-
Storage
Hi again!
I’m in the process of buying a G5/FCP, which seems to be the easy part. Trying to figure out what type of storage to buy, as you know, is another!
I mostly edit Beta-SP (UVW-1800) and am still leaning towards the AJA LA analog FW400 box for that.
I’ve called Lacie, Medea and a couple of other places trying to figure out if SATA or FW800 would be the best bet. I seem to get a different answer from every call!
Most say that FW800 (the G-RAID or Mercury Elite Pro) work well as long as I have a separate firewire card so that the AJA LA on the FW400 input doesn’t compete with it. Some people say that SATA is the best way to go.
The new Mac that I’m getting will most likely be the dual 2.7 (PCI) as opposed to the quad (PCIe) just because there are no SATA or FW cards for PCIe as of yet! I will be buying everything before 12/31 with limited resources for the 2005 tax break.
Most people say to get at least 500GB if not 1TB of storage to start. Is there an additional slot in the G5 where I can add an internal SATA drive? If so, whay would you suggest?
Please let me know your thoughts and experience – thanks in advance!
-PatP D Post Productions, Inc. ~
TV~DVD~VHS~CD~WEB
for Corporate Communications, Commercials, Infomercials, Television Programs, Family Occasions since 1983 ~
E-mail **@****st.com ~
Website http://www.PDPost.com ~
Business/Cell Phone (847) 275-5671 -
9 Replies
-
You can always go to the AJA.com website and get their whatif data rate calculator. The storage need is listed at the bottom of the window. Type in how many minutes/hours you want to store for whatever format you will use predominantly–DV NSTC, SD 720×486 8-bit/10-bit, 1920x1080i, etc.:
aja.com – AJA_Data_Rate_Calculator_102b11.zipIt will also educate you in how much data rate each format requires.
HTH,
Bryce WhitesideDon’t worry Mr. B. I have a cunning plan…
PowerBook 1.67 Ghz ATI 9700 128 MB 2 GB
Final Cut Pro HD
DVD Studio Pro 3
Motion -
Thanks for the link and tip, Bryce!
Would you have a suggestion more as to what type of storage (FW800 or SATA) or brand (G-RAID, G-SATA, Lacie Biggest, etc.) to shoot for that would be my best bet for mostly Beta-SP for corporate videos and commercials?
Thanks again!
-PatP D Post Productions, Inc. ~
TV~DVD~VHS~CD~WEB
for Corporate Communications, Commercials, Infomercials, Television Programs, Family Occasions since 1983 ~
E-mail PD@PDPost.com ~
Website http://www.PDPost.com ~
Business/Cell Phone (847) 275-5671 -
If you do a search on LaCie here you find many people that have had issues with them. I for one cannot comment. Personally I would go with g-technology.com products if I went firewire.
A link that will be valuable to you is:
Barefeats.com – Real World Speed Tests for Performance Minded Mac UsersThe following may be counterintuitive because of the link name but scroll down to the botton of the page for a link to all the SATA card and enclosure manufacturers:
Cardbus SATA on PowerBook G4 at Barefeats.comHowever missing from the list:
G-TECHNOLOGY – Professional FireWire, eSATA and USB Storage SolutionsFor your needs you could probably go with a SATA PCI or PCIe RAID card–depending on your G5 model–and an external enclosure. If you put your Mac/FCP configuration as part of your signature others on this forum will be better informed as to what specifically to recommend.
HTH,
Bryce WhitesideDon’t worry Mr. B. I have a cunning plan…
PowerBook 1.67 Ghz ATI 9700 128 MB 2 GB
Final Cut Pro HD
DVD Studio Pro 3
Motion -
A G-Raid is a good option, as it can yeild 4 channels of 8-bit uncompressed SD footage. But external SATA Raids are your best bet all around. Even the G-SATA gives better speed that a G-Raid. G-Raids are good if you need the portability…but for SD work, SATA Raids are recommended.
Fibrechannel RAIDS are the best, if you can afford it.
Shane
“There’s no need to fear, UNDERDOG is here!”Shane Ross
Alokut Productions
http://www.lfhd.net -
Thanks to all for the input on this!
What really confuses me is that I called the G-RAID/G-SATA people becuase what I’ve read here about Lacie is not good. I haven’t read much about other SATA solutions and Fiber is out of my budget range for now anyway.
When I called tech support, they actually told me that the G-RAID (FW800) is actually better for me with primarily Beta-SP footage than G-SATA! Even though G-RAID maxes at 100 and G-SATA maxes at 150, which I would think would provide more real time streams and stability, they said that the G-RAID would be more reliable.
Further, I am leaning toward buying a G5 2.7 over a Quad becuase I understand that if I go with the AJA LA (the analog only external FW400 box) that I’d need a seperate card for it if I go the FW800 storage route. Of course, I’d need a card for the SATA route as well. The Quad snag is that, at this point, there are no cards for PCIe. So, the G5 2.7 is my only option unless I spend double and go with the AJA Kona LHe card. However, this card shares all analog IOs with the component cables (the composite IO is the “Y” component cable and I’m not even sure how S-Video comes in and out of BNC cables). This is why I’m leaning toward the AJA LA.
I know I’m all over the board here with my response! I guess the question comes down to this: if the SATA route is in fact the better way to go between the two, what SATA options do you use besides G-SATA and Lacie? Would you recommend them for my setup (I would imagine that I’ll be using more DV footage sooner than HD)? Or, do you agree that a FW800 route is fine (like the G-RAID people suggested over their own G-SATA)?
Thanks again!
