40Gbe or 10Gbe for FilmScan DPX

[Bob Zelin]

We are a small Post-Production and we would like to upgrade our network (we still use single hard drives).

We are looking to implement a network Storage for at least 6 Workstations (2 iMac Pro, 1 iMac, 1MacPRo 2013 and 2 PC)

we mainly deal with Raw files and large projects but my biggest concern is the Film Scanner which provides really HUGE files (1,6To for 20 min in DPX film scan, and 400Go/20 min in ProRess 4444 ).

Regarding the NAS, our first choice would be the Qnap TVS-1282T3 (I7-64Go) with 8 Iron Wolf Pro, 2 NVM and 4 SSD for caching

REPLY – the TVS-1282T3 is way too small for what you want to do. If you want 40G ethernet, you need to consider a larger QNAP (TS-1683XU-RP or TS-1677XU-RP), and this should be filled with SSD drives only. Eight 7200 RPM drives will max out at about 1100 MB/sec total aggregate bandwidth, and a single 40G connection from a Mac will give you 2200 MB/sec. That would even max out a 16 bay QNAP with 7200 RPM drives. With a 10G connection, you will get about 800 MB/sec from the Mac’s, and about 1000 MB/sec from the Win 10 PC’s. For SIX users running at this bandwidth, the TVS-1282T3 will choke.

– What is the maximum internal capacity storage (excepting for nvm, ssd and expansion)?

REPLY – 16 TB Seagate Ironwolf drives is the max.

– Can we use 8x 16to (128 To), 14To (112To) or it’s limited to 12To (96 to)?

REPLY – yes, you can use 16 TB, but these are 7200 RPM drives. In a 16 bay, you will max out at about 1600 – 1800 MB/sec with 7200 RPM drives. If you want greater total aggregate bandwidth (or if you want 40G ethernet) you need SSD only.

– Can we use a Raid 0 on the TVS and use a Qnap TS-830x over 10Gbe for redundancy? (we already own one and we know it’s not a big deal)…

REPLY – I never heard of a TS-830. RAID 0 is crazy. Drives fail. You will be screwed.

Concerning the speed, it’s a bit tricky, using TB3 on every workstation would be great, but the problem is the distance, we need at least 20M TB3 cable but I couldn’t find any Optical TB3 cable…

REPLY – so you use 10G with Cat6a cable for up to 100 meters, or 40G with a QSFP+ fiber cable, but don’t waste your time with 7200 RPM SATA drives – it will be a waste of money for 40G.

I was wondering if we could add a 40Gbe card expansion from Qnap to match the TB3 speed, of course, we will need a 40Gbe switch, a couple of adapters for iMacs (ATTO ThunderLink® NQ 3402), some internal cards for PCs. (the price will exponentially raise)

– Does 40Gbe are worth the price?

REPLY – the SSD’s are the expensive part here – not the 40G card.

– Do you have any suggestions?
– Should we stick with 10Gbe bandwidth knowing the crazy files sizes?

REPLY – I have no idea. For 4K editing, 10G is what everyone is using. For 6 editors all doing 4K, and 8 bay is too small. You will not have enough bandwidth for this, AND the film scanner.

For 10Gbe we considered the Qnap QSW-1208-8C switch, Qnap QNA-T310G1T for TB3/RJ45 adapters, QNAP QXG-10G1T cards for PCs.

REPLY – You are on a tight budget, and you want to do everything. Sorry – you can’t do it.
But a decent switch like a Netgear XS708T that will at least support Link aggregation. But since you want to do the QNAP AND 6 editors and the Film Scanner – and you will want link aggregation for speed to the switch, this requires 2 ports, so an 8 port switch is not acceptable. Get the 16 port Netgear XS716T.

You are not going to accomplish this on a tiny budget.

Bob Zelin

Bob Zelin
Rescue 1, Inc.
bobzelin@icloud.com