How would you manage this hard drive storage?

holonology

Hi. I have Komplete 14, which is 350GB+ of content. I have a 1TB internal drive and an external 2TB drive which I currently use for Time Machine. I do not intend to install all the Komplete content, but I will select the instruments I like. I'd estimate about half of them will get installed, so let's say 200-250GB of content, maybe less. This would leave over half the internal HDD free for general music files (eg: songs/sessions etc.)

What would you advise in this case. Is there any good reason not to install this on the internal HDD? Or is there a good reason to put it externally?

Thanks!

Matt_NI

Yes, you can totally move things if your drive gets too full. I'm using a laptop so having to carry the drive is a bit of a pain but it's mostly because its faster than my HDD (I also have small internal one anyway).

If you have a fast internal drive and you're good with the storage capacity, then go for it.

Matt_NI

I don't know if there is a right or wrong here but I personally like to keep all the content on an external hard-drive. Mostly because I have a faster SSD and it seems to work a little better + it's easier if I decide to change computer. The downside is that I need it connected every time I use Logic.

Watch out with Time Machine though, we don't really support it : https://support.native-instruments.com/hc/en-us/articles/209571629-My-Native-Instruments-Product-does-not-work-after-using-Migration-Assistant-Time-Machine-Carbon-Copy-Cloner-Mac-OS-?

holonology

Hi @Matt_NI thanks for the help! Good tip on Time Machine. Personally when I get a new Mac I always do a fresh install of all software, so I hope this would not be an issue. The TM would only really be used to backup files just in case the HDD stops working. But this is good to know.

The internal SSD on the new Macs is an SSD and incredibly fast, so you can tell from my question I'm thinking this could be beneficial (I have a dedicated single machine for music, and I don't currently need anything else.) I see that many people use an external SSD, and if your internal HDD is an old style drive I would probably do the same.

I could do this 2 ways really. I could start by trying it on the internal drive. If I only reach (for example) 400GB used, that would leave me lots of space for other files and I'd be quite happy with that. If it starts getting too big, I could move everything to a 2nd drive then perhaps? I do take your point that even if it is years away until I change my computer again, having them on the external drive might be an advantage though.

As you say, no right answer probably!

Matt_NI

Yes, you can totally move things if your drive gets too full. I'm using a laptop so having to carry the drive is a bit of a pain but it's mostly because its faster than my HDD (I also have small internal one anyway).

If you have a fast internal drive and you're good with the storage capacity, then go for it.

holonology

Thanks @Matt_NI - appreciate the pointers 🙂