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Setting up A Raid system
Hi
At some point i would like to set up a Raid system in conjunction with a mac book pro. Mainly for video editing and after effects work.
Ive heard alot of talk on the forums about these and especially keeping 1 drive free for the operating sytem.
Can anyone offer or point me in the direction of other sites that would provide useful information. I want it to be reliable but not to spend mega bucks.
I would just like a better knowledge of the system(how it works) and how to go about setting one up….what to look for\avoid etc.
Thanks in advance
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6 Replies
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OWC makes some really affordable external firewire-800 RAID systems. For about $360 you can get a 1tb external raid.
https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/firewire/1394/USB/EliteAL/PerformanceRAID
Others will point you in the direction of G-Tech or possibly CALDIGIT. They are solid choices too.
I’m using an internal software raid in my Mac Pro myself for now – obviously that’s not a choice for you as a MacBook Pro user.
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the decision to use a RAID on a portable Mac is not so easily answered. You really need to know exactly why you need an array and what you think you care going to accomplish. IMproved throughput, data backup/integrity, or more streams of HD? These are often mutually exclusive.
https://www.staff.uni-mainz.de/neuffer/scsi/what_is_raid.htmlGoogle RAID to find lots of helpful sites that explain the various types and styles of RAID.
bogiesan
This is my standard sigfile so do not take it personally: “For crying out loud, read the freakin’ manual.”
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.[david bogie] “Google RAID to find lots of helpful sites”
Its quite obvious to google something for a text book explanation….I also have a dictionary which does a similar job
Im asking asking on the forum for sage advice from professionals with experienced application
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I’ve gotten a lot of good info from the reviews on AMUG.org and BareFeats. Then look at the sites of major manufacturers–G-Tech, Sonnet, Cal-Digit, LaCie. Adaptec has great information about the different kinds of RAIDs and the advantages of each.
https://www.adaptec.com/en-US/products/raid/_education/RAID_level_compar_wp.htm
A major consideration is the bus you will need to connect to and what other equipment needs bandwidth on the computer’s busses. So, will you go with a RAID that connects via FireWire or via SATA?
Other major topic is what flavor of RAID and how big does it need to be. I could assume you want a two-drive RAID-0 system, but maybe not.
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I have a new MacBook Pro, also and have been researching the raid issue. I have a Media RTRX raid on my dual gig Mac and love it. Over the past four years I have read and listened to HD and raid troubles and blessings-of on this forum. Everybody says buy this one or buy this one and their reasoning is sound especially for the Mac Pro and really big jobs. Raid 5 and Medea tech support has saved my ass many times. But the Mac Book Pro has no place to plug in a raid card…
So … I want to build an affordable portable raid of about 2 terrabytes. With all my reading I found Addonics, who sells all the parts and pieces. The sata Express card that I purchased there is working great and was much cheaper than the others. Addonics has a 5 drive mechanizism that sits in their portable enclosure (it has a handle) and there is still space for a Blue Ray drive. all portable, all sata2 and plugable into their sata express card into the Mac Book Pro.. 5 -500g sata drives as a stripped raid should make for a very fast drive for the Mac Book Pro. But remember to back everything up on other drives because stripped is not fail safe. The Mac Book pro makes for Concenated (sp?) raids which I am still trying to understand.
I believe that in this tech oriented business, you have to learn some of the tech. What better opportunity than to build a raid,,, and then make it work.. The enclosure with all the parts is less than $300, just add your favorite Hard drives.
So my big question for the COW is; What are your favorite SATA drives??? Hitchai is my favorite ata drive. Is Hitachi the recomended sata drive. If so what model and where is bets price.
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I’ve had good luck with both Hitachi and Seagate Barracuda SATA drives. Less experience with Western Digital, but they, Maxtor and others can be good too. If Addonics has a list of compatible drives, choose one of those. If you Google the model number of the drive, you can usually find good sources and prices. I’ve enjoyed working with OWC at Mac-Sales.com, NewEgg and Zipzoomfly.
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