam US1641
    Hard Drives
    Samsung SSD 840 PRO series/main C: drive, Win8.1 installed
    Vertex3 120GB SSD
    Western Digital HDD 1TB/ Qty3
    Western Digital HDD 500GB
    Western Digital HDD 120GB
    PSU
    Thermaltake Black Widow TR2RX 850W
    Browser
    Chrome
    Antivirus
    Kaspersky
Do you have this set up as a huge Array? If I were you, I would keep the drives separate, because if one drive in an array goes bad, it's a COMPLETE data loss.

I would at least set up a mirrored array, so that nothing will be lost even if one drive goes bad.

I use Pro Tools, and I have a LOT of drives I use for storage for this stuff. I've lost drives before, so I keep important files on more than one drive.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Pro with Media Center/Windows 7
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus M2N-MX SE Plus § DualCore AMD Athlon 64 X2, 2300 MHz (11.5 x 200) 4400+ § Corsair Value Select
    CPU
    AMD 4400+/4200+
    Motherboard
    Asus M2N-MX SE Plus/Asus A8M2N-LA (NodusM)
    Memory
    2 GB/3GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    GeForce 8400 GS/GeForce 210
    Sound Card
    nVIDIA GT218 - High Definition Audio Controller
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Hitachi 40" LCD HDTV
    Screen Resolution
    "1842 x 1036"
    Hard Drives
    WDC WD50 00AAKS-007AA SCSI Disk Device
    ST1000DL 002-9TT153 SCSI Disk Device
    WDC WD3200AAJB-00J3A0 ATA Device
    WDC WD32 WD-WCAPZ2942630 USB Device
    WD My Book 1140 USB Device
    PSU
    Works 550w
    Case
    MSI "M-Box"
    Cooling
    Water Cooled
    Keyboard
    Dell Keyboard
    Mouse
    Microsoft Intellimouse
    Internet Speed
    Cable Medium Speed
    Browser
    Chrome/IE 10
    Antivirus
    Eset NOD32 6.x/Win Defend
    Other Info
    Recently lost my Windows 8 on my main PC, had to go back to Windows 7.
I don't see much value in doing a RAID 0 on the SSD's for the OS. The biggest bang you get with SSD's is ultra low random access times. This won't improve with a RAID config. You will get more throughput, but you probably don't need anymore throughput than you get with 1 SSD for running the OS.

I would recommend keeping your other data drives separate as suggested above and for the same reasons.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Self-Built in July 2009
    CPU
    Intel Q9550 2.83Ghz OC'd to 3.40Ghz
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3R rev. 1.1, F12 BIOS
    Memory
    8GB G.Skill PI DDR2-800, 4-4-4-12 timings
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA 1280MB Nvidia GeForce GTX570
    Sound Card
    Realtek ALC899A 8 channel onboard audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    23" Acer x233H
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    Intel X25-M 80GB Gen 2 SSD
    Western Digital 1TB Caviar Black, 32MB cache. WD1001FALS
    PSU
    Corsair 620HX modular
    Case
    Antec P182
    Cooling
    stock
    Keyboard
    ABS M1 Mechanical
    Mouse
    Logitech G9 Laser Mouse
    Internet Speed
    15/2 cable modem
    Other Info
    Windows and Linux enthusiast. Logitech G35 Headset.
Pparks can you do that, I've never tried to Raid any SSD drives.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Pro with Media Center/Windows 7
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus M2N-MX SE Plus § DualCore AMD Athlon 64 X2, 2300 MHz (11.5 x 200) 4400+ § Corsair Value Select
    CPU
    AMD 4400+/4200+
    Motherboard
    Asus M2N-MX SE Plus/Asus A8M2N-LA (NodusM)
    Memory
    2 GB/3GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    GeForce 8400 GS/GeForce 210
    Sound Card
    nVIDIA GT218 - High Definition Audio Controller
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Hitachi 40" LCD HDTV
    Screen Resolution
    "1842 x 1036"
    Hard Drives
    WDC WD50 00AAKS-007AA SCSI Disk Device
    ST1000DL 002-9TT153 SCSI Disk Device
    WDC WD3200AAJB-00J3A0 ATA Device
    WDC WD32 WD-WCAPZ2942630 USB Device
    WD My Book 1140 USB Device
    PSU
    Works 550w
    Case
    MSI "M-Box"
    Cooling
    Water Cooled
    Keyboard
    Dell Keyboard
    Mouse
    Microsoft Intellimouse
    Internet Speed
    Cable Medium Speed
    Browser
    Chrome/IE 10
    Antivirus
    Eset NOD32 6.x/Win Defend
    Other Info
    Recently lost my Windows 8 on my main PC, had to go back to Windows 7.

