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bus-powered hard disk
I’m a film student using Final Cut on my PowerBook. I follow the usual internal-external hard disk system- project data and finished projects on my internal hard drive, and autosave files/media on the external disk (LaCie d2 250gb)
The internal 80gb drive is getting really loaded down between each new OS, all the FCS content and copies of my finished projects, and my system isn’t running very well with 2GB available. I’d like to get a second external disk to supplement the functions of my internal disk. I take my computer around all the time and the idea of using a small bus-powered drive (to store finished projects and Final Cut Studio library content) is very appealing to me since it wouldn’t need to plug into power, and I could access that information without being limited by the location of a power socket- essentially, this would augment the function of my internal disk, but I haven’t bought a hard drive in years and don’t have much experience with these types of drives.
Does anyone have experience with bus-powered drives? Are they reliable? How much risk comes with running that much power over USB/1394?
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5 Replies
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It’s been recommended on this forum to keep at least 20% of your internal drive freed up. I have used Firelite bus-powered drives for years and they have been very reliable. G-Tech makes a 250GB bus-powered drive that also has firewire 800.
An important issue to consider: bus-powered drives are usually 4800-5400 RPM and may not perform as a proper scratch drive with FCS for editing and playback.
Also, USB is not recommended for video edit/playback, so keep it all in the firewire world.
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Wiebetech makes bus-powered drives, which are reliable (I think they even make a 3.5″ bus powered drive case). https://www.wiebetech.com/
But you can also replace your 80 gig internal with a 250gig drive, if
all you’re looking for is more internal storage.
Ed -
I’ve had a minixpress buss powered drive for almost two years and it’s been very reliable. They come with different interfaces. The one I have is FW 800, 400 and USB2. Their latest has eSata as well.
https://www.transintl.com/store/category.cfm?category=2643
I have a 160GB 5400rpm Hitachi drive in it and have had no problems. I’ve even in a pinch recorded and played back DV, HDV and DVCPro HD files without dropping frames.
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i may be missing something here, why are you using your internal harddrive for video projects?
With all the processor power needed just to run the os and other programs, you may want to think about migrating everything to an external drive.
In my business, I keep the autosave vault on the internal and NOTHING else (as far as FCP projects). This way in case a drive ever goes down, I can recreate a project with the autosave, and if my internal drive goes down, I have my project and media files externally. Finished projects (quicktimes and such) may be ok on your internal, but always keep a backup externally too.Whatever you choose, bus-powered, or not, I think you might have a smoother ride overall if you keep all your most of your video elsewhere. Harddrives are relatively inexpensive, I have 4 Lacie’s 500GB, daisy chained and a SATA RAID (1TB) hooked up to my MacBook Pro, with 2.5 TB on order.
Does your workflow ever slow you down (drop frames, slow response time, sluggishness)?
Just some alternative thoughts, hope it helps.
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You are missing something here Todd. 🙂
He said he was only using his internal drive for finished projects, as storage, not for media to edit from. That said, he certainly can move those finished QTs to another drive to make room. He also said his system wasn’t running very well with only 2GB available, hence the post about his search for more drive space.
Ed[todd reid] “i may be missing something here, why are you using your internal harddrive for video projects?
With all the processor power needed just to run the os and other programs, you may want to think about migrating everything to an external drive.
In my business, I keep the autosave vault on the internal and NOTHING else (as far as FCP projects). This way in case a drive ever goes down, I can recreate a project with the autosave, and if my internal drive goes down, I have my project and media files externally. Finished projects (quicktimes and such) may be ok on your internal, but always keep a backup externally too.Whatever you choose, bus-powered, or not, I think you might have a smoother ride overall if you keep all your most of your video elsewhere. Harddrives are relatively inexpensive, I have 4 Lacie’s 500GB, daisy chained and a SATA RAID (1TB) hooked up to my MacBook Pro, with 2.5 TB on order.
Does your workflow ever slow you down (drop frames, slow response time, sluggishness)?
Just some alternative thoughts, hope it helps. “
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