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Decent RAID-5 for 1080i with FCP?
Hello all,
I’m looking for the best performance vs. value RAID-5 system for editing upto 1080i with a new 3.2GHz Mac Pro. I need between 2-4TB…
Currently looking at: –
1.) CalDigit HD Pro (2TB / 4TB) @
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20 Replies
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I would highly recommend MaxxDigital’s Pro series. We’re running two of their 8TB models in RAID 5 and couldn’t be happier.
I tested CalDigit, Sonnet and Dulce before making the decision to go with Maxx. Price and performance were the primary reasons. There are cheaper solutions out there, but I found the best performance at the best price from these guys.
Website is maxxdigital dot com
Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Biscardi Creative Media
HD and SD Production for Broadcast and Independent Productions.STOP STARING AND START GRADING WITH APPLE COLOR
The new Color Training DVD now available from the Creative Cow! -
Hi Walter,
Hmmm…they do seem cheaper and faster. Ugly mothers though aren’t they!? …Not that it’s massively important – just keep it hidden! 😉
There’s hardly any info on that site about the units though. As an owner Walter, would you be able to answer me a couple of questions about them?…
– Do they ship abroad (UK) they don’t *seem* to judging by the site. Would there be any voltage issues if they’re built to US spec?
– How scalable are the units? The CalDigits are configable to almost unlimited amounts via switchers.
– How advanced/useful is the RAID software on the Evo HD units? Can you set it up to email you if a drive is on the way out? (Another nice feature of the CDs)
– Is all the RAID processing done onboard, or does it drain any of the Mac’s CPU?
Thanks.
*Production Studio Premium CS2 / *Combustion 3 / Mocha v1.0.1 / Elastic Reality
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Win XP Pro 32 / Intel P4 3GHz / 2GB RAM / GeForce FX5200 / DeckLink Pro / Roland DS-5s / Sony BVM-20G1E / 2 x Dell 2007FP / DVS SDI Clipstation / Wacom Intuos 3 A4 / 110GB/80GB/600GB RAID-0 -
[Jimmy Brunger] “Hmmm…they do seem cheaper and faster. Ugly mothers though aren’t they!? …Not that it’s massively important – just keep it hidden! ;-)”
You don’t buy them for looks, just speed and performance. Here’s a full blog entry on our renovation of the electronics at our shop, which includes photos of the two units in our rack.
https://blogs.creativecow.net/node/258
[Jimmy Brunger] “- Do they ship abroad (UK) they don’t *seem* to judging by the site. Would there be any voltage issues if they’re built to US spec?”
Not sure, you’ll have to email them. Ron should respond to you pretty quickly.
[Jimmy Brunger] “- How scalable are the units? The CalDigits are configable to almost unlimited amounts via switchers.”
Again, ask Ron. We bought ours with maximum storage as I don’t want to add drives later.
[Jimmy Brunger] “- How advanced/useful is the RAID software on the Evo HD units? Can you set it up to email you if a drive is on the way out? (Another nice feature of the CDs)”
The RAID software comes from ATTO which is bundled with the R380 Host controller. This is included with the units and included in the price. ATTO is currently in the process of updating their alarm system of the software. No idea if email is included in that, but we do not keep our machines active on the internet while they are running. So that’s not a feature that concerns me.
[Jimmy Brunger] “- Is all the RAID processing done onboard, or does it drain any of the Mac’s CPU?”
The RAID is fully configured before you start using it. There is no drain on the Mac CPU. Our units are getting approx. 500MB/s in RAID 5. In our testing, we were capturing 10bit Uncompressed HD 1080i material and popped out a drive during the capture. The units did not flinch.
We did purchase two spare drives so we have backups to insert the moment a drive does go down.
In our experience, we had three CalDigits fail over a very short amount of time. This was the S2VR HD models, not the newer units, but that experience soured us on CalDigit. The Sonnet boxes were essentially the same as the MaxxDigital’s though the Maxx price was better. Dulce was the slowest performance of all the units, but it had the fastest RAID 5 build. Overall, the Maxx suited our needs for speed, protection and price.
Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Biscardi Creative Media
HD and SD Production for Broadcast and Independent Productions.STOP STARING AND START GRADING WITH APPLE COLOR
The new Color Training DVD now available from the Creative Cow! -
Thanks, that’s definitely something to chew on.
So I see you went with the 2 x RaidPro setup, rather than 1 x EvoHD? Any particular reason Walter?
*Production Studio Premium CS2 / *Combustion 3 / Mocha v1.0.1 / Elastic Reality
————————————-
Win XP Pro 32 / Intel P4 3GHz / 2GB RAM / GeForce FX5200 / DeckLink Pro / Roland DS-5s / Sony BVM-20G1E / 2 x Dell 2007FP / DVS SDI Clipstation / Wacom Intuos 3 A4 / 110GB/80GB/600GB RAID-0 -
[Jimmy Brunger] “So I see you went with the 2 x RaidPro setup, rather than 1 x EvoHD? Any particular reason Walter?”
Those are stand alone 8TB MaxxDigital ProAVIO units. Not a 2x anything. 8TB in the left system dedicated to the Mac Pro and 8TB in the right system dedicated to the Quad G5.
Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Biscardi Creative Media
HD and SD Production for Broadcast and Independent Productions.STOP STARING AND START GRADING WITH APPLE COLOR
The new Color Training DVD now available from the Creative Cow! -
Just to add a voice, I tested the HD PRo and really liked it. The review is here on the cow, and if you click on my head up above, you’ll find a link to it. I ran it thru the paces.
ZERO downtime with that unit. If a drive fails…it chugs on. When you add a new one and the Raid rebuilds, then speed drops to about 1/3, but it still chugs on.
Modular design, so if anything fails, you send in the broken part, not the entire unit.
Single vendor support. CalDigit makes everything…case, software, controller card…well, but NOT the drives. But since the are bundled with the unit they support it. And tech support is world class…important in tight deadline situations.
But enough with my sales pitch. I am a user, and I work the trade shows for them as a consultant…so you know where I am coming from. I also like the Dulce systems Raid and the ones from MacGurus.com…the Burly Box. Because trusted friends swear by them.
Shane
Littlefrog PostGETTING ORGANIZED WITH FINAL CUT PRO DVD now for sale!
http://www.lfhd.net -
I’ll put a vote in for G Technology G-Speed. They come RAID3, which is totally fine for video, and handle 1080i 4:2:2 no problems. We have 2 that get used heavily
I did in fact have a drive failure, and the Raid 3 built itself back quickly and without issue.
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[Shane Ross] “Single vendor support. CalDigit makes everything…case, software, controller card…well, but NOT the drives. But since the are bundled with the unit they support it. And tech support is world class…important in tight deadline situations.
But enough with my sales pitch. I am a user, and I work the trade shows for them as a consultant…so you know where I am coming from.”
The only thing I’m going to add here is I’m assuming tech support has vastly improved since we worked with them. Three failed units and they never delivered on their promises to retrieve our lost data. In the case of the final unit, we did not hear from CalDigit for two months and would not have had we not called them.
I know you like them and have had good luck with them, and they are really nice guys. I just wanted to point that out.
Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Biscardi Creative Media
HD and SD Production for Broadcast and Independent Productions.STOP STARING AND START GRADING WITH APPLE COLOR
The new Color Training DVD now available from the Creative Cow! -
[walter biscardi] “The only thing I’m going to add here is I’m assuming tech support has vastly improved since we worked with them.”
Yes, it has. They learned their lesson from past experiences. Just like Black-Magic’s tech support has really improved.
But you know how things are. You are like the only positive voice for LaCie…you have had great experiences with them. Not many people here can claim that, myself included.
Shane
Littlefrog PostGETTING ORGANIZED WITH FINAL CUT PRO DVD now for sale!
http://www.lfhd.net -
[Shane Ross] “But you know how things are. You are like the only positive voice for LaCie…you have had great experiences with them. Not many people here can claim that, myself included.”
Absolutely. There’s probably 50% of us out there who like them and 50% who loathe them. Definitely a “one or the other company.” You either hate them or love them.
Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Biscardi Creative Media
HD and SD Production for Broadcast and Independent Productions.STOP STARING AND START GRADING WITH APPLE COLOR
The new Color Training DVD now available from the Creative Cow!
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