i can vote for the raptors too - as i always do [;)] although i don't have the 150 GB model here a lot of 36 and 72 GB models are running here successfully (with and without raid - software and hardware raid).
besides the 10.000 rpm advantage the raptors also use the NCQ technology (native command queuing) like SCSI drives, which makes them so fast regarding seektime and they are still remarkable cheaper than cheetahs.

i've noticed also it constantly becomes more difficult to get (68-pin) SCSI devices - for servers those with SCA-connector is the model of choice and SAS (serial attached SCSI) is already out and advancing massively.

there are also some seagate models actually with 300 GB (7.200 though) using NCQ out - all devices claiming to be sATA II _must_ use this feature by specification. it is the way to go currently IMHO
christian

CM, according to the anandtech review I linked to above, having the NCQ option turned on drops drive performance around 9%, but I suppose that is only in sustained rad/writes? With the VI there is a lot of seeking going, and thus NCQ will actually increase performance, right?

basically yes, unfortunately the tests do not compare average read with/without NCQ nor could i find a number for amount of bytes read during the average test - this is where buffer sizes come into play additionally (larger buffers might actually decrease performance).
i should have a harddrive test from adaptec around where you can set the number of read bytes in average mode - a figure that would be really interesting to know for sample streaming.
christian

Vagn Luv,

My apologies for not getting back to you sooner.

The LaCie 500GB Big Drive dual/RAID 0 is notorious (even within the confines of this forum, please read past posts) for heat problems. During a longer session with a lot of articulations it will slow down considerably and after a certain number of times has failed - including for me. Spending two weeks rebuilding VSL and other libraries was not my favorite thing to do. It's probably a fine piece of equipment for other types of files. I would also think twice before using it for Pro Tools also if your sessions have a high edit density. It's all the access activity that seems to be the culprit.

I chose my SCSI drives (see my orignal post on this thread) prinicipally for their screaming acces times and NCQ. High throughput is an additional bonus. The SATA drives that I was looking at had 3-4 times the amount of seek time. SCSI was the way to go for me.

I don't look at SCSI as been an end of the road technology for our purposes. It's simply faster and extremely robust. FireWire is nice. SATA is nicer. SCSI is nicest for my puposes of VI and Pro Tools.

But this is not a technology race to have the best rig. This idea is to make music and have tools that are dependable. My reasons for posting are simply a POV.

May your systems run long and cool,
Jack

cm, can you recommend a SATA card for Windows machines? PCI, not PCI Express, preferably with eSATA (external).

i've been looking for sATA II with external connectors - couldn't find any, so i took sATA I (noname - called digitus) and use an own PCI-slot for external plug, 1.5 GB/s is enough ...
on another machine i just used the internal connector with a 0.5 m cable to connect an external drive - but, pssst, don't tell somebody, it might be bad for my reputation [;)]
christian

@Nick Batzdorf said:

cm, can you recommend a SATA card for Windows machines? PCI, not PCI Express, preferably with eSATA (external).

My card (for a mac) has been working reliably for a few months it has windows drivers I believe and is available in various configurations

http://www.sonnettech.com/product/tempo-x_esata44.html

Julian

Thanks cm. I just bought a no-name one yesterday, and I'm glad to hear yours works. This one was very cheap and has an eSATA port, so I figure it's not a huge gamble. By the way, I'm sure you know about these things, right?

http://store.yahoo.com/cooldrives/saexsa2pcibr.html

Julian: I have the Sonnet eSATA 4+4 on my main G5, and yes, it's working very well. I'm also using one of these; hopefully it's as safe as they think it is:

http://www.g5drivebracket.com/

But I don't want to spend that much to add drives to that XP machine if I can help it. I'll move the Sonnet card to a Windows machine next time I upgrade, since PCI Express is the next tail we're chasing.

@Another User said:

I'm sure you know about these things, right?

bracket - this was the word i've been looking for ... yes i had one but for some reason contact has not been very good, so i trashed it ... another one with a single connector works fine though.
happy that the connectors changed slightly with sATA II - they are more reliable for external devices now
christian

For Vienna Horizon and Vienna Instruments working the best do you use NTFS or FAT32 partitions? and the cluster size?
Thanks
Sergino

sergino, with XP i'd always use NTFS - it is much more reliable than FAT32. and use primary partitions wherever possible. for audio i'd recommend a clustersize of 4096 (default is 512), thus you can reduce the overhead and still use windows' onboard tools for defragmentation (doesn't work above 4096). IMO more also doesn't make sense for sample streaming.
christian