Anyone using Hitachi SATA II drives in an external array?

[Mrvideo]

I have 4 x 500 GB Seagate drives inside my Quad G5 in a RAID 0 configuration which is about what you might find with the external setup. I average about 230GB /sec on writes.

The SATA II 3.0 Gbps speed thing doesn’t really matter much when using 7200 rpm drives as they can’t even fill the pipeline with data enough to fill up 1.5 Gbps.

Another point to consider is that you wil be using the Apple RAID software to set up a RAID and that is subject to updating your operating system and loosing the RAID set. I use the HighPoint RocketRaid card which is hardware RAID setup, and will not loose the RAID set after a new OS version is installed.

[David Smith]

I’m using four Hitachi SATA II (capable) drives in an array. No problems so far (about ten months of use) and I find them nice and quiet, but keep in mind that the Hitachi drives come set to 1.5GB/s transfer speed. If you want to turn on the 3GB/s capability, the only way seems to be via a DOS program found on their support site.

While I went with a Sonnett card, I chose a Firmtek box for my external array. Check out the reviews at barefeats.com

Regards,
David

[Dom111]

Thanks for the advice, where does the High point Rocket Raid card fit in in the pipeline?
I’ll be using the Hitachi drives in a Sonet Fusion 500P enclosure through a Sonnet E4P SATA II card.
When you say that updating the OS loses the Raid configuration, does that mean data is trashed?

Thanks,

Dom.

[Mitch Ives]

We’ve been using internal RAIDS and external SATA RAIDS longer than most people, and have yet to lose a RAID on an OS update. First, it isn’t always required to reformat a RAID with a new OS. Second, backing up RAID data is something that (hopefully) is done more often than an OS update.

I’d do some research on the RocketRaid card before you buy it. That has a very checkered past and has more bad press than any other RAID card. I’m sure they are on their game by now, but I’d go into it having done some research first.

The Sonnet boxes main advantage comes from using their card. If you’re buying their enclosure, you should seriously consider using their card. Perhaps Walter and some of the others will post their experience with what seems like a really nice choice these days…

Mitch Ives
Insight Productions Corp.
mitch@insightproductions.com

Apple Certified Trainer: Final Cut Pro 5

[Dom111]

Thanks for the insight Mitch.
As a longtime SATA user, is it posible, real world, to edit uncompresed 10bit HD footage in realtime using a single Sonet Fusion 500p enclosure with 5 drives or would I need to double up to achieve this?

Thanks,

Dom.

[Dean Sensui]

I’m using Hitachi drives in a Firmtek external system and had no problems. Also, no problems with OS updates messing up the RAID configuration.

Be sure to get the Hitachi drives that have the SSC feature turned off. Older ones came with them turned on and it can cause problems with certain host adapters.

As for speed, check out barefeats.com for reports on RAIDs and drives.

Dean Sensui — http://www.HawaiiGoesFishing.com

[Mitch Ives]

[Dom111] “Thanks for the insight Mitch.
As a longtime SATA user, is it posible, real world, to edit uncompresed 10bit HD footage in realtime using a single Sonet Fusion 500p enclosure with 5 drives or would I need to double up to achieve this?”

If you’re talking 1080 uncompressed 10 bit, then I think you’ll need to double down and get two cards, two enclosures, and 10 drives. A single 5 drive combination will do 10bit uncompressed SD and will have no issues with 8bit 720p…

Mitch Ives
Insight Productions Corp.
mitch@insightproductions.com

Apple Certified Trainer: Final Cut Pro 5