Do any composers use RAID systems to run your sample libraries? Changing things up and saw some RAIDs on Black Friday with SSDs.. Expensive, but I already have a few SSDs, so if I can get an empty RAID bay, it could be beneficial.
What do you run it in? RAID 0 or RAID 1? I feel like the back/redundancy for RAID 0 is overkill, as if I lose a sample library, I can just re-download it. So I would think RAID 1 performance would be the better way to go. Of course, backup redundancy in RAID 0 for my project files wouldn't be a bad thing, but not sure I need to spend the money on that sort of thing as it's never happened mid-project in 10 years (knock on wood).
Thanks
Many years ago I used to run RAID. But the odds of losing 'static' data such as samples is extremely low and I don't create many files a day which the software backs up on a regular basis. So the bottom line for me is that I am willing to take the risk of losing up to one day of dynamically changing data (my composing files).
Here is why:
1. My desktop and laptop have two bays each. I put the critical software (composing, video, etc.), my operating system, and all my samples on the C drive. Everything else goes on a D drive. Both are SSDs.
2. I have software called Allway Sync. I have routines I have defined for it to synchronize between my desktop and laptop. I sync at least once a day and sometimes a few times a day. So I can do anything on one that I can on the other EXACTLY (just a bit slower on the laptop). In fact, I composer on my laptop in coach on a plane (with a small midi keyboard which goes in front of the tray table). So when I get back to the studio - a single sync and everything is now usable on the desktop.
3. I also backup todays data to an SD card once a day - usually only a couple of files.
4. Every 4 to 6 months I do an image backup of both the C and D drives to a 3 TB external hard disk (which normally has room for two backups for each drive).
So for me, I see no benefit for RAID - I much rather have my laptop and desktop duplicate/sync each other exactly.
Here's a discussion on RAID systems and if they're worth it to composers: https://vi-control.net/community/threads/raid-0-no-benefit-on-my-end.77970
I don't use a RAID system myself. Between my use of VEPro on my main hub-PC and two satellite-PCs, and Digital Performer's V-Rack, my workflow is such that I can load in my film's template once and leave it up. So load-time isn't much of an issue with me. But if you're loading in sounds for every cue, I could see where a RAID system might save some time.