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local storage solution
I’m looking for suggestions for local drive storage. I’ve got a networked and raided back-up storage drive, but the network is too slow to edit on. I’m not prepared to dive into serious long terms set-ups yet – just need something for the next year or so of editing.
I’m editing in DVCProHD and I have about 500 GB of clips, and will be adding about a TB in the next 6 months. So, I need to be able to edit this footage – is Firewire 800 my best bet? I’m thinking about just buying a pair of external 2TB drives.
I’m on the latest Intel MacPro with FCP 6 with a Kona LHe card.
Thanks!
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16 Replies
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I would go with an eSata drive instead of FW800. I have 5 500GB drives in my MacPro = 2.5TB. 1 drive is the system. 1 drive I keep aside for the autosave and music/gfx/sfx, etc. and the remaining 3 drives are raided together for 1.5TB of storage.
While it all plays full uncompressed 10bit SD just fine. I have had “out of memory” errors. But the concensus seems to be that is because my projects were too big. This time I’m doing each Act in a separate project and will string together at the end. But that 1.5TB should cover you, Liz.
Andrea Stewart
Producer/Editor/Director – Owner
Germane Creative LLC -
Is the difference in speed that different from FW800? Worth the cost?
And – I’d have to buy a PCI card for the eSata, no?What are the downsides of eSata versus firewire?
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Liz,
A single SATA drive has more than twice the throughput of a single firewire 800 drive. Plus, SATA is much more robust than firewire and has none of the issues that firewire has when daisy-chained together, such going offline or conflicts with other devices such as VCRs and cameras.
In additional, when striped together in a raid configuration, SATA is vastly faster than firewire 800 drives, even if several firewire are striped together.
Offically, Apple does not even support firewire drives as capture devices for FCP.
David
David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor
David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los AngelesPOST-PRODUCTION WITHOUT THE USUAL INSANITY ™
A forum host of Creative COW’s Apple Final Cut Pro, Business & Marketing, and Indie Film & Documentary forums.
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Alright I’m sold. Any recommendations on particular SATA drives? and cards?
Thanks so much!
Liz -
Liz,
If you tell me how much much hard drive space you need and what you can afford to spend, I’ll try to help you sort through the myriad of possibilities.
Meanwhile, poke around the ad banners on the Cow to see what’s being offered by the manufacturers who are represented, who are many of the best.
David
David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor
David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los AngelesPOST-PRODUCTION WITHOUT THE USUAL INSANITY ™
A forum host of Creative COW’s Apple Final Cut Pro, Business & Marketing, and Indie Film & Documentary forums.
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I really like OWC Mercury Elite Drives with eSATA.
https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/firewire/1394/USB/EliteAL/400+USB2/
-Russ
Russell Lasson
Kaleidoscope Pictures
Provo, UT -
Thanks! I’ll have about 1.5 TB of footage plus any space for rendering and rough cuts, etc. And I’d like room to grow. I was originally thinking 3-4 TB for now (no RAID b/c I have a backup), maybe split amongst two drives?
WIth eSATA, can you daisy-chain them or connect more if you add more drives as time goes on? Room to grow is definitely a desirable aspect.
Price point is negotiable – it’s more a question of what value I’m getting for the dollar. Speed, reliability, compatibility, and ease of use are all bigger factors than budget, to a reasonable extent.
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[Liz Smith] “I was originally thinking 3-4 TB for now (no RAID b/c I have a backup), maybe split amongst two drives?”
Liz,
The above does not compute…
3-4Tb has to be 3 or 4 drives, not two.
And, when you say, no RAID because I have a backup, you are missing the most important point of both SATA and raid. Configuring as a raid is principly done to achieve speed and to create one large virtual drive from several smaller drives striped together. The current trend toward Raid-5, which you read about all the time these days, is about protection, that’s what you probably don’t need. But don’t rule out Raid-0, that’s a mistake, because you will lose out on the huge benefits of speed and throughput, which translate into vastly increased realtime performance benefits, especially with HD.
BTW, what Mac are you working on?
David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor
David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los AngelesPOST-PRODUCTION WITHOUT THE USUAL INSANITY ™
A forum host of Creative COW’s Apple Final Cut Pro, Business & Marketing, and Indie Film & Documentary forums.
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I thought I saw a few 2TB and 4TB drives out there. Was thinking about just getting one 4TB.
I see what you mean about “RAID” – yes, I was referring to the fact that I don’t need a back-up – so no RAID 5. Storage protocols are obviously not my forte. 🙂
I’m on an Intel MacPro – the two 2.8GHz Quad-Core – running FCP 6.
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[Liz Smith] “I’m on an Intel MacPro – the two 2.8GHz Quad-Core – running FCP 6.”
Okay, got it Liz… Give me a little while to record some V.O. and I’ll give you some thoughts on the subject…
David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor
David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los AngelesPOST-PRODUCTION WITHOUT THE USUAL INSANITY ™
A forum host of Creative COW’s Apple Final Cut Pro, Business & Marketing, and Indie Film & Documentary forums.
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