Ethernet small raid for iMac i7

[Rafael Amador]

[Tim Goodill] “I have two questions the IMAC only has a FireWire 800 port. The AJA io uses FireWire 400, can I simply use a FireWire 800 