Compounded Question

[slowtiger]

Hard drive: the physical thing you buy in the shop and put into your computer.

Partition: when you format a new (empty) hard drive, you can divide the empty disk space into independent parts, the "partitions".

Volume: that's what your Operating System sees when it looks at a drive and finds partitions: every partition looks like a seperate drive, called "volume".

RAID: several hard drives mounted and operated as one unit, but with different flavours for different needs. These flavours are numbered, and they differ in how many drives are used, which data is written on which drive(s), and so on.

Mirror: using two separate hard drives in a way that both contain the very same data. The idea is that if one drive fails, the other would be intact. This ist the theory, in praxis admins also worry about failures of operating systems so they use more than two drives in certain patterns so the same data isn't written at the very same moment everywhere, but with a delay ... and so on, it can get really complicated.

[malcooning]

So I looked at my computer again and now I have RAID - mirror instead of RAID striped. The mirror is not noisy. Is the mirror a kind of partition?

Noise has nothing to do with RAID. Hard drives do. So if your RAID (stripe or mirrored or any other combination) is made of noisy drives, you'll get noisy RAID. The hard drives you have now are most likely quite, or maybe it's your computer box that is quieting them. Previously you had the RAID setup installed in an external unit, which probably was of a lesser-quality kind if it was very noisy (usually it's the power unit that could be very noisy, and the insulation of the unit itself which is not sufficient to dampen the reverberation of the hard drives).

Mirror is not a kind of partition. It's a way of setting up hard drives to work in a bridged way.
If it's something that you use, it's worth spending half an hour reading about it.
or with some Australian flavor.

[Sierra Rose]

Oh Wow! The Australian fellow really spells it out, eh? I just explained to the fellow who built my new computer system how I use it and this is what I ended up with. It is very good to understand it more. Thanks sooo much. He explains in such a way that my mind doesn't go visiting other worlds while I try to understand what the heck is being said.

[ematecki]

If I was to read a recommendation stating, please keep your Tax Files and you Photos stored in a "Data Storage Device" I would assume the context of the statement refers to something else, other than your C:\ drive or your Boot Drive, because by any standard way of thinking, all apps and documents are first stored by default on your main HD.

This is the windows reductive view of the world !

On all other operating system, when creating a user, YOU choose where you want the home dir of that user will be, and ALL of it's files will be stored there, even preferences and such.
On the Mac you can even install the applications you use in your home dir, and they are *entirely* installed there, not a lot of crap spread all around the windows dir and the registry !

I always have my home on a second drive, for one very simple reason. When whatever on my computer dies, I can pull it out and put it in the new computer and just continue working as if nothing happened (almost, the spare computer is a bit old and slow...) !
I am sure eveything is there !

[D.T. Nethery]

Bear with me as I continue to educate myself on this topic , but would a device like this be any good to use as a Temp Directory for TVP (especially for those of us using a laptop) ? ---


OCZ unveils Throttle eSATA SSD flash drive -

http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/12/08 ... umb_drive/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://www.engadget.com/2008/12/15/ocz- ... ash-drive/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Official OCZ press release:

“We are excited to introduce the Throttle eSATA drive, which delivers many of the key benefits of external SATA including faster transfer rates and a cost effective expansion storage for high performance computing,” said Eugene Chang, Director of Product Management for the OCZ Technology Group. “The Throttle is available in high densities and offers exceptional peak interface speeds for high performance notebooks, desktops, consumer electronics and entry level servers. In the case where an eSATA port is not available, the Throttle has the ability to connect via USB as well for ultimate flexibility.”

A sophisticated alternative to conventional USB drives, the OCZ Throttle’s primary eSATA interface offers an incredible 90MB/second read speeds and 30MB/sec write speeds, increasing productivity to new heights. The substantial 8GB to 32GB capacities offer plenty of storage for your diverse multimedia files including high-resolution photos, high-definition movies, or large quantities of music. Additionally, users can access their data via an auxiliary mini USB port for ultimate flexibility. "




Also this eSATA drive from Kanguru :

http://hothardware.com/News/Kangurus-64 ... A-As-Well/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


"The 64GB Kanguru e-Flash (up from its prior 32GB version) is more than just a high-capacity USB key; it's one with both USB and eSATA connectivity. The drive features connectors on both ends enabling users to connect via USB or eSATA, with the latter promising performance that's five times faster than typical USB drives. The Kanguru e-Flash has a built-in powered eSATA connection so you don't have to worry about multiple wires plugging into the drive, and it's packaged with an eSATA + Power bracket and an eSATA + Power cable for easy hookup to the computer you use most."

[Fabrice]

interesting product. I wonder what its price could be.

[Paul Fierlinger]

interesting product. I wonder what its price could be.

http://hothardware.pricegrabber.com/sea ... lter-query" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
$130 to $200 -- not bad for what they promise.

[malcooning]

indeed, very interesting product. Never new they come in pendrive flavors. Why not, I guess.
I think it will be useful. I would like to try it myself.
But bear in mind that if you are not running multiple applications at once, and keep your background processes to a minimum, your internal hard drive would still be faster than an external eSATA drive.

[RubyDavid]

Very informative, even, 2 years later. I had a problem with my cache settings being set to automatic configuration by Mirage. Mirage set the cache too high and kept crashing my project. Lost about 115 layers of work and 3 days on the project. Had to set it manually. Patience is a beautiful thing. I will upload something that I did recently for the holidays to the Gallery in a few moments.

[Fabrice]

Very informative, even, 2 years later. I had a problem with my cache settings being set to automatic configuration by Mirage. Mirage set the cache too high and kept crashing my project. Lost about 115 layers of work and 3 days on the project. Had to set it manually. Patience is a beautiful thing. I will upload something that I did recently for the holidays to the Gallery in a few moments.

The cache management of Mirage was created in 2003 ... in 9 years, we have improved it a lot.

[RubyDavid]

Very informative, even, 2 years later. I had a problem with my cache settings being set to automatic configuration by Mirage. Mirage set the cache too high and kept crashing my project. Lost about 115 layers of work and 3 days on the project. Had to set it manually. Patience is a beautiful thing. I will upload something that I did recently for the holidays to the Gallery in a few moments.

The cache management of Mirage was created in 2003 ... in 9 years, we have improved it a lot.

Yes, I am impressed with how much TVPaint moves forward in terms of technology and utility of the application...you have an impressive research and development function in your operations. Mirage is still very robust...I almost have developed a sense of loyalty to it's earlier structure, but, will look into the possibility of upgrading.

[ZigOtto]

...I almost have developed a sense of loyalty to it's earlier structure ...

you're almost developing my sense of humour with that kind of sentence !

c'mon, it's time to join and take the moving train, don't stay alone on the frosty platform,
everybody knows now the earliest and only legal structure (the native one) is (and always have been) here,
at tvpaint developpement, and that didn't changed since TVPaint's birth (in the 90's, ... the Amiga days) .