External Hard Drive For Music Storage
If you work with libraries of large image files, or in audio or video production, you need to be selective about your external hard drive. Reading and writing files directly to or from an external drive can incur some hefty performance demands, so it's best to determine your needs before you buy a drive. With the ever-increasing data-transfer demands brought on by more megapixels, higher audio bit rates, and higher-resolution video—keeping up with all of that data can be a burden.
The first thing to determine must be how much overall storage space you need and, then, what data-transfer speed your projects will require. Each medium is different, as is every user. To break it down, we'll discuss the writing of data to an external hard drive while editing video, for use in photo editing and running audio projects.
Drives for Video Production
No one creates a greater need for media storage than a videographer, especially those working in 4K. To prevent getting bogged down by a sluggish external hard drive, you need fast drives. These days, the bare minimum spin rate is 7200 rpm, though even faster drives, such as solid-state, are available for a premium.
Next, you need to consider your interface. Are you using FireWire, USB 3.0 or USB 3.1 Type-A or Type-C, Thunderbolt™, Thunderbolt™ 2, or possibly Thunderbolt™ 3? Do you intend to use eSATA or set up a RAID array because a single drive can't handle your output, so you need multiple drives?
Interface Speeds: USB, Thunderbolt™, and Beyond
You need to prepare for 4K and greater resolutions. Working with DCI 4Kp24 ProRes HQ files requires at least 94 MB/s. Compressed files straight from the camera or proxy workflows can alleviate a lot of this strain and are arguably becoming more important in editing, but you should still be able to play back your files smoothly. When searching for a drive, you will want to make sure you comfortably exceed these data rates to ensure uninterrupted performance.
With any external hard drive interface, keep in mind that you will only achieve its maximum data transfer rate if your computer—and the external hard drive—support it. USB 3.0 is capable of 625 MB/s. However, check the rated speed of the external drive (it likely can't move data that fast). For example, the LaCie 4TB d2 Professional USB 3.1 Type-C External Hard Drive is rated at up to 240 MB/s. The G-Technology 6TB G-Drive G1 USB 3.0 Hard Drive is rated at up to 226 MB/s. Note that, in both cases, these speeds exceed the requirement of ProRes HQ. That can only be a good thing.
Faster still is Thunderbolt™. Version 1 can transfer at bi-directional speeds up to 10 Gb/s (1,250 MB/s), Thunderbolt™ 2 can transfer at bi-directional speeds up to 20 Gb/s (2,500 MB/s), and Thunderbolt™ 3 operates at bi-directional speeds up to 40 Gb/s (5,000 MB/s). But you'll pay more for these interfaces, which may not be worth it for all that speed: Most drives are not that fast. But if you need a RAID array or plan to use external solid-state drives (SSDs), you might want the Autobahn of interfaces.
RAID Arrays
A RAID array offers voluminous storage beyond what one drive can offer. And, using multiple drives can speed up data transfers, depending on the configuration. To set up a well-performing RAID, all of the drives should be the same speed and capacity. Now, let's choose a RAID configuration.
A popular option for video editors is RAID 5, which can suffer the loss of one drive without losing any data. The downside is that it's more expensive to set up a RAID 5 array because it requires at least four drives.
You can use just two drives to set up a RAID 1 configuration, but the goal here is data redundancy, not speed. The second drive is a copy of the first, so it's got you covered, should the other drive fail. Peace of mind.
If you're after speed, it's hard to argue against RAID 0. All drives in this array are striped together, so they read and write simultaneously, which essentially doubles your speed whenever you double the number of drives. Here's the math: Two 2TB drives that write at 200 MB/s add up to 4TB of storage writing at 400 MB/s. Hot dog! But—here's the rub—you don't have data redundancy, so if one drive goes kaput, you lose all of the data in the RAID. Ach!
One of the big kahunas in this category is the G-Technology G-SPEED Shuttle 4-Bay Thunderbolt™ 3 RAID Array, which offers incredible speeds of up to 1020 MB/s and the latest Thunderbolt™ 3 connections. Having four SATA drive bays allows it to be configured at RAID 0, 1, 5, or 10—with 5 being the native option of the hardware RAID controller. The drives are easily swapped out and the system is designed to be somewhat portable with its heavy-duty handle. There's a reason G-Tech is one of the tops for video editing, and we loved it when we reviewed it. You can even find it in multiple drive configurations ranging from 16TB up to a whopping 56TB.
If you need to protect an immense amount of hi-res footage, along with the speed to edit 4/5K video, look no further than LaCie's 6big 6-Bay Thunderbolt™ 3 RAID Array. Available with two Thunderbolt™ 3 and one USB 3.1 Type-C interfaces in capacities of 24, 48, 60, 84, and 96TB, the 6big's overall capacity is shared between six hot-swappable SATA 3.5" drive bays, and its hardware RAID controller supports RAID 0, 1, 5, 6, 10, and 50. Using Thunderbolt™ 3, it can achieve read and write speeds up to 1,400 MB/s in RAID 0, while a RAID 5 configuration supports read speeds up to 1200 MB/s and write speeds up to 1150 MB/s. When paired with USB 3.1, RAID 0 read and write speeds can reach 400 MB/s, while a RAID 5 configuration yields read and write speeds as high as 350 MB/s. One of the Thunderbolt™ 3 ports can also be used to daisy-chain a single 5K or dual 4K displays.
Solid-State Drives
SSDs use flash technology, so they have no moving parts. This could be critical if you are recording video in a studio or other enclosed location where the video camera must be near the external hard drive. Having the whirring sounds of a writing disk and spinning fan show up in your audio will become annoying quickly.
For example, the OWC ThunderBlade SSD offers between 1-8TB of storage. This SSD is rated with read/write speeds of up to 2,800 MB/s in its pre-configured RAID 0—perfect for 4K video. It has two Thunderbolt™ 3 ports so you can daisy-chain additional drives. Portability is another benefit of SSDs, with the Samsung T7 being a solid example and still featuring up to 1050 MB/s read speeds.
But SSDs charge a premium that's many times per TB, compared to a RAID array. If price is not your issue, they do provide quiet performance and lightning-quick data transfer.
Older Interfaces
If your computer only has USB 2.0, and you're trying to edit video, you should consider an upgrade. The old USB interface has a maximum speed of just 60 MB/s.
Similarly, FireWire 800's capability of transferring up to 100 MB/s won't earn a recommendation for manipulating high-definition video—newer hard drives are capable of faster speeds.
Picture Perfect
In general, photographers don't need as much hard-drive space for their still images as videographers need for their footage. And, editing a photo on an external hard drive does not require the same bandwidth as editing video. Still, a trigger-happy photographer needs a fast and reliable external hard drive that can seek and display numerous uncompressed raw files in a jiffy. You don't want your creative time to turn into a wait-and-see game of file-find and transfer.
If you don't need portability—say, in a photography studio—a desktop model will usually get you more terabytes for your money. One drive in this category is the LaCie d2 Professional USB 3.1 Type-C External Hard Drive, which comes in capacities of 4, 6, 8, and 10TB. It offers read speeds up to 240 MB/s and has a single USB 3.1 Gen 1 port.
For a little more space, consider the Drobo 5D3 5-Bay Thunderbolt™ 3 Enclosure and some accompanying Seagate IronWolf drives. This setup will allow you to expand storage space as needed, and you can configure your RAID array for either redundancy, speed, or both. An interesting feature in this drive is the ability to host an mSATA drive to use as an Accelerator Cache for faster readout of your most commonly accessed files. It's great for both backup and current work.
If you need an external hard drive out in the field, you might consider a portable model that's designed to weather a few bumps along the way. One choice is the WD My Passport Wireless SSD. Not only is this a speedy and portable SSD with a protective bumper, but it also serves as a mobile backup station for your photos. It has a USB port and SD card slot that you can use to import photos while out shooting on location and then plug it into your computer to start editing when you get home. It is loaded with other features, too, so check out our hands-on review.
You may even want to consider going network-attached storage (NAS) instead of the conventional direct-attached route. For that, I would advise you check out Choosing Storage! DAS/NAS Options for Photographers.
Music to Your Ears
Here's one benchmark for computing the overall capacity the music-makers need in an external hard drive: 24 mono tracks recorded at 24-bit/44.1 kHz will eat up about 190MB of hard disk space per minute.
If all you intend to do is write stereo audio onto an external hard drive, you're unlikely to hit a bump in the road. But if you're doing multi-track recording, you may run into data-transfer limitations. This could occur if your projects use a lot of plug-ins that are manipulating the audio tracks on the fly, or if you are triggering multiple virtual instruments with MIDI.
For best performance, it's widely recommended that your digital audio workstation (DAW) software run on a separate drive from the one to which you write your audio files. That is, your OS and all your applications, including the DAW software, sit on one drive, and there is a dedicated drive for audio files. If you draw upon a lot of samples or virtual instruments, consider having all of these on yet another drive altogether.
Depending on your studio, recording multi-track sessions to a FireWire 800 drive may not be a problem. It is possible to max out your audio interface without trouble at 24-bits. Mixing with dozens of plug-ins is also likely not a problem if you don't start pushing your total track to higher and higher numbers. Larger sessions, or those using a higher bit rate, would hit the ceiling and it would be recommended to upgrade to the latest interfaces for best performance.
You should be fine with good 7200 rpm drives, and it's unlikely anyone would recommend something slower. It's possible you could get away with it for very basic audio projects, but why risk it? Going with modern storage options and connectivity will only help guarantee smooth performance, and this gives you room to expand your setup later on without having to reinvest in all new media.
A good drive to get going would be the G-Technology G-DRIVE USB G1 Hard Drive. This has a high capacity and data rates up to 226 MB/s—enough for basic work. It also has a standard USB 3.1 Gen 1 connection for wide support and a slick aluminum enclosure. For more speed and capacity, you can start looking at RAID arrays, such as the LaCie 2big Dock RAID Array with Thunderbolt™ 3. This uses two drives in RAID 0 to maximize speed at up to 440 MB/s. You can also swap it over to RAID 1 if you are looking for redundancy.
Beware of the Noise
As just mentioned, as well as in the videography section, spinning fans make noise, as do spinning hard drives. If you can, you should separate your PC or laptop and external hard drive from the recording room. If you can't accomplish this, or sufficiently isolate the noise with sound damping, you will likely end up with background noise that can become irritating.
If the disk drive must be nearby, consider a solid-state drive (SSD). These are significantly more expensive, but if your pocketbook can handle it, you'll prevent disk and fan noise from marring your pristine audio. They can also be quite tiny—take the Samsung T7 Touch SSD as a great example.
What type of external hard drive do you use for your creative endeavors? Let us know in the Comments section, below.
External Hard Drive For Music Storage
Source: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/computers/buying-guide/recommended-external-hard-drives-for-photo-video-and-audio-production
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