To partition or not to partition.

[violst]

I'm replacing the 120GB SSD in my mac pro with a 500GB SSD and I would like to use part of it as my start up disk and the remainder of it for working files.

With that being said would it be best to partition the drive into two separate volumes one for OSX and the other for my current working files or just leave it as one single volume. If I do partition it I was going to give OSX 200GB and 300GB to the working files

Any insight would be greatly appreciated, thanks.

 

[OS6-OSX]

It has been said it's better to keep the OS disk and "others" separate.
If the 2TB raid is not 4 500GB disks in HD slots 1-4, use one of those. Use the 128 for the OS/Apps and the 500 for the "working files".
If slots 1-4 are taken and you don't need both optical bays, go to OWC's website for the SSD adapter.

 

[flowrider]

Due to the nature of SSD Drives, I believe it is better to use not more than half the capacity of an SSD to insure longevity of the drive. IMHO, partitioning is not a good idea with SSDs. I'm in agreement with mounting the SSD in a PCIe slot with a card to utilize the SSDs full speed potential of SATAIII. I have and recommend the Apricorn Velocity Solo x2.

Lou

 

[tomvos]

Partitioning is a logical division of the storage into several logical units. It is applied at a higher level than any wear-leveling-methods of modern SSD are happening. So partitioning should not have a negative effect on the SSD as long as you do not fill the total SSD nearly completely.

Generally I use partitioning only on systems where several users are working or where a possible risk exists that programs could fill the storage. In this case I separate the system from the working data. But this can be done by partitioning as well as disk quotas.

On a single user Mac, I recommend against partitioning. It limits your flexibility quite a lot while the benefit of (potentially) higher system availability is of very low concern.

 

[DPUser]

I'm replacing the 120GB SSD in my mac pro with a 500GB SSD and I would like to use part of it as my start up disk and the remainder of it for working files.

Why not keep the 120 GB as your boot drive and use the new drive for working files? Or vice-versa if your usage patterns demand it. Unless you have a bunch of drives already running, you can almost certainly find someplace to connect your new SSD without removing your old one... optical bay, SATA card... I have three HDs and four SSDs running in my MP.

 

[Menge]

Don't partition. In the old days we used to partition our disks because our OSes were used to formatting the entire disk before installing themselves – which caused a bit of a pickle when your data was in the same partition as your OS.

Nowadays you can install OS X over your previous install like a boss and if you want, you can always hop into the Terminal in the Installer and delete all non-user folders and do a clean install without losing any user data (which is what I usually do) then just copy stuff you need over from the old users folder to the new one.

I now think partitioning on a Mac is a waste of time and places an arbitrary limitation on how much space you can use in your own disk.

 

[violst]

Thanks for all the great feed back guys. I think its pretty clear not to partition the drive.