The Logic Off Topic list

Hi! I'm intending to buy an external Firewire Harddisk Drive from
IceCube(Case), they're using IBM drives, 80gb, 7200 rpm, for my g3
Powerbook, Mac os 9.1. What seems good about them: they come without a fan,
the power stuff is located outside the "case", so I guess they're quite
silent. And there price seems reasonable.
First question: any other suggestions?
Second: I thought about three partitions: 20 gigs for exs Samples, 20 gigs
for temporarily Backups, and 40 gigs for recording, editing, playback etc.
Is that a reasonable idea?
--> Is it important to position the partitions in a certain way, to achieve
best possible performance, i.e. the recording partition has to come first or
something?

Also: Can I use Mac os's Drive Utilities to run and partitionate them? If
someone recommends another utility, which one/why?

Thankful for any answer, Regards, Frank Valet