Shawn Champion Sweden Local time: 13:10 Member (2009) Swedish to English + ...
Aug 25, 2011
So I'm about to have a new computer put together. I like to have my computers pretty robust just to avoid upgrading them after one year. I notice that my current hard drive gets really sluggish when I do concordance searches with big TMs open. I can literally hear it looking.
I'm thinking one HDD at 15000 rpm 64 MB cache loaded with Windows, Trados, and all my TMs. This would be the C drive.
The 2nd HDD could then be a much cheaper, more standard HDD. This one would hold all my music files, I-tunes, etc.
Does this sound right at all? I'm pretty ignorant about this kind of thing. The idea is that the only running processes that would be accessing the C drive while I translate would be Windows and Trados.
Other specs: Windows 7 64 bit, 8 or 16 GB RAM, i-5 2500k.
Or, do all program files need to be installed on the C drive? Is there a big difference between SATA I and SATA III, for example?
I know I rambled a bit here... but thanks for any help you can provide.
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Szabolcs Király Hungary Local time: 13:10 Member (2011) Portuguese to English + ...
Just an opinion
Aug 25, 2011
I'd do it like this in case of a desktop computer:
It's no so practical to put all important data on the C drive. Imagine that you have to format it at a point.
I'd suggest you to place every program and the OS on drive C and every document-like data (including TMs and music) on a completely different HDD. Windows pratically uses the HDD all the time and multi-tasking slows down every drive. Traditional HDDs have a limited read access and also the head needs to position itself on the required data which takes time. In my experience this single step of separating the OS/programs from docs speeds up the PC considerably.
If you have the money for it, it might be worthwile to get an SSD as the drive C (about 64GB?), they're quite fast. (An SSD is fast, however, do not place TMs on an SSD: TMs require indexing and this feature might level an SSD quickly. Be prepared that a 15000 rpm HDD will sound like a helicopter. It's not that comfortable if you spend hours next to it.)
[Módosítva: 2011-08-25 11:27 GMT]
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efreitag Germany Local time: 13:10 Member (2006) Dutch to German + ...
SSD drives
Aug 25, 2011
Szabolcs Király wrote:
If you have the money for it, it might be worthwile to get an SSD as the drive C (about 64GB?
An SSD drive generally speaking seems to be a good idea, but I'd strongly advise against 64GB: This just isn't enough. Windows 7 will occupy a lot of it, and remember: There is no possibility to install Trados Studio 2009 anywhere else than on the system drive (C:, that is)! A very peculiar decision which I hope will be changed in future versions.
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Szabolcs Király Hungary Local time: 13:10 Member (2011) Portuguese to English + ...
enough - not enough
Aug 25, 2011
Of course, you have to plan the space needed (eg. Windows 7 needs around 10 GB). In my case I can make do with 40 GB - but it's a question of what you need to install; Shawn will know it exactly.
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Kevin Fulton United States Local time: 07:10 German to English
Keep your OS separate from data
Aug 25, 2011
As mentioned above, it's important to keep your data files on a separate drive or partition from where your operating system is. A virus usually can't jump across hard drives, so if you get an infection and have to wipe your operating system partition/drive, your data will be safe from mischief.
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in fact, she never mentioned a 64GB hard drive... she mentioned a hard drive with 65MB cache size and a system with 8/16GB of RAM...
efreitag wrote:
Szabolcs Király wrote:
If you have the money for it, it might be worthwile to get an SSD as the drive C (about 64GB?
An SSD drive generally speaking seems to be a good idea, but I'd strongly advise against 64GB: This just isn't enough. Windows 7 will occupy a lot of it, and remember: There is no possibility to install Trados Studio 2009 anywhere else than on the system drive (C:, that is)! A very peculiar decision which I hope will be changed in future versions.
anyway, a 7300 rpm 500GB SATA hard drive (like a Seagate Barracuda) is only £31 at the moment here in England... so, a fairly cheap option for a second drive...
[Edited at 2011-08-25 12:34 GMT]
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Jerzy Czopik Germany Local time: 13:10 Member (2003) Polish to German + ...
I would not invest in a 15000 rpm drive now
Aug 25, 2011
but buy some SSD instead.
A good setup could be 256 GB SSD and additionaly as many GB as necessary on a NAS drive.
You can keep OS and programs on one partition of the SSD, your termbases, TMs and so on on the second parition and all work files (and music for example, if you like to) on the NAS.
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Shawn Champion Sweden Local time: 13:10 Member (2009) Swedish to English + ...
TOPIC STARTER
Hmm....
Aug 25, 2011
I hadn't considered the noise factor of the disk. I do like the idea of an SSD+HDD+NAS. Such a setup would be more expensive, but I like the idea of the SSD. The NAS seems pretty cool, never had one before.
I know very little about SSDs, but aren't they limited in how many times a sector (or whatever they're called) can be written? Ideally I wouldn't partition any of the drives, that kind of defeats the purpose of having multiple drives, right?
How about:
-SSD as C drive with Trados, Windows, etc
-7000 RPM 64 MB HDD for TMs, termbases, work files, etc
-NAS as system backup and storage for all multimedia.
The real goal here is to be able to search my translations, termbases, and concordance without the hard drive freaking out about where to look. All while running tons of other stuff.
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Szabolcs Király Hungary Local time: 13:10 Member (2011) Portuguese to English + ...
something like that
Aug 25, 2011
aren't they limited in how many times a sector (or whatever they're called) can be written?
In theory, yes. However, if you start to count it turns out that this limit is reached in some 10 years with average daily use. (That is if you don't run any extreme eg. a file server on them.) Do you use the same storage media as you've done 10 years ago?
I've been using two low-cost SSDs in both of my PCs for the last two and a half years. No problem with that; Windows boots completely in 30 seconds.
The real goal here is to be able to search my translations, termbases, and concordance without the hard drive freaking out about where to look. All while running tons of other stuff.
So place all work stuff on a separate HDD. Any consumer 7200 rpm HDD with a SATA interface should be just fine. The net is full of HDD comparisons to help you orientate in speed and noise figures. Regular defragmention will keep it fast enough and you can also try to rebuild the TM's index.
Ideally I wouldn't partition any of the drives, that kind of defeats the purpose of having multiple drives, right?
Yes, partitioning is just a logical separation so the system will use the same device and channel when reaching the data on the drive. So it won't be any faster at all just by the partitioning itself.
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Jerzy Czopik Germany Local time: 13:10 Member (2003) Polish to German + ...
SSD+NAS would suffice
Aug 25, 2011
I have a HDD and NAS for my desktop, however are using a laptop with SSD and an eSata HDD attached to it (it "plays" the role of NAS) when I am on the road.
The SSD powered laptop is much faster than my Core Quad desktop.
My setup includes (both desktop and laptop) Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit, MS Office with Outlook running in the background all the time, Skype and SDL Trados Studio (very resource hungry).
All the programs are either on internal HDD or SSD, so is the swap file from Windows.
I have also all TMs and termbases on internal HDD or SSD, when ALL working files are on eSata respective NAS. This includes also project TMs. This setup is fast enough and gives me enormous potential of expansion. Replacing the NAS (eSata) with working files is just the question of copying
For backup there is an extra eSata connected to NAS and formatted with NFS. The eSata housing also supports USB, so I can simply connect it anywhere.
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FarkasAndras Hungary Local time: 13:10 English to Hungarian + ...
Backing SSD
Aug 25, 2011
There is no point in buying "fast" HDDs. Even the fastest HDDs are agonizingly slow compared to the slowest current-gen SSDs. So, as suggested, get a fast SSD for the OS and programs, and a large HDD (internal, USB or NAS) for data if you need it. The SSD can be a 64 GB, that's more than enough for Win7+Trados+other sw+translation files. 120GB or even 240GB is of course better, but the prices add up quickly...
An example of a good SSD would be an Intel or a SandForce based drive from OCZ, Kingston or Corsair.
I went SSD about a year ago, and I'm never going back.
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I have a laptop with two 250 GB drives, the programs are on the C: drive and the data on the D:drive. And an external Iomega 100 GB drive I used for backups. I just had to copy the contents of D: onto F: once a week. So fine. The problem is now that I am travelling a lot by train and that this laptop weighs 3,5 kgs. Some months ago, I changed my procedures. Am now working on the Iomega hard drive, always, and use the D: drive as backup, so that I can take the Iomega with me. (The PCs in my other homes are fully equipped). I did not notice any change in speed, but I do not own Trados, only lighter and online CATs. My conclusion is that an external drive is really a good investment, better than a d: drive.
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milinad India Local time: 16:40 Member (2006) German to English
64 bit windows
Aug 26, 2011
I suggest do not load 64 bit windows 7 You might not get many applications to go with it. You might have getting drivers for you existing peripehrals like webcam etc. I had the same problem and had to revert to Windows XP
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Jerzy Czopik Germany Local time: 13:10 Member (2003) Polish to German + ...
You may as well stick to Windows 95
Aug 26, 2011
milinad wrote:
I suggest do not load 64 bit windows 7 You might not get many applications to go with it. You might have getting drivers for you existing peripehrals like webcam etc. I had the same problem and had to revert to Windows XP
Sorry, but this is simply not true - most (in my case all) applications I need run under 64 bit Win 7.
Vista may have caused problems, but Win 7 is not a problem. And if there should be any problem, you can run Virtual Box or Microsoft Virtual PC.
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Raúl Casanova Uruguay Local time: 08:10 Member (2007) English to Spanish
What I can tell you from my own experience
Aug 26, 2011
I am using such a setup for my desktop since more than three years ago. My C drive is a Western Digital Raptor 150 Gb 10.000 rpm unit and my F drive is a 1 Tb 7200 rpm unit. "C" drive holds my OS (Windows XP SP3) and all program files, while all my "data" is stored at drive "F" (My documents folder, Outlook.pst and the like, and my music and pictures)
Even with a variety of installed CAT tools, usage of "C" drive is quite modest, less than 40 Gb, which leaves ample room for new applications. Of course, a different OS like Windows 7 might call for a larger share.
The result is rewarding in terms of both performance and safety. Boot-up takes less than 40 seconds, and all app open in a split second. Of course, I contribute to solid performance by means of a regular maintenance routine.
My data is stored in a separate physical HDD, which means I can even take if from my PC and install it in a diffferent machine. In fact, it survives silently on its own place, and allows me to take such steps as reformatting the C drive and performing a "fresh" Windows installation every year or so.
Noise used to be an issue with early WD Raptor drives, but seems to be much attenuated in newer models, and of course, should be totally absent with a SSD.
While I am concius my machine is not "last model", it still has plenty of life, and performs well above standard commercial configurations. And considering current costs of HDDs, it is really a good return for my money.
This is what I wanted to share with you.
Raúl
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