APFS or Extended Journaled for session drive?

[thelambliesdown]

Hi,

I just got done installing 2 ssds on pcie cards...

I have installed Mojave on the 250gb SSD (which will run PT) and I am ready to format the second 500gb SSD (which will be dedicated to session/audio and plug ins/samples)...

Obviously there is no choice but to have APFS on the system drive due to mojave , but what would be the best choice of format type for the session drive? Best to have both be APFS since the system drive uses it?

I already know about incompatibility for sessions for others not using APFS if they open my sessions but what else is there to worry about?

Thanks

[Darryl Ramm]

APFS... very robust advanced filesystem, and properly designed for Flash/SSD. Installed on hundreds of millions of devices

[thelambliesdown]

Done, thanks again sir...

[Oliver M]

I decided to delete my comment.

[JFreak]

Originally Posted by Oliver M

I decided to delete my comment.

That would be healthy in many occasions when I for example post very late (or drunk).

[Oliver M]

Originally Posted by JFreak

That would be healthy in many occasions when I for example post very late (or drunk).

😂 .

How much APFS experience do you have and for how long? Curious... 😉

[JFreak]

Originally Posted by Oliver M

How much APFS experience do you have and for how long?

Since they introduced it in High Sierra, and I really like it.

For example, you have 1TB storage, you can create several 1TB "partitions" in it, obviously as long as total used space stays below 1TB. This is very handy when you need to clone system drives for testing. No need to pre-determine how large the partition need to be. Only used space gets used.

[limgim]

Originally Posted by Darryl Ramm

APFS... very robust advanced filesystem, and properly designed for Flash/SSD. Installed on hundreds of millions of devices

Am I missing something here because this is what I see on Avid Knowledge Base Hard Drive Formatting with Pro Tools ?

Drive Format System Media Notes
APFS (Mac) YES NO SSD Only
HFS+ (Mac) YES YES ---
NTFS (Win) YES YES ---
FAT32 (Mac & Win) NO NO Transfer Only

In every search i've made on "APFS or Extended Journaled for session drive", I have never found any comment on Avid's own recommendations or requirements for Hard Drive Formatting that Pro Tools Media should Not be on APFS drive. Unless Media is something else than Audio sessions or Sample libraries, why is no one mentioning this in this discussion ? I myself am wondering if I should use my Catalina APFS SSD System drive for future Pro Tools Sessions or continue with my HFS+ external SSD. Any info on this would be most welcome. Thank you.

[JFreak]

APFS is designed for SSD drives (no moving parts). Any other system is made for spinners.

[limgim]

I agree that APFS is implemented for SSD drives.

I'm asking why is everyone discussing whether to use APFS or HFS+ format for Pro Tools Audio sessions, without addressing Avid's own requirements indicating "Media on APFS drive : No" ?

The following is copied from Avid page on Hard Drive formatting for Pro Tools Sessions :

Avid Knowledge Base
Hard Drive Formatting with Pro Tools
Tested audio drive formats

Last Updated : September 9, 2020
Products Affected : Pro Tools, Pro Tools HD, Pro Tools Ultimate

Audio Drive Requirements:
One or more hard disk drives dedicated for audio record and playback.
Audio drives (any drives used with audio recording or playback or transfer) should be formatted HFS+ Journaled (not case-sensitive) for Mac, or NTFS for Windows
CAUTION

Case sensitive volume formatting is not supported

macOS FileVault encryption is not supported


Drive Format...........System.........Media............N otes
APFS (Mac)..............YES...............NO........... ...SSD Only
HFS+ (Mac)..............YES..............YES........... .....---
NTFS (Win)...............YES..............YES.......... ......---
FAT32 (Mac & Win).....NO...............NO..............Transfer Only

Supported Drive Type Notes
HDD ---
SSD Preferred over HDD for System & Media
Fusion System drive only
NVMe Recommended for high bandwidth video