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Choosing external hard drives
Hi,
I’ve recently started working as an FCP editor and i’m fast running out of storage.
The company i work for wants the the video i work on to be secured so I’ve been looking at RAIDed hard drive arrays.I have herd from a few people that a DROBO is the best way to go. But the company really wants to keep prices down and has suggested something like a EdgeStore DAS501T 5xBay Enclosure via eSATA.
https://www.storagedepot.co.uk/Hard-Drive-Cases/sc884/p942.aspx#Specification
(along with buying an eSATA PCI adapter)
Basically I have two questions, first will FCP have any issue working with a hard drive connected via eSATA (or any other issues) and secondly what advantages does something like the DROBO actually offer over the above, that i can present to my aboves to convince them to spend the extra money?
Many thanks!
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9 Replies
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Ben,
Are you looking for backup storage, or for online storage? The Drobo would be fine for backup but I wouldn’t trust it to be my online editing storage. If the other unit you are looking at is cheaper than the Drobo then I would say the same thing for it. In this business you truly get what you pay for and with something as important as storage I don’t think you want to go too cheap. Here are a few things to think about:
What type of footage are you editing?
How much storage do you need?
Can you lay off final versions to tape and archive that way?
If you are looking for reliable, fast online storage for your FCP system I would look at CalDigit, Dulce or G-Tech to name a few. Others here will have other suggestions.
K
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Hi Ken,
Thanks so much for your reply.
Basically, i film and edit large amounts of interviews for a web site that is constantly changing it’s content. So although i could lay final edits to tape, it doesn’t really make sense, as chances are i will need to do a re edit at some point in the near future.
Ideally i want something that may only start of with 2-3 terabytes storage for now, but that can be upgraded with relative ease. I would love something that can just act as a central storage unit for all the projects i’m working on, but that has the safety or RAID should one of the drives go, so i can just replace it.
The other question i had was to do with the different RAID system 0,1,5 etc. and which one strikes the best balance with security and capacity.
The footage format is DV PAL.
Unfortunately although i would love to say that x, or y is the best option to my aboves. i have to respect that they have said “we are a start up, and need to keep costs down as much as possible”
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Hi Ben,
I second Ken.
I think DROBO is not what you are looking for. eSATA is the way.
You have to consider the kind of footage you work with, the kind of work you do and the protection you need.
If the “EDGE IO” works well, I would consider this solution.
Looks great and with the eSATA-PCI card included for some 300 U$, I think is a very good price.
Cheers,
rafael -
thanks for getting back to me.
Do you mind if i ask, what i know is a really stupid question.
But what is the actually advantage of the eSATA connection over the firewire 800 DROBO?
Also is there any particular RAID system i.e 0,1,5 etc, that you recommend that strikes the best balance between capacity and security?
Many thanks
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[Ben Lithman] “Ideally i want something that may only start of with 2-3 terabytes storage for now, but that can be upgraded with relative ease. I would love something that can just act as a central storage unit for all the projects i’m working on, but that has the safety or RAID should one of the drives go, so i can just replace it. “
Look at the new Expando Chassis technology that is being used now by MaxxDigital and Dulce among others. You purchase a high speed SAS/SATA array today and run it in RAID 5 for protection in the event of a loss of a hard drive, you don’t lose your data.
Then in the future when you need more storage, you purchase another SATA chassis and simply daisy chain it to the first array. We’ve been testing a new MaxxDigital Expando Chassis here and it will handle up to 128 drives in a chain. Currently we’re running 16 drives at about 650MB/s in RAID 5. In the future when I need more storage, I order another chassis and just hang it off the back.
If you want centralized storage, like we’re doing now, you can set up a MaxxDigital Final Share Server. We’re setting up 6 workstations all running off GigE Ethernet . We can edit all the way up to 1080i ProRes HQ on all the systems with everyone using the same media at the same time. Again, we’re running the Expando Chassis on the server so adding new storage will be as simple as daisy chaining Firewire drives in the future.
http://www.maxxdigital.com and they sell all manner of hard drives.
Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Biscardi Creative Media
HD and SD Production for Broadcast and Independent Productions.STOP STARING AND START GRADING WITH APPLE COLOR Apple Color Training DVD available now!
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[Ben Lithman] “The other question i had was to do with the different RAID system 0,1,5 etc. and which one strikes the best balance with security and capacity.”
Well, with RAID 0 you get speed with no protection, RAID 1 gives you a mirror image, RIAD 5 gives you speed plus protection but is more expensive, RAID 6 gives you a little less speed than RAID 5 but more protection and is more expensive.
[Ben Lithman] “Unfortunately although i would love to say that x, or y is the best option to my aboves. i have to respect that they have said “we are a start up, and need to keep costs down as much as possible””
I am thinking that you may need some hybrid of what you really want since you do not seem to have the budget for what you really want and need. My suggestion would be to buy some bare drives and install them in your Mac. I am assuming that you have a MacPro. Use those for your editing storage. You can put three more drives internally. Get an external box to use for archive only. It could be RAID 1 or RAID 5.
Your issue is that you are having to stay on a very small budget and trying to do alot with it. You may have to get creative in your workflow. While it may not be ideal, it can be done.
K
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Ben,
The CalDigit HDElement is ideal for your needs. It’s relatively inexpensive, it’s easily expandable and it’s a true hardware RAID.
Bob Zelin wrote a great post on this a while back:
https://forums.creativecow.net/thread/228/686
RAID-5 is the ideal RAID level for redundancy, capacity and performance.
There is no free ride. If your employer thinks $1500-$2000 is too much money for a safe, dependable storage solution, you’re fighting a losing battle. You can’t skimp on storage without it coming back to bite you in the future.
Other advice: Avoid LaCie products like the plague.
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Also check out the CalDigit RAID card:
https://www.CalDigit.com/RAIDCard/
It’s a PCIe card that can create a hardware RAID using the internal drives of a Mac Pro. It also comes with a drive bracket that allows the addition of a 5th internal drive installed in the second optical bay of the Mac Pro. You can have a dedicated OS/boot drive and a 4-drive RAID-5 volume using only internal drives.
The RAID card also has three external ports that allow you to expand storage capacity by adding one or more CalDigit HDElement expansion enclosures.
The CalDigit RAID card is a great low cost option that leaves plenty of room for future expansion.
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[Ben Lithman] “he other question i had was to do with the different RAID system 0,1,5 etc. and which one strikes the best balance with security and capacity.”
This wikipedia article is a good place to start. It explain things pretty well without getting too technical.
Arnie
Post production is not an afterthought!
https://www.arniepix.com/
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