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Self-Built in July 2009
    CPU
    Intel Q9550 2.83Ghz OC'd to 3.40Ghz
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3R rev. 1.1, F12 BIOS
    Memory
    8GB G.Skill PI DDR2-800, 4-4-4-12 timings
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA 1280MB Nvidia GeForce GTX570
    Sound Card
    Realtek ALC899A 8 channel onboard audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    23" Acer x233H
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    Intel X25-M 80GB Gen 2 SSD
    Western Digital 1TB Caviar Black, 32MB cache. WD1001FALS
    PSU
    Corsair 620HX modular
    Case
    Antec P182
    Cooling
    stock
    Keyboard
    ABS M1 Mechanical
    Mouse
    Logitech G9 Laser Mouse
    Internet Speed
    15/2 cable modem
    Other Info
    Windows and Linux enthusiast. Logitech G35 Headset.
I suppose there would not be any reason why I couldn't do it. But the question would be, why, do SSD drives fail that much?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Pro with Media Center/Windows 7
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus M2N-MX SE Plus § DualCore AMD Athlon 64 X2, 2300 MHz (11.5 x 200) 4400+ § Corsair Value Select
    CPU
    AMD 4400+/4200+
    Motherboard
    Asus M2N-MX SE Plus/Asus A8M2N-LA (NodusM)
    Memory
    2 GB/3GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    GeForce 8400 GS/GeForce 210
    Sound Card
    nVIDIA GT218 - High Definition Audio Controller
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Hitachi 40" LCD HDTV
    Screen Resolution
    "1842 x 1036"
    Hard Drives
    WDC WD50 00AAKS-007AA SCSI Disk Device
    ST1000DL 002-9TT153 SCSI Disk Device
    WDC WD3200AAJB-00J3A0 ATA Device
    WDC WD32 WD-WCAPZ2942630 USB Device
    WD My Book 1140 USB Device
    PSU
    Works 550w
    Case
    MSI "M-Box"
    Cooling
    Water Cooled
    Keyboard
    Dell Keyboard
    Mouse
    Microsoft Intellimouse
    Internet Speed
    Cable Medium Speed
    Browser
    Chrome/IE 10
    Antivirus
    Eset NOD32 6.x/Win Defend
    Other Info
    Recently lost my Windows 8 on my main PC, had to go back to Windows 7.

