why have multiple hard drives?

[thelastmccabe]

Finally getting last components for building my computer, and I started wondering why so many people around here use multiple hard drives with tons of memory space. I guess you could have linux on one, and I think I saw something about using one for startup. Maybe. And I guess they'd be real useful if you had lots of stuff to save or did a lot of video editing or dvd ripping. But beyond that I'm wondering if there's any reason to go that direction--this computer is going to be for gaming. I just got some fairly generic 80 gig one, and it'll probably never even be 40 percent full. Let me know if I should change that. Thanks.

 

[DaveSimmons]

It's nice to be able to make backups of save games by just copying in windows explorer instead of having to burn a CD or DVD, other than that you should be fine with one drive.

 

[lansalot]

Pagefile - have one on each drive. While your prog is loading of drive X, it may be swapping to drive Y. Your OS is smart enough to page out to the drive not currently in use.

Video conversion (if system quick enough): read from one, write to another.

Just a couple of useful examples.

 

[corkyg]

I have, for the last 6-7 years, used multiple drives in every computer - even laptops. I don't use them at the same time - but each system has a 100% clone drive ready to switch to at the first sign of a major problem. I clone my drives every week or sooner in cases of major software changes.

I call it "planned redundancy."

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

I just wanted lots of space

I got some really good deals on some harddrives, so I just kept adding them.

 

[Insidious]

Originally posted by: corkyg
I have, for the last 6-7 years, used multiple drives in every computer - even laptops. I don't use them at the same time - but each system has a 100% clone drive ready to switch to at the first sign of a major problem. I clone my drives every week or sooner in cases of major software changes.

I call it "planned redundancy."

Exact backup strategy as I am using here..

second drive normally has the power plug disconnected. Once a week I Ghost the main HD to it and then unplug it again.

I can experiment... get a virus.... whatever and never be more than a week behind. If I do something significant that I want to save, I think 15 or 20 minutes spent imaging is a small price to pay for the knowledge..... IT WON"T BE LOST

-Sid

 

[JustAnAverageGuy]

The reason I have multiple hard drives is simple.

My first one was running low on space. I got a new one.

At the next install, I put my OS on the new one. Never took my old one out.

 

[tiap]

Originally posted by: corkyg
I have, for the last 6-7 years, used multiple drives in every computer - even laptops. I don't use them at the same time - but each system has a 100% clone drive ready to switch to at the first sign of a major problem. I clone my drives every week or sooner in cases of major software changes.

I call it "planned redundancy."

I use mobile trays with mine. One hdrive is for my 5 year old daughter. Power down, put her drive in, and she has her very own computer to trash however she wants. I reimage that drive more than mine.

 

[suicidalpigeon]

nm

 

[BespinReactorShaft]

To me it's the extra space, redundancy and performance. In that order.

 

[n7]

My first HDD was a 20 GB.

I needed more space, so i got a 60 GB.

Then i needed more space, so i got a 160 GB.

Then i built a second computer, & i put a 120 GB drive in it.

Of course, i needed more space...so i got another 250 GB, & then another 250 GB.

Then i sold my second comp, & built another.

That one ran off a 74 GB Raptor.

I wanted some more space, so i popped in another 250 GB.

I needed more space, so in went a 200 GB.

You get the picture.

I currently have 7 HDDs over two PCs, for over a TB of storage.

What for you ask?

Well...mostly video, multimedia, music...lots of stuff that just adds up

 

[BurnItDwn]

I have lots of hard drives because they do not make any single hard drives big enough to hold all my files.

Once drives are bigger then 2TB, I'll consider using only 2 drives per box (a 2gb and a 200gb or something)
One main drive and one as a "hot" backup for anything critical, such as my email archives for the last 6 years ....

Until then ... it's gonna be a hodgepodge of 120+ gb drives ...

 

[mrfurion]

With 2 identical HDDs you can use RAID-0 (known as 'striping') to increase performance. I've done this with one of my PCs (2x60Gb ATA-100 drives).

On the other hand, I just built a brand new machine and put in 1x200Gb SATA drive. It's cheaper than buying the equivalent space over 2 drives, and I don't notice any speed difference (SATA is probably faster than ATA-100 in RAID-0 actually).

I would only buy multiple drives for data protection reasons, and even then I wouldn't because I have briefcases between the 2 main PCs on my network. Briefcases allow you to synchronise folders between networked PCs easily and quickly, meaning folders you choose can be very easily backed up.

 

[thelastmccabe]

Thanks for all the responses. I hadn't really thought through all the possibilities of this, so maybe ill get a second one in the future.

 

[overclock]

I have

250GB
160GB
200GB
200GB
120GB

drives full of History Channel recordings I really need to put on DVD. That's 930GB of shows or almost 240 hours of video. AHHHHH!

That's in addition to my 120GB OS/Programs/Data drive.

 

[nweaver]

midgit pr0n....lots and lots of midgit pr0n