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New Fibre Storage for my SAN – or integrated NAS solution?
I have a MacPro Server with a SmallTree 6 port Gigabit Ethernet Server Card, connected directly to 3 MacPro video editing clients (PremierePro), and else connected to a Gigabit switch for the graphics department.
My current Storage is an aging Apple X-Raid with only 3 TB total capacity, and I am starting to get errors and replace drives every 5-6 months. Only have one spare drive left (250GB) and am running out of space – so I figured it is time for a new storage solution.
My reseller has come up with 2 options:
1) Keep the current MacPro/SmallTree solution, and change the storage to an Eonstor ESDS-S12F-G2840-4B with 12 x 3TB Seagate 24×7 SAS.
2) Change to a powerful NAS solution (do not know which processor system) with 12 x 3TB Seagate SATA disks, and 4 built in Gigabit ethernet ports (can be expanded), built on the ZFS file system for drive security.
The Eonstor is a quite expensive, and I could really use the MacPro for other applications, so I am considering the less expensive NAS solution, but could really use some advice here…
– No Parking Production –
2 x Finalcut Studio3, 2 x Prod. bundle CS6, 2 x MacPro, 2 x ioHD, Ethernet File Server w. X-Raid…. and FCPX on trial
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20 Replies
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Hey Morton,
Is there a reason you aren’t checking out some video specific solutions? Both of those options use standard networking protocols to re-share storage, generally this isn’t ideal for post and managing it is a pain.
For 3 workstations check out https://www.promax.com/s-223-promax-platform-studio.aspx
You can also watch a 4 min video on the software that drives it here https://www.promax.com/s-238-platform-manager-software.aspx
Good luck!
Nate Cooper
nate.cooper@promax.com -
Hi Morten,
In addition to ProMax (and my company, SNS) there are a number of companies here on the Cow — Maxx Digital, Facilis, EditShare, ProMax, SmallTree, SNS, and others — who build shared storage solutions that were created to do specifically what you want to do.
One of the major benefits to going with a purpose-built solution from companies like us is that we’ve pretty much seen it all before, meaning, we’ve already come across or anticipated problems that are specific to video storage, and the answers to those problems are already baked into the products. (We happen to know things like “which model/firmware of drives work best with FCP” because we’ve already done the testing…) The other major benefit is that if you come across new issues with our products, we’re far more likely to be able to drill into the problem because we have labs setup with the same kinds of hardware/tools you have.
That being said, here’s a shameless plug for our EVO SAN/NAS shared storage system. 🙂
https://www.studionetworksolutions.com/evo/
Eric Newbauer
Studio Network Solutions (SNS)
https://www.studionetworksolutions.com -
Hi Morten,
I can’t agree with Nate and Eric more. There are so many good solutions out there – Studio Network Solutions, ProMax, Small Tree, and everything that Eric Newbauer just mentioned. If you own a Small Tree PEG6 card, and things are working out for you, I just can’t understand why you would not speak to Small Tree about a bigger system? What is up with trying to “home brew” a system, instead of buying a name brand, turnkey system, that you know will work perfectly, and you will have support for ?
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If the Eonstore from Infortrend is too expensive, why don’t you simply contact the companies that post on this forum day after day ? Let me assure you that EVERY ONE OF THEM can offer you a turnkey solution, for less money than the price of the Infortrend.
And all of them will work, with zero aggravation for you and your company.Bob Zelin
Bob Zelin
Rescue 1, Inc.
maxavid@cfl.rr.com -
Hi Bob
The reason that we built our current storage system, based on a MacPro Server, and the SmallTree card with Jumbo Frames enabled, was actually your great advice on this forum.
This system has been totally reliable, and has delivered the necessary bandwidth for editing with 3 workstations (compressed media). So if I just exchanged the Array to a larger model, I would retain the performance that we have gotten used to.
But now my reseller is offering me a dedicated NAS system, much like the ProMax or SNS solutions, which they have made successful installs with for a couple of other editing companies, and I was just curious if such systems are advisable to use?
