Partition size for Lion

[acme]

I apologize if this question is similar to one I've recently asked..I'm about to re-install Lion and CS5, Office 2011. I have a drive that's 640GB, currently divided into 3 partitions of equal size, appx 212GB.

Is 213GB more than enough for Lion, CS5, and Office? Would Lion and CS5 be "happier" if the partitions were larger, so, 2 partitions instead of 3? Or no partitions at all?

Also, what about the idea that smaller partition is smaller for the drive/computer to scan for data, and if a partition is closer in to the center of the platter, that's faster to access than if toward the outer edge of the platter, and how to determine which partition is closer in?

thank you for dealing with these questions!

a

[benwiggy]

I would have thought that 212GB is more than enough for all those things.
Photoshop uses scratch workspace on the drive, though you can tell it to use another.

As for your geometrical theory, I imagine that you are not going to notice any appreciable difference, assuming that the idea is valid.

I do have to say that I have nearly always wanted to move the fenceposts after partitioning a disk. It's a self-imposed limitation, so unless you really need a another OS or file format or radically different area for some special purpose, I would just use folders to separate stuff.

[NaOH]

Quote: Originally Posted by acme Is 213GB more than enough for Lion, CS5, and Office? Would Lion and CS5 be "happier" if the partitions were larger, so, 2 partitions instead of 3? Or no partitions at all?

Yep, those are more than enough. For perspective, my boot volume is only 91 GB, and I have CS 5.5 on it (just Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign, and Acrobat) and Excel. The only way having loads of space really helps some CS applications is in terms of caching. But there are two things to note: 1) You'd have to be doing some serious and time-extensive CS sessions, and 2) CS applications like Photoshop let you choose what disk is used for caching.

Quote: Originally Posted by acme Also, what about the idea that smaller partition is smaller for the drive/computer to scan for data, and if a partition is closer in to the center of the platter, that's faster to access than if toward the outer edge of the platter, and how to determine which partition is closer in?

I'm ignorant about this stuff, but that's why I'll give you my opinion. I get the impression that we're generally talking differences in the milliseconds, sometimes a few seconds (when running something like a Photoshop filter, which I rarely do). I don't sweat these details, but I also don't spend my days in Photoshop or other disk-intensive applications.

It's certainly possible that one of the more knowledgable people will say I'm an idiot. In that case, you're probably better off determining how much of what is said applies to your situation (and I should do the same). But my understanding is that the best way to save time with reading/writing a disk isn't in how files are ordered but in disk speed, whether that's moving up to a 7,200 RPM drive or, ideally, an SSD (which is what I use in my 6-year-old machine).

[acme]

there's a *slight* possibility that I'll need another partition. but it is slight.....sounds like a disc with 1 partition will perform about as well as one with 3 partitions so that I might as well wipe this thing and make it all 1.

Am I reading you correctly?

a

[NaOH]

Sure, make it just one partition if that's all you think you need (since you didn't explain why you might need another partition). Even if you later have a need for a separate partition, Disk Utility allows you to non-destructuvely add one.

[acme]

My reason is to run my version of Lightwave 3D; runs in regular leopard but nothing later and I do not want to spend money upgrading to Lightwave 10 I think.

So for the once in awhile I might need to use Lightwave, I'd have this bootable clone I made with CCC.

Now, you're saying that I can wipe the drive, have 1 partition for Lion and CS5, then non-destructively make a second one for this bootable CCC clone?

then when no longer needed, wipe that and regain all my HD space?


without hosing up my Lion install?

[DeltaMac]

I think I would keep that Leopard boot partition on an external drive.
If you only use Lightwave a few times a year, you could just plug the drive in, boot to that partition, and do your project.
You don't need to waste your time waiting for the system to restore to a partition (that you MIGHT need to make space for)
When you don't need Lightwave, then you don't have to decide about removing that partition. Just boot back to your 'normal' system. Unplug the external - until next time.

[acme]

sounds like a rockin' good strategy...thank you!

[NaOH]

Quote: Originally Posted by acme My reason is to run my version of Lightwave 3D; runs in regular leopard but nothing later and I do not want to spend money upgrading to Lightwave 10 I think. So for the once in awhile I might need to use Lightwave, I'd have this bootable clone I made with CCC.

Sounds like you might as well just boot from that clone when you want to use Lightwave. Whatever files you create or modify could be copied over to your Lion volume as backups.

Quote: Originally Posted by acme Now, you're saying that I can wipe the drive, have 1 partition for Lion and CS5, then non-destructively make a second one for this bootable CCC clone? then when no longer needed, wipe that and regain all my HD space?

You could do that, but I wouldn't want to be messing with the partitioning a bit. That's not based on any information, more a personal preference. It sounds like maybe a few times a year you might need 10.5 for Lightwave. If I were in your position, I'd probably do what DeltaMac suggested or this:

1. Create a separate partition for Leopard that's as small as is needed. If installing from scratch, make the installation as minimal as possible (e.g., skip something like Garage Band), then run Software Update until everything is up to date.
2. Remove any unneeded Apple applications from /Applications and /Applications/Utilities. Don't be shy in this: If you won't use something like iCal under 10.5, pitch it. I've done this with my 10.4 computer. Ditto printer files in /Library/Printers.
3. Run a tool like Monolingual to remove unneeded language files.
4. Install Lightwave and the files you use with it.

Your Mac install in that setup is probably around 5-6 GB. I don't know how many Lightwave files you have, or how big they are, but I'd guess you could pull that off with a 20–30 GB partition. Admittedly, I don't know if Lightwave relies on space on the boot volume for a scratch disk, so that might be a factor to consider.

[acme]

Thank you, NaOH

[dianeross]

I word of caution...if you have Lion installed on two partitions on the same drive you'll have problems with your purchases in the MAS. I did a clean install of Lion on a separate partition and left the old Lion install there until I could move my files over. When I tried to log into my MAS account in the new Lion partition, I kept getting you are using the wrong ID. After much discussion with Apple, I was told to delete the old Lion partition and voila my ID worked. I'm guessing there must be something like Microsoft activation that is tied to the drive with your Apple IDs or MAS.

Note, Monolingual does a number on Office 2008 installs. I think this has been fixed for Office 2011.

My internal drive is 1T. I have two partitions. The bottom partition is my scratch drive (250GB). I direct my downloads here along with any scratch files and Roxio Converted Items. Now I can just tell Time Machine to ignore this drive and all those files that are being added/deleted won't be fragmenting my main drive.