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Self-Built in July 2009
    CPU
    Intel Q9550 2.83Ghz OC'd to 3.40Ghz
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3R rev. 1.1, F12 BIOS
    Memory
    8GB G.Skill PI DDR2-800, 4-4-4-12 timings
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA 1280MB Nvidia GeForce GTX570
    Sound Card
    Realtek ALC899A 8 channel onboard audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    23" Acer x233H
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    Intel X25-M 80GB Gen 2 SSD
    Western Digital 1TB Caviar Black, 32MB cache. WD1001FALS
    PSU
    Corsair 620HX modular
    Case
    Antec P182
    Cooling
    stock
    Keyboard
    ABS M1 Mechanical
    Mouse
    Logitech G9 Laser Mouse
    Internet Speed
    15/2 cable modem
    Other Info
    Windows and Linux enthusiast. Logitech G35 Headset.
I've been considering switching over to all SSD drives, cos I have lost too many important files over the years. If I had good drives, I would not have to worry much about losing data - I keep at least 3 backups of files and programs
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Pro with Media Center/Windows 7
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus M2N-MX SE Plus § DualCore AMD Athlon 64 X2, 2300 MHz (11.5 x 200) 4400+ § Corsair Value Select
    CPU
    AMD 4400+/4200+
    Motherboard
    Asus M2N-MX SE Plus/Asus A8M2N-LA (NodusM)
    Memory
    2 GB/3GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    GeForce 8400 GS/GeForce 210
    Sound Card
    nVIDIA GT218 - High Definition Audio Controller
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Hitachi 40" LCD HDTV
    Screen Resolution
    "1842 x 1036"
    Hard Drives
    WDC WD50 00AAKS-007AA SCSI Disk Device
    ST1000DL 002-9TT153 SCSI Disk Device
    WDC WD3200AAJB-00J3A0 ATA Device
    WDC WD32 WD-WCAPZ2942630 USB Device
    WD My Book 1140 USB Device
    PSU
    Works 550w
    Case
    MSI "M-Box"
    Cooling
    Water Cooled
    Keyboard
    Dell Keyboard
    Mouse
    Microsoft Intellimouse
    Internet Speed
    Cable Medium Speed
    Browser
    Chrome/IE 10
    Antivirus
    Eset NOD32 6.x/Win Defend
    Other Info
    Recently lost my Windows 8 on my main PC, had to go back to Windows 7.
@XweAponX If you have deep pockets go for it. The price has come down but its still more expensive to buy an SSD over a spinner. Especially large capacity drives. I went all SSD in my laptop but it only has two drives, a 128 gig and a 256 gig. Still it cost me about 400 bucks to go that route.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Education 64 Bit
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus
    CPU
    AMD Phenom II X4 980 Black Edition Deneb 3.7GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS M4N68T-M V2 µATX Motherboard
    Memory
    8GB 4GBx2 Kingston PC10600 DDR3 1333 Memory
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA Geforce GT640 2 Gig DDR3 PCIe
    Sound Card
    VIA VT1708s High Definition Audio 8-channel Onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    22" LG E2242 1080p and 2 19" I-INC AG191D
    Screen Resolution
    1280x1024 - 1920x1080 - 1280x1024
    Hard Drives
    Crucial MX100 256 GB SSD and 500 GB WD Blue SATA
    PSU
    Thermaltake TR 620
    Case
    Power Up Black ATX Mid-Tower Case
    Cooling
    Stock heatsink fan
    Keyboard
    Logitech Wireless K350 Wave
    Mouse
    Logitech M570 Trackball and T650 TouchPad
    Internet Speed
    80 Mbps Down 30 Mbps Up
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
    Other Info
    HP DVD1040e Lightscribe - External USB2
The easiest way to do it is to have an USB (preferably USB3) docking station and plug the drives in it as needed, that way they could be stored safely when not in use, not clutter pc with them and be available in a minute or two. There are some with ports for both 3.5" and 2.5" drives
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home made
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen7 2700x
    Motherboard
    Asus Prime x470 Pro
    Memory
    16GB Kingston 3600
    Graphics Card(s)
    Asus strix 570 OC 4gb
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 960 evo 250GB
    Silicon Power V70 240GB SSD
    WD 1 TB Blue
    WD 2 TB Blue
    Bunch of backup HDDs.
    PSU
    Sharkoon, Silent Storm 660W
    Case
    Raidmax
    Cooling
    CCM Nepton 140xl
    Internet Speed
    40/2 Mbps
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    WD
I know its been a while since i first posted this question about Raiding 2 SSD's but I just remembered something on why I am wanting to do this. There are a lot of programs I use (mainly audio) when installing it never gives me the option of where to install! It just automatically installs on what ever drive the OS is on. well, This seriously would not be a issue if I just had a little bit more storage space. My SSD is constantly in the red and the OS is just now recently starting to freeze up or drop to a crawling pace. This is so frustrating! So, You guys are saying it really does not make sense to raid my 2 SSD's to form 1 Large Drive and I would then use the other 6 HDD's to store plugins, Audio Files, And the programs that let me instal in other places besides the drive of the OS. Can you guys explain to me in detail why this would be a move of the retard and inlighten me to the way of the storage space jedi?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    windows 10
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus
    CPU
    Intel i7-4500 CPU @ 1.80 GHz
    Motherboard
    Asus Q550LF
    Memory
    8GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Nvidia GeForce GT 745M
    Sound Card
    AudioBox USB, Tascam US1641
    Hard Drives
    Samsung SSD 840 PRO series/main C: drive, Win8.1 installed
    Vertex3 120GB SSD
    Western Digital HDD 1TB/ Qty3
    Western Digital HDD 500GB
    Western Digital HDD 120GB
    PSU
    Thermaltake Black Widow TR2RX 850W
    Browser
    Chrome
    Antivirus
    Kaspersky
I haven't used a RAID array in a long time but the few times I did it ended up being a pain in the but. I didn't find it very reliable or stable, especially if you are striping. The novelty or rebuilding my array, yet again, quickly wore off and I went back to a normal setup. Anybody that's played around with RAID setups can likely tell you a horror story or two. Just my 2 cents.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Education 64 Bit
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus
    CPU
    AMD Phenom II X4 980 Black Edition Deneb 3.7GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS M4N68T-M V2 µATX Motherboard
    Memory
    8GB 4GBx2 Kingston PC10600 DDR3 1333 Memory
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA Geforce GT640 2 Gig DDR3 PCIe
    Sound Card
    VIA VT1708s High Definition Audio 8-channel Onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    22" LG E2242 1080p and 2 19" I-INC AG191D
    Screen Resolution
    1280x1024 - 1920x1080 - 1280x1024
    Hard Drives
    Crucial MX100 256 GB SSD and 500 GB WD Blue SATA
    PSU
    Thermaltake TR 620
    Case
    Power Up Black ATX Mid-Tower Case
    Cooling
    Stock heatsink fan
    Keyboard
    Logitech Wireless K350 Wave
    Mouse
    Logitech M570 Trackball and T650 TouchPad
    Internet Speed
    80 Mbps Down 30 Mbps Up
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
    Other Info
    HP DVD1040e Lightscribe - External USB2
I have done what you are talking about so can give my experience. If your BIOS lets you stripe the two SSDs then you are able to double the size of your C: which sounds like what you are most in need of.

However you also double the odds of a failure for the system drive by doing this. So as long as you religiously system image/ backup your RAID to a different drive you can recover.

In my case I had one of the SATA ports start to intermittently go bad, which caused me to lose my drive set. But since I had a good backup I was able to move to a different port and recover my system.

In short, remember you are doubling the number of single point failures that can hose your day.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Microsoft Windows 8.1 Pro 64-bit 9600 Multiprocessor Free
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell/XPS 410
    CPU
    Intel(R) Core(TM)2 CPU 6420 @ 2.13GHz
    Motherboard
    Dell Inc. 0CT017
    Memory
    4.00 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GTS
    Sound Card
    High Definition Audio Device
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dual Dell SP1908FP (DVI)
    Screen Resolution
    1280 x 1024 x 32 bits (4294967296 colors) @ 60 Hz
    Hard Drives
    (1) WDC WD7501AALS-00J7B0 (2) WDC WD10EARS-00Y5B1 (3) WDC WD7501AALS-00J7B0 (4) SAMSUNG SSD 830 Series
Thank you guys for the experience advice. Tell me if this makes sense. What if I install windows on my 1 TB HDD and then install my audio programs (Cubse 7 & Ableton live 9) on my SSD? cubase has always been known to take a while loading up. Would load up time be quicker on a SSD? Ive read more then a few post on others Raiding their SSD's and when they do fail the SSD's are no longer usable. SCREW THAT NOISE!! I decided I rather not risk that. I really do not care about load up time on the OS. I do care cutting load up times on my DAW's (Digital Audio Workstations)
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    windows 10
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus
    CPU
    Intel i7-4500 CPU @ 1.80 GHz
    Motherboard
    Asus Q550LF
    Memory
    8GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Nvidia GeForce GT 745M
    Sound Card
    AudioBox USB, Tascam US1641
    Hard Drives
    Samsung SSD 840 PRO series/main C: drive, Win8.1 installed
    Vertex3 120GB SSD
    Western Digital HDD 1TB/ Qty3
    Western Digital HDD 500GB
    Western Digital HDD 120GB
    PSU
    Thermaltake Black Widow TR2RX 850W
    Browser
    Chrome
    Antivirus
    Kaspersky
If you can afford it I'd just buy a bigger SSD to replace or compliment the one you have now. Just my 2 cents.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Education 64 Bit
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus
    CPU
    AMD Phenom II X4 980 Black Edition Deneb 3.7GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS M4N68T-M V2 µATX Motherboard
    Memory
    8GB 4GBx2 Kingston PC10600 DDR3 1333 Memory
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA Geforce GT640 2 Gig DDR3 PCIe
    Sound Card
    VIA VT1708s High Definition Audio 8-channel Onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    22" LG E2242 1080p and 2 19" I-INC AG191D
    Screen Resolution
    1280x1024 - 1920x1080 - 1280x1024
    Hard Drives
    Crucial MX100 256 GB SSD and 500 GB WD Blue SATA
    PSU
    Thermaltake TR 620
    Case
    Power Up Black ATX Mid-Tower Case
    Cooling
    Stock heatsink fan
    Keyboard
    Logitech Wireless K350 Wave
    Mouse
    Logitech M570 Trackball and T650 TouchPad
    Internet Speed
    80 Mbps Down 30 Mbps Up
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
    Other Info
    HP DVD1040e Lightscribe - External USB2
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