Hello I just got a new computer...Precision Core 2 Quad + 8 Gig + 3 Sata Hardrive (1disk -160 Gigs, 2disk -1 Tera each).

I would want the programs to go as fast as possible with what I have, and take advantage of dynamic lynk (premiere + after effects) which seems to require a lot of power..I plan to install diferent OS and programs in the 160 gig disk and leave the other 2 for footage.

1. In the 160 disk have different partitions (one for each OS--win or vista 64's--plus space for programs), I dont know if I should make a partition for a "windows swap" I know you can tell windows to use it but not sure it really takes advantage of it.

2. Then leave one of the tera disk for raw footage only (without partitions).

3. The other 1 tera disk for cache, final rendering, etc...(without partitions).

What I said before, I would like to have very little bottlenecks and be the fastest possible with this tree disk (no raid or anything just using the logic of partitions).

Do you think is a good compromise?

Thanks.

NO

Look here for some basic guidelines on disk setup: Adobe Forums: Storage rules for an editing rig. Some... (http://forums.adobe.com/thread/427772?tstart=30)

What about the insight and tips in this link: RADIFIED: Hard Drive Partitioning Strategies (http://partition.radified.com/partitioning.htm)

Is a little bit old but the principles seems to be very logic even today.

And what I said is have one disk with multiple partitions, but each partition with one OS and programs together in the same partition, so this means having access to the same partition, and the other 2 disk without partitions, for raw data and the other disk for renders, cache, etc...

I would rather have a swappable drive, one disk with OS #1 and another disk with OS #2.
Just exchange disks when you need a different OS. So, IMO NO PARTITIONS.

The article you linked to is severely outdated and presumes that a disk is like a house, and getting a second disk is like getting a second house. With prices of hard disks no longer any higher than a bottle of wine, there is no excuse not to get more disks. Even 1 TB disks can now be bought for less than $ 100. Even if you have only one house, you can still have many bottles of wine. When disks were expensive, the author may have been right, but that is no longer the case and when you consider the software license you pay for your NLE, hard disk space is extremely cheap.

Swappable bays have the advantage that it is easy to swap disks in case of failure, keep your OS clean and your machine lean and mean.

Hello Harm,

Thanks for the reply, you're right, hardrives are cheaper everyday and the link is quite old. So the swappable option is a great thing to do. What I still think is working nowdays is what's mention in the article about having partition limit the movement range of the disk head, so this makes it a little faster I guess, is not the same having to move across, say, 160 gigs or 50 gigs...limiting the range will improve performance a little bit...right?

Once again, thanks.

Partitions are a general NO in video/audio world. Their sole purpose is organizational - data won`t get erased on one partition if you format another one. Other than that, DON`t use them.