-PatP D Post Productions, Inc. ~
TV~DVD~VHS~CD~WEB
for Corporate Communications, Commercials, Infomercials, Television Programs, Family Occasions since 1983 ~
E-mail PD@PDPost.com ~
Website http://www.PDPost.com ~
Business/Cell Phone (847) 275-5671 -
For what it’s worth, this is the way I went recently for my dual 2.7 G5.
I still work with BetaSP quite a bit, but I see HD coming on strong in many flavors. For me, the AJA Kona LH card seemed like the way to go. I was concerned about the “sharing” aspect of their analog ins and outs too, but decided it was not too big a deal. (By the way to answer one of your previous questions, you can buy a cable that converts the two bnc connecters they use for Y/C video to a standard “s-video” connector if you need it.)
SATA seemed to make more sense than a firewire raid as it positions you to step up to higher data rates when you need to in the future. I really like the looks of the Firmtek external hot-swappable box and plan on purchasing one in the future. I’ve read very flattering reviews both on the Cow forums and at Barefeats. For now, I went with four Hitachi 250gig SATA II drives mounted internally with the Swift Data 200 mounting system.
https://www.transintl.com/store/category.cfm?Category=2490I’ve been using Hardware Monitor to watch for increased temperatures and/or fan speed pretty carefully and have not seen much difference in temperatures or fan speeds or durations of increased fan rpm since installing the drives. That being said, there are many who would advise against internal mounting.
There have been many posts praising the Firmtek SATA cards here so that may be a good choice. I chose the Sonnet Tempo-x eSATA 4+4 to connect the internal drives now and the external box in the future while still only using one PCI slot. If you go with Sonnet, be sure to switch your Energy Saver options in System Prefs to “never” and UNcheck the “Put the hard disk(s) to sleep when possible” checkbox. There is a problem with auto sleep modes that they say they are working on resolving in a future firmware release. Putting the computer to sleep with the Apple>Sleep menu command works fine for me.
I’m very happy with this setup so far…. your mileage may vary. The beta footage captured through the Kona card looks beautiful. Best of luck with your purchases whatever you choose!
Regards,
David -
Thanks A LOT David!
Wow – the Swift Data 200 looks to be the very best solution! Since reading your post, I’ve been at their website, looking at their installation video and calling them. It has been worth every minute because I think, for my immediate and future needs, that this makes the most sense as compared to external Firewire800 or SATA solutions. In fact, not only is the price better (about $900 for 1.2TB) but the performance is leaps and bounds better offering 7 real time streams in real time in addition to all kinds of ability to grow into HD!
The only limitations are the fact that all five drives are in the G5 (cooled by the G5 fans), which might overheat but both the company and David say that the G5 box cools them nicely. Also, are not portable like the other external Firewire800 or SATA solutions but, for me, I only have one workstation and don’t see the need to share the drives anyway. A benefit at this time, though, for those with Quads is that there is no snag with the current no PCIe SATA card situation. The cards for Swift Data 200 are on their way and will be in by mid January. For those with the older G5 duals, the Sonnet card are readily available and add the ability to add four additional external drives at a later date (as David explained in the previous post).
So, thanks again, David, for the tip on this! I’ve been going back and forth about this for weeks now! I think this is the best solution for my immediate and future needs! In addition, I’ve been an professional video editor since 1983, so having 7 real time streams available for my Beta-SP footage is going to be key because I do a lot of layering.
Thanks, too, for the AJA LH/LHe suggestion and S-Video explaination. I guess it wouldn’t matter for me, too, becuase I would hook the card to my Beta-SP deck via the component IOs anyway and the deck could IO S-Video and Composite anyway. I have looked at it for $1600, but I’m still leaning toward the AJA LA for $950. I like the SDI additions to the LH/LHe card but that seems to be the only benefit plus the price of the LA is about my speed right now. I’ll be spending about $7,500 in total for equipment upgrades before 12/31 – ouch! If I saw the LH/LHe card for $1000 somewhere, I’d probably go that route.
Thanks again,
-PatP D Post Productions, Inc. ~
TV~DVD~VHS~CD~WEB
for Corporate Communications, Commercials, Infomercials, Television Programs, Family Occasions since 1983 ~
E-mail PD@PDPost.com ~
Website http://www.PDPost.com ~
Business/Cell Phone (847) 275-5671 -
Pat,
Just a couple of caveats…. I don’t know about seven real time streams, but then I’m pretty new to Final Cut having been using a Media 100XS for many years.
As for the IO-LA, it’s a nice box and offers great portability if you had more than one station…. but you would be giving up HD as well as the SDI ins and outs. If that’s all the budget will handle, then it will be great for your present needs and you can get a Kona card in the future. You might decide later to go with the extra capabilities that a Kona 2 card offers over the LH anyway. In that case, the analog features of the LA will be handy to have around.
Have fun with all the new stuff!
Regards,
David -
Hi,
This might help you decide:
https://www.barefeats.com/hard51.html
When it comes to 1, 2 and 4 drive sets, which is faster, FireWire 800 or Serial ATA?I love my Seritek (hot swapable) external enclosure and card. Here is a review of the card:
https://www.amug.org/amug-web/html/amug/reviews/articles/firmtek/1v4/Here are reviews of the enclosure:
https://www.barefeats.com/hard58.html
https://www.barefeats.com/hard43.htmlInternal would be cheaper:
https://www.amug.org/amug-web/html/amug/reviews/articles/g5bracket/Up to 5 Drives in a G5
A review of the G5 Drive Bracket for PowerMac G5The cost for the G5 Drive Bracket is $109 shipped.
Best Wishes,
Mitch
Reply to this Discussion! Login or Sign Up