What is FWB Hard Disk ToolKit 3.0.x?

Those of us who want to get the most out of our storage devices without spending $10,000 on a RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks) system and custom software probably already know about FWB’s Hard Disk ToolKit. Version 3.0 adds some new and interesting features: RAID support, an all-in-one interface, a bootable CD-ROM, and support for lots of ATA and IDE devices.

Installing and using Hard Disk ToolKit 3.0 was a breeze, although we quickly disabled the FWB Tools extension. This extension, which checks all drives at startup for problems, is handy but slows down boot time considerably. The new one-stop FWB Launcher interface reminds users that there’s more to ToolKit 3.0 than hard drive initialization and partitioning tools, and the new tabbed interface is plenty easy to navigate. All the power that ToolKit users have come to know is still there, too — features such as BenchTest, Unix partition creation, and security options are available right up front.

ToolKit 3.0 also rolls RAID support into the basic hard drive package. The utility formerly known as RAID ToolKit is now part of Hard Disk ToolKit, and it’s great. Folks working at home with two plain-vanilla SCSI hard drives can now try uniting them for a variety of benefits: to create a single volume spanning two hard drives, for faster drive operations, and for automatic data mirroring (see the sidebar “It’s a RAID!” for more information). With the price of a couple of 2.1GB internal SCSI drives hovering around $450, a simple RAID setup can be yours for about $600. Just be sure to use the same drive brand, model, and size for best results.

One of Hard Disk ToolKit 3.0’s cool new features is its ability to make Adobe Photoshop scratch partitions. Select this option when creating a partition, and Hard Disk Toolkit can put that partition on the fastest part of the hard drive (the ring of media on the edge of the disk platters). This can boost performance noticeably for disk-intensive applications such as Photoshop and Adobe Premiere. Enterprising users may want to create a Photoshop scratch partition and use it as a virtual memory partition. Hey, every little bit helps.

Look out for a couple of problems when using Hard Disk ToolKit 3.0. RAID volumes using Adaptec SCSI cards with older firmware may be corrupt (Adaptec should have updaters on its site at http://www.adaptec.com by the time you read this). Also, there have been reports of conflicts between ToolKit 3.0 and Norton Utilities for Macintosh 4.0, which FWB says you can resolve by updating to the latest version of Norton Utilities.

For those who are serious about storage — be it tweaking drives for optimal performance, RAID setup, or experimenting with Mac Linux variants — FWB’s Hard Disk ToolKit 3.0 is the tool for the job. This com- prehensive utility suite covers all things related to your hard drive, including RAID, SCSI, IDE, removable volumes, troubleshooting tools, tweaking, and diagnostics. It’s a valuable addition to any Mac geek’s software library.

Reynolds, David. (April 1999). Hard Disk ToolKit 3.0. MacAddict. (pg. 62).

Serials:
GT301004000
GT317002000
GT321007000
GT331002000
GT346007000
GT354004000
GT366004000
GT377007000
GT385002000
GT395008000

Download FWB Hard Disk ToolKit 3.0.x for Mac

Architecture

68K + PPC (FAT)

System Requirements

From Mac OS 7.5 up to Mac OS 9.2

Compatibility notes

• 68030 or PowerPC
• At least 5MB of RAM
• Mac OS 7.5.3 - Mac OS 9.x

Emulating this? It could probably run under: SheepShaver