Jump to content

New storage setup for first computer

Fox-Man20
By Fox-Man20
in Storage Devices
 Share
Posted

Hi

I need help with my storage.

I was building my first computer and I picked a 120 GB SSD, and a 1 TB HDD and I have a 1TB External USB Drive for extra stuff, but mainly as a backup for my Mac. I have used most of the space SSD with programs and files and the HDD as a back drive, but mainly for other HDD's I have laying around. I have a few games on a 240 GB 2.5" HDD, but it is on Windows 10 and I have my main computer drive which is on the 120GB SSD is on Windows 7. I am thinking of a few setups that I could do:

1. get a 240-480 GB SSD for my Windows 7 Drive and transfer/reinstall the games to the main drive and keep the 1TB HDD as is.

 

2. get an extra HDD or NAS that is 1-3TB to use exclusively as backup and combine the 120GB SSD and the original 1TB for the Windows 7 computer.

 

3. you suggest whatever you would do.

 

I would like to down the road with the HDD, whether as a backup or secondary stage drive, have a RAID 1 array with a second HDD.

Thanks for any suggestions/help.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted
2 minutes ago, Fox-Man20 said:

Hi

I need help with my storage.

I was building my first computer and I picked a 120 GB SSD, and a 1 TB HDD and I have a 1TB External USB Drive for extra stuff, but mainly as a backup for my Mac. I have used most of the space SSD with programs and files and the HDD as a back drive, but mainly for other HDD's I have laying around. I have a few games on a 240 GB 2.5" HDD, but it is on Windows 10 and I have my main computer drive which is on the 120GB SSD is on Windows 7. I am thinking of a few setups that I could do:

1. get a 240-480 GB SSD for my Windows 7 Drive and transfer/reinstall the games to the main drive and keep the 1TB HDD as is.

 

2. get an extra HDD or NAS that is 1-3TB to use exclusively as backup and combine the 120GB SSD and the original 1TB for the Windows 7 computer.

 

3. you suggest whatever you would do.

 

I would like to down the road with the HDD, whether as a backup or secondary stage drive, have a RAID 1 array with a second HDD.

Thanks for any suggestions/help.

I would suggest running windows on just the 120 ssd and a few of your Favorite games and just have the rest on the 1 tb i dont have an ssd and it still runs fairly fast

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted

I personally prefer at least 240 for my OS, applications, and a couple games that I play a lot (Warframe in my case). Then, I have a 2 TB internal drive for all my mass storage needs. I will add more of I need it, as I don't have NAS capabilities due to my living situation. But, if I could have a NAS, if that HDD started filling up, I'd leave it for only games, and put things like music, movies, etc on a NAS. 

Main Rig: R9 5950X @ PBO, RTX 3090, 64 GB DDR4 3666, InWin 101, Full Hardline Watercooling

Server: R7 1700X @ 4.0 GHz, GTX 1080 Ti, 32GB DDR4 3000, Cooler Master NR200P, Full Soft Watercooling

LAN Rig: R5 3600X @ PBO, RTX 2070, 32 GB DDR4 3200, Dan Case A4-SFV V4, 120mm AIO for the CPU

HTPC: i7-7700K @ 4.6 GHz, GTX 1050 Ti, 16 GB DDR4 3200, AliExpress K39, IS-47K Cooler

Router: R3 2200G @ stock, 4GB DDR4 2400, what are cases, stock cooler
 

I don't have a problem...

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted
  • Author

Thanks for the suggestions. Here is another setup I just thought of:

A 240GB+ SSD for OS, programs, and some games and a 500GB+ HDD for media and other needs. I have a case (Corsair Carbide 200R) with 4 of 2.5" and 3.5" bays each, so I can configure it as I need, while leaving space to have a RAID array. What do you think?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted

Hi @Fox-Man20!

 

The last configuration you mentioned would suit best for your needs IMO, but the only change I'd suggest is to get at least a 1TB HDD because 500GB could fil up pretty fast, especially since your mass data will be stored on it as well.

 

Other than that, do you have any specific RAID in mind and for which drives do you want to set it up for - the SSDs or the HDDs? I'm asking because if it's for SSDs I would prefer to set them up as a separate storage locations because unless you need the raw speed for a professional environment (importing/exporting/encoding 40 GB files for instance), then there really isn't a point in setting up a RAID array. For the average user/gamer there is no practical reason to go RAID 0 SSDs. Another important thing to have in mind is also the fact that there is no redundancy of the data stored on it whatsoever, so I would suggest to make regular backups of any important data.

 

Another popular option would be to setup a RAID 1 with the hard disks and this will give you some additional redundancy, but noentheless RAID is not a proper substitute for backup because there are a lot of risks that it can't protect against like:

 

  • If you accidentally delete a file, it will instantly be removed from both mirrored copies.
  • If your disk is corrupted by a software bug or virus, the corruption will be done to both mirrored copies simultaneously.
  • If you're hit by a bad enough power surge, it'll probably fry both disks at the same time, etc.

 

Hope this helps a bit and feel free to ask any questions you may have. :)

If this post helped you, please like and choose it as a best answer.   :)
http://www.wdc.com/en/

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing Storage Devices

×