esata speeds with MacBookPro

[Mark Beazley]

I just benched my G Speed ES (2TB RAID 5 = 1.5TB). Read and Write is about 150MB/sec to 160MB/sec. Used the system test that came with the IoHD. Looks like I’ll be ok for ProRes HQ.

-mark

[Bob Zelin]

you write –
– when I talk about 220MB/s limitation, I make reference to this part of your post : “In a port multiplier chassis, FIVE eSATA drives can do a MAXIMUM speed of 220mb/sec”.
Is it a limitation of the PM chip inside the enclosure? Or the same PM enclosure with the same 5 drives stripped would have better performance connected to a MacPro ?

REPLY – I don’t know why. Products come out (from Cal Digit, Sonnet, Dulce, etc.), and I test them. Until the Cal Digit Fasta series of port multiplier cards came out, no 5 bay port multipler chassis could even do 220mb/sec – Cal Digit was first. Why can’t it go faster – call Silicon Image, and ask them – they make the port multipier chip set that everyone uses. I don’t design chips, and I don’t understand how they work, or their limitations.

you write –
In fact, I’ve never said I can get 100mb/s of each drive, I just said I was expecting this… When I’ve received my material (2x1To Hitachi 7K1000 disks in a EnhanceBox 4 x 3.5″ SATA II HDs E4 PM system connected to a Macbook Pro 2.4 via sonnet esata PM card), I’ve directly created a Raid0 with disk utility and made a Aja system test bench : write 100MB/s, read : 105MB/s. I was disappointed. So, I’ve erased raid0 and formatted the two disk separatly, then bench only a disk : read 80MB/s, Write : 85MB/s.

So I just try to understand why the gain is so little. Have you an answer please ?

REPLY -you want to know why one drive can work at 70-80 mb/sec, but two drives stripped RAID 0 only work a little faster 105-120mb/sec ? I don’t know why. This is the way THEY ALL WORK. I don’t design these products, and I just live with the limitations.
You won’t get answers from Cal Digit, Sonnet, Enhance, Dulce, Highpoint, or any of these companies – you must get the answers from the Integrated Circuit (chip) companies that make the disk drive controller chips. They are the ones that design these products, and I have no access to these people. Companies like Sonnet just buy the parts, and put it together for you.

– You said : “I don’t give a crap what this reviewer writes” about better preformances than the ones you usually note. What do you think about this test (made with Kona system test in a MacPro and only 4 disks) : https://www.barefeats.com/harper13.html

REPLY – I have not studied this article, but Robert at Barefeats appears to be doing these tests INSIDE THE MAC PRO, with FOUR DRIVES – this is done by NOT using the boot drive (booting off an external drive), and stripping all 4 internal drives (the 3 extra drives, and the slot for the boot drive) all RAID 0. I also did not follow weather he was using 15k SATA drives, or SAS drives for these tests for max performance of over 300mb/sec.

WE (you and I and other professionals) do not do this. We buy external drive devices from companies like G-Tech, Sonnet, Cal Digit, Dulce, Firmtek, Maxx Digital, Enhance, etc. In real life, no one is “giving up” their internal boot drive.

What is the point of this discussion. You can do DVCProHD and ProRes422HQ all day long with a 5 bay SATA chassis. If you want uncompressed HD, you get a MODERN SAS/SATA drive array that can go
over 500mb/sec (and then you can do not only uncomrpessed HD but 2K as well).

It seems that your interest in debating is for only one reason – you want a HARD FIRM ANSWER why you can’t do uncompressed HD without spending more money. The answer – do ProRes422HQ, and stop complaining.

Bob Zelin

[Philippe Domengie]

Hi Bob,

You write : “It seems that your interest in debating is for only one reason – you want a HARD FIRM ANSWER why you can’t do uncompressed HD without spending more money. The answer – do ProRes422HQ, and stop complaining. ”

Reply : that’s your opinion, you’re wrong and a little arrogant because you just don’t know me.
I’m working only with ProRes. I’ve bought all my gear for that and it works pretty well. I don’t care of uncompressed……!!
I’m not professional editor or dop or whatever, I essentially do create original videos for live show as contemporary dance, street theatre and so. And artistic budgets are often small..
But there’s two things that it seems you don’t like much : people who don’t have enough money to buy all that wonderful gear you are testing all day, and same curious people trying to have the best from this gear.

For all other question about hardware, I understand you don’t know, it doesn’t mean it’s not interesting for the rest of us.

Regards,

Philippe Domengie.

[Bob Zelin]

you write –
But there’s two things that it seems you don’t like much : people who don’t have enough money to buy all that wonderful gear you are testing all day, and same curious people trying to have the best from this gear.

REPLY –
I don’t have much money, and my clients don’t have much money. I look at the professional video magazines with great jealousy, and see all the big professional installations, that cost millions of dollars. These are not the people I know.
I do the best I can with the small budgets that I have to work with. Some people have $6000 for a RAID 5 8TB array, some have only $300 for an internal eSATA drive in their MAC. But I understand the limitations of these, and I don’t cry about it – I deal with it. I accept compressed HD (DVCProHD, ProRes422, AVID DNxHD), and promote it, and don’t complain that I can’t do uncompressed HD, simply because I can’t afford it.

I want a Ferrari, but I can’t afford one. I am sure that I will never be able to own a Ferrari. So I try to enjoy my car as best as I can.

You can make wonderful artistic videos with ProRes422 with a single FW800 drive and your MacBookPro. The creative content of your videos (and your clients happiness with your work) will not improve, just because you can achieve 250mb/sec on your drive array.

Bob Zelin

[Alan Lacey]

Bob, but please don’t confuse the issue by using wrong units. MB/s v Mb/s v mb/s these are different beasts!

Alan

[Jeremy Garchow]

At any rate (pardon the pun), 100 or 110 MB/sec is just fine for ProResHQ.