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Topic: formatting large HDD for audio - digital music library (Read 4133 times) previous topic - next topic
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formatting large HDD for audio - digital music library

For a Windows 7 64-bit OS computer. This is not for a raid of any kind.
How should I set allocation unit size for a 2 TB harddrive to use for video and audio library when formatting a new harddrive?

the audio library will be FLAC files and also MP3s made from them. (from 500 audio CDs).

512 bytes
1024 bytes
2048 bytes
4096 bytes (4K)

also regarding partitions
Would it be best to make 2 or 3 partitions and make the first partition for videos only since it spins the fastest and technically should have the fastest access times? That's what I've heard to do in the past.
or should I just stick with the entire drive as 1 partition?



formatting large HDD for audio - digital music library

Reply #1 –
I don't know how the first partition can spin faster the others.  A partitions can span multiple platters on a drive so the drive speed is still dependent on where the data in on the platter.  Beyond that, hard drives transfer speeds are much higher than what is required for consuming movies and music.  I doubt there is going to be any real world difference based on how you partition it. 

I recommend you just select the default allocation unit size.  In practical terms (especially with a 2TB drive) there is nothing to be gained from picking something other than the default.

formatting large HDD for audio - digital music library

Reply #2 –
You may want to do two partitions with the one for video and one for music.  Not for physical location but for cluster sizing.  Also, a 4k cluster size would be good for video because of read performance, and a smaller cluster size would be good for the music end of things (smaller clusters = less size per file, if you have a lot of songs, cues, other misc. files).

formatting large HDD for audio - digital music library

Reply #3 –
I agree with odigg, block size is irrelevant if most of your files are contiguous and bigger than the block size. Let's say only your log and cue files are smaller than 4K (default for NTFS), the upper limit of the lost space is only 4MB for 500 CDs...

formatting large HDD for audio - digital music library

Reply #4 –
It won't matter soon, the world of hard drives is turning to 4k sectors, so you won't be able to go with any clusters lower than 4k anyway.

formatting large HDD for audio - digital music library

Reply #5 –
Quote from: odigg on
I don't know how the first partition can spin faster the others.


The limit to the densityof the bits on a track is set by areal density. IOW, the media can handle only so many bits per inch.

The tracks are longer towards the outside edge of the drive and therefore have more bytes in them. Since the effective linear speed is higher, the data comes off faster.

Quote
A partitions can span multiple platters on a drive so the drive speed is still dependent on where the data in on the platter.


Right, but the tracks are formatted in cyliners. A cylinder is composed of all of the tracks with the same radius.

Quote
Beyond that, hard drives transfer speeds are much higher than what is required for consuming movies and music.  I doubt there is going to be any real world difference based on how you partition it.



Quote
I recommend you just select the default allocation unit size.  In practical terms (especially with a 2TB drive) there is nothing to be gained from picking something other than the default.


The larger the allocation unit is, the fewer allocation units per file. Fewer allocation units reduces the space required to keep track of the allocation units, and the CPU overhead for managing them.

Since audio files are usually on the order of a megabyte or more, there is little to be lost in terms of wasted space in partially filed allocation units, if the allocation units are even 64 k.  Small allocation units only make sense if the average file is small,

formatting large HDD for audio - digital music library

Reply #6 –
It is true that the data transfer rate off the media is substantially faster in the beginning of the disc. On large video files, especially if they are contiguous on the disc. But this is only one part of the data stream and usually the other parts a weaker. For example, if you are watching on your computer, The rate needed by your graphics card will be less that the rate of the drive. To give yourself a comfort factor, Make the first third partitioned for video and the second partition for everything else.

As for the block size, set it as high as you can. The only reason to lower it is if almost all your files are very small. The only issue with a large block size, is some wasted space. If a file is written in 4K blocks, the last block in the file usually is not 4K. Thus the wasted space would be 4K minus the data in the block. Thus the maxim wasted space per file would be 4K-1. If all of your files were 1K, this would be substantial, but this is rarity the case and even more so in your case since you are using very large files.



Edit: I agree with Arnold who is a faster typer than I. I think that we are saying much of the same thing.
Glass half full!

formatting large HDD for audio - digital music library

Reply #7 –
Blu-ray movies have a maximum bitrate of 48 mbps.  Unless you are editing with uncompressed HD video then it doesn't matter where on the disk video is.  But then even 2TB isn't much for uncompressed HD video.

formatting large HDD for audio - digital music library

Reply #8 –
Quote from: ramicio on
Also, a 4k cluster size would be good for video because of read performance, and a smaller cluster size would be good for the music end of things (smaller clusters = less size per file, if you have a lot of songs, cues, other misc. files).


Almost any modern hard drive has a sustained transfer rate of at least 50MB/sec.  Realistically, with the proliferation of 7200RPM drives and high density platters, you're probably talking about at least 65MB/sec.

You could easily watch multiple HD streams using that.

formatting large HDD for audio - digital music library

Reply #9 –
Any performance gains (by using large allocation units) or space gains (by using small allocation units) are marginal at best and unlikely to be noticeable in your daily routine. On the other hand, using exotic allocation unit sizes is likely to break compatibility with various pieces of software (think partition managers, data recovery tools).

If you're editing video (not just watching), a separate partition on the fast, outer zones of your drive is a good idea.