8 core mac pro: internal apple raid vs external Lacie 5TB raid????

[Shane Ross]

[todd reid] “1-is an external Lacie 5TB Raid a couple grand better than filling up the internal slots with (third party) 750GB drives? What are the disadvantage/advantages other than more levels of Raid protection?”

Speed. A 5 drive or more (like 8) can get you FAR BETTER speeds than an internal one. Internally, you are software raiding 3 of the drives, the 4th holds your OS. And you can only do Raid 1 (slow, but protected) that will be fine for DV and HDV editing…although you can only use TWO of the drives for that. Or Raid 0, which is fast, but if you lose a drive, BAMMO, all is lost. RAID 5 offers speed an protection. And, the controller cards in external boxes are better.

LaCie? Look at others too. CalDIgit, Sonnet, MacGurus. Look at all your options.

[todd reid] “2-am I correct in thinking that a 23′ cinema display, paired with the AJAHD will deliver true HD color as an output monitor, so that I can be confident in my color correction nad overall look?”

Nope…it won’t. I would be fine as a reference monitor, but not for color correction. There are a few other options that modify the signal and allow you to balance the Apple display and will make it usable for this (as a low end option)…that being the Matrox MXO and the Decklink HD Link…although the HD link needs a capture card with HD SDI to work.

Shane

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[Todd Reid]

This is all so confusing.

With the setup I listed, what would be the most cost effective solution for true color?

Also…
RAID protection isn’t my biggest concern (maybe it should be, but…)
My biggest client (about 75% of my work) uses P2 cards, my workflow keeps the P2 folder structure/media on one drive, then I transfer to another drive to edit from. So I usually always have a back up for my media (I also make sure that my project is on one drive and my auto save is on another).

Looking at the AJAHD for the “cool” factor, and knowing that, if I wanted to, I could use it in the field with my current system, macbook pro 17″ with small SATA RAID.
I can envision bringing this setup to a faciluty and digitizing footage, then coming to the home office to edit on the new tower.

Would I be better off with a KONA3 or is the AJAHD the shiznit?

Thanks for putting up with these, possibly dumb, questions.
There is too much to worry about when your about to plunk down $13k for, basically, a computer.

Anything else I should know?

[Shane Ross]

Matrox MXO plus Apple Cinema Display work great. Not THE BEST, but the best cost effective way to go. Teh MXO hardware does a lot of converting to make the signal that reaches the monitor a broadcast signal, and it also has controls for adjusting Hue, Saturation, Contrast, Brightness…AND A BLUE ONLY OPTION for proper setup of bars. This would be a decent option as you are injesting your footage and have no need for a card to CAPTURE footage.

Getting a decent TRUE HD monitor will run you about $4500 $8000. I recommend the JVC 24″ HD LCD and the TVLogic 24″…the JVC is the $4500 solution, and the TVLogic the $8000 solution. For those you STILL need a capture card like the AJA or Decklink Series.

The MXO option with Apple display is under $2000. And it comes VERY close to matching my HD CRT. I trust if for HD color correction.

The HD world isn’t cheap. On the consumer end, NOR the production end.

Shane

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[Michael Sacci]

[todd reid] “1-is an external Lacie 5TB Raid a couple grand better than filling up the internal slots with (third party) 750GB drives? What are the disadvantage/advantages other than more levels of Raid protection? “

Even if you go with simple RAID 0 you get more speed with more drives. Also if you go internal you should only raid 3 of the drives together, the single drive needs to be your system drive and should never be part of the Raid.

[13]

[todd reid] “one is an internal raid, the other is an external Lacie RAID. “

What is the connection of the external Lacie?

[Todd Reid]

I’m rethinking my system now, and will probably add the AJAHD later, since its more than what my current clients are needing. I’d rather see true (or close to true) HD color. knowing that I can add the AJAHD once I require capture/output.

If I buy the Matrox, will it work with comparible monitors (like the dell 2407wfp-hc or the samsung 245bw), or only with the cinema displays?

[Todd Reid]

my reseller is suggesting the Lacie 5TB raid {301263u} (includes PCIe card).
But I’m going to look at a few more options, starting with what Shane has suggested.

I’ve had very good luck with Lacies in the past. I have 6 of them in various sizes working/storing right now.

[Shane Ross]

Apple are the best ones. I have had SOME success with my Dell 2405, but really, I was only able to get the Apple to closely match my HD CRT. I’d only trust the ACD.

Shane

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[Rennie Klymyk]

Another nice thing about external raids is you can buy extra caddies (to hold the actual drives) and then hot swap them. When working with P2 you will need lots of drives for storage. I keep drives on hand labled for regular clients and swap them when I do more work for that client. This way, logos, graphics and re-useable media etc are at hand when doing the new project. With today’s big drives this works better and better.

[John Davidson]

Hey guys,

Just an addendum, but can’t you lose one of the DVD drive bays in the Mac Pro and put a 5th hard drive in it’s place to run your OS? Then, you stripe the 4 other drives at RAID 0, leaving you with a pretty substantial RAID with nearly HD data rates? The drives also can be swapped out fairly easily from my understanding.

I’ve had an external RAID for about 3 years and it is LOUD and starting to die (making noises). I’m considering the internal RAID option myself to save space, wiring, and time.

I work in Uncompressed SD and DVCProHD so I don’t have as much need for anything faster than that….

You could even put those new Hitachi 1TB drives in, leaving you with 5 TB’s of space, 4 TB of which would be RAID 0. That sounds pretty awesome to me….

Am I nutso?

John Davidson____ writer | producer | director____https://www.magicfeather.tv