How to organize the installation of Windows and Plugins on two SSD.

[Dj Fugo]

Hi everyone, i bought two SSD disk and i would like to organize the pc in this way:

Disk 1 (1TB): Windows + Ableton + Software
Disk 2 (2TB): Plugin/vst + musical projects + sample library (and all the hevy stuff, data ecc).

Is it a good choice? Would you have done differently? If I install Windows on one SSD and the plugins on the other SSD will the computer slow down? ..Thanks to everyone!

[BertKoor]

With ssd you can do whatever you want.
Imo the "slow down" is a thing of the past where data throughput was limited by 7200 rotations per minute of the spinning rusty platters.

[chk071]

Hi everyone, i bought two SSD disk and i would like to organize the pc in this way:

Disk 1 (1TB): Windows + Ableton + Software
Disk 2 (2TB): vst + musical projects + sample library (and all the hevy stuff, data ecc).

Looks fine to me.

[legendCNCD]

I would put all software to Disk 1, all usage data to Disk 2, which I did Anyway...

The spinning rust will slow down after first usage and will slow down during its life a lot. SSD's wont until you hit the end of life.

[Dj Fugo]

With ssd you can do whatever you want.
Imo the "slow down" is a thing of the past where data throughput was limited by 7200 rotations per minute of the spinning rusty platters.

Ah, that's why my old hard disk sometimes stopped loading for a second and I heard the noise of the fan waking up and starting! Because of that problem I was afraid that all hard disks would have this slowdown, but luckily you explained to me that this is not the case! Thanks for the reply!

[Dj Fugo]

I would put all software to Disk 1, all usage data to Disk 2, which I did Anyway...

Yes i wanto to do the same of you, all the software on disck1 and all the data and plugin-vst on disk 2 (because plugins are very hevy and i have more space on disk 2).

[Mathematics]

Hi everyone, i bought two SSD disk and i would like to organize the pc in this way:

Disk 1 (1TB): Windows + Ableton + Software
Disk 2 (2TB): Plugin/vst + musical projects + sample library (and all the hevy stuff, data ecc).

Is it a good choice? Would you have done differently? If I install Windows on one SSD and the plugins on the other SSD will the computer slow down? ..Thanks to everyone!

That looks ok. Once the SSDs are connected they most likely have dedicated controllers so you'll get great read/write speeds while you work. Realize that NVMe drives are superior to SSDs. You can actually just run your entire system off one huge NVMe drive because it can do simultaneous reading and writing. I would still suggest getting a second drive though.

The slowing down issue was caused by the reading of small files off spinning discs. That is a thing of the past. Today's SSDs don't suffer from that issue.

For my audio production computer, I run 3 SSDs and a mechanical drive. 1st SSD is my OS/progs/plugs. 2nd SSD is samples/libraries. 3rd SSD is projects. 4th drive is mechanical...that one mirrors my 3rd SSD. I also have an external mechanical drive as a 2nd backup of the internal mechanical drive.

For my video production computer...I run 3 SSDs plus one mechanical as well. 1st SSD is OS/progs/plugs. 2nd is captured content. 3rd is projects. 4 drive is the mechanical which mirrors the 3rd SSD. I also have a 5th external mechanical drive.

This video gives some good advice on storage management for content creators and musicians:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K22HS96WcLQ

[Scoops]

I usually put OS, programs, utilities, and anything else that is going to "run", on the C drive
I usually only out libraries on SSD's

[Mathematics]

I usually put OS, programs, utilities, and anything else that is going to "run", on the C drive
I usually only out libraries on SSD's

Exactly my point.

[GaryG]

The idea of splitting your plugs to a separate drive is a bit dated now imo. Evrything you install seems to create files in Program Files, Program Data, users Documents, Roaming data etc etc... Documents is pretty much useless nowadays as a lot of devs create a folder in there for data (they shouldn't, Windows spec says Program Data but that's another argument...)

So, the old idea of simply having a folder of DLLs on another driver is kind of pointless, so many hooks into C: anyway you may as well stick with the defaults. Speaking of which, VST3s, if you use them, go in c:\program files\common files\vst3 so be prepared to change that path with every install etc.

[Mathematics]

I install my plugs with my OS; the video also mentions that I believe. One of the main reasons why splitting is dated is due to the read and write speeds of little files on SSDs and the technology in simultaneous reading and writing of NVMe drives, and at incredible speeds. It used to be that you wanted a controller for every hard drive; those are things of the past. I don't know anyone that uses HDD for their system drives anymore. Newer computers ship with NVMe drives. I only use HDD for storing backups because SSDs can start losing data after a couple of years versus HDDs.

[SuperG]

The idea of splitting your plugs to a separate drive is a bit dated now imo. Evrything you install seems to create files in Program Files, Program Data, users Documents, Roaming data etc etc... Documents is pretty much useless nowadays as a lot of devs create a folder in there for data (they shouldn't, Windows spec says Program Data but that's another argument...)

So, the old idea of simply having a folder of DLLs on another driver is kind of pointless, so many hooks into C: anyway you may as well stick with the defaults. Speaking of which, VST3s, if you use them, go in c:\program files\common files\vst3 so be prepared to change that path with every install etc.

Some programs, particularly those with huge library's (i.e. komplete, etc.) will let you set a default directory location - that's a good thing. For those intransigent programs that insist on placing things in default (re: boot drive) locations, there are solutions. You can always replace a directory with a junction or symbolic link to another drive. Easily done, although I should point out that the last time I mentioned this some wanker wailed something about the 'inconvenience' of doing so.

[GaryG]

Some programs, particularly those with huge library's (i.e. komplete, etc.) will let you set a default directory location - that's a good thing. For those intransigent programs that insist on placing things in default (re: boot drive) locations, there are solutions. You can always replace a directory with a junction or symbolic link to another drive. Easily done, although I should point out that the last time I mentioned this some wanker wailed something about the 'inconvenience' of doing so.

For sure, relocating a large library is a given I'd have thought.

It's all the others I'm talking about. I can't recall many at all allowing you to specify the location of presets, skins, resources etc. Maybe UHe? Just looking at my C: drive there's plenty that may allow you to specify a different plugin folder but, as I mentioned earlier, still loads of stuff just placed in program data, documents, roaming data etc without any choice.

So, yeah, symbolic links etc will work fine, quite right, super easy, barely an inconvenience (ha). Maybe I just want an easy life, I don't see the benefit over the work involved (little as it is). Maybe back in the day when you could just drag the synth1 or crystal dlls to your zip disk or whatever then just drag them back after another reinstall (which was pretty essential back then) I could see it. Now..? I think when I've tried anything like this I still have to reauthorise things so don't see the point.

[Vocalpoint Studios]

The recommended setup is:

1. ALL software on C. (That means everything - Windows, apps, plugins etc)
2. Everything else on D (if all you have is two drives) AKA Libraries, user data, songs, samples, docs, downloads etc etc)
3. In a ideal setup (with three drives) - D:\ for all User Data and E:\ For all Soundware Libraries\Sample Content etc

VP