I will certainly also look for quotes from the kind gentlemen who have chimed in on this forum. But to be honest, I am more comfortable with sticking to the local reseller (Denmark that put together our original system, since they also have great support.
– No Parking Production –
2 x Finalcut Studio3, 2 x Prod. bundle CS6, 2 x MacPro, 2 x ioHD, Ethernet File Server w. X-Raid…. and FCPX on trial
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[Morten Ranmar] “1) Keep the current MacPro/SmallTree solution, and change the storage to an Eonstor ESDS-S12F-G2840-4B with 12 x 3TB Seagate 24×7 SAS. “
Isn’t it a Fibre-Channel box? What did the reseller propose, direct-attach it to the Mac Pro or build out a whole Fibre-Channel based NAS?
If direct-attached, I’d look at direct-attached SAS boxes – significantly under $10K for 36TB raw. If they proposed a full-scale FC SAN, then it’s big $$ indeed.
[Morten Ranmar] “2) Change to a powerful NAS solution (do not know which processor system) with 12 x 3TB Seagate SATA disks, and 4 built in Gigabit ethernet ports (can be expanded), built on the ZFS file system for drive security.”
If the reseller is intimately familiar with your workflow, and knows what he is doing in terms of configuring NAS and ZFS for post (there are some serious limitations) – sure. If you are not sure – I’d go with other posters’ advice – get a video-specific shared storage solution from one of the vendors they mentioned. DIY high performance NAS for post is not yet worth the headache in most cases.
Alex Gerulaitis
Systems Engineer
DV411 – Los Angeles, CA -
[Morten Ranmar] “But now my reseller is offering me a dedicated NAS system”
What is his reason for doing so (vs. replacing the existing box with a faster, better, larger, more reliable one)?
I’d also look into other NAS installs that reseller did, talk to those other editors, find out their reasons, and if they’re satisfied.
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Have you looked into 10GBE Adapters from Small Tree? Couple those with a DAS SAS system on the Mac that Alex suggested and you will have far better performance than a NAS system for multiple clients. Protocol streamlining only offers so much performance gain. You can get very affordable 10GBE switches with these
https://www.netgear.com/business/products/switches/prosafe-plus-switches/XS708E.aspx#
https://www.small-tree.com/Intel_Based_10_Gb_PCIe_Dual_Port_Copper_10_Gb_Et_p/petg1-cat6a.htm
https://www.small-tree.com/Intel_Based_10_Gb_PCIe_Dual_Port_Copper_10_Gb_Et_p/petg2-cat6a.htm
Eric-ADK
Tech Manager -
Hi Eric –
i see that you are Thecus dealers. How do you like the Thecus for a shared storage environment ?
Bob Zelin
https://www.adkvideoediting.com/storage.cfmBob Zelin
Rescue 1, Inc.
maxavid@cfl.rr.com -
Hello. The Thecus units have good performance via iSCSI and very easy management tools. The Build Quality is good and reliability has been excellent with zero failures so far. The 8800Pro V2 or higher with PCI-E 8x expansion slot is a key feature most Nas/iSCSI units don’t have and they have finally added support for almost all of the Intel 10GBE Ethernet cards to the firmware. I cant say enough how much of a game changer that is for small business with today’s bandwidth requirements climbing on the 2K+ workflows. Couple those with the Inexpensive Intel 1 or 2 port 10GBE network cards and the sub $1000 Netgear 10GBE network switches and you have a blazing 10GBE network based multiclient editing solution ideal for small business with a far lower investment cost than Fiber especially considering the infrastructure costs differences. I would also like to say Thecus support is good and has been very responsive to clients. I recommend them to any clients looking for different network storage options regardless of where they are purchased.
Eric-ADK
Tech Manager -
excellent response Eric –
so I guess Thecus is another player is the entry level NAS boxes with 10gig, that include
Synology and QNAP.Yet another reason to not try to “do it yourself” with all these solutions readily available on the market.
Bob Zelin
Bob Zelin
Rescue 1, Inc.
maxavid@cfl.rr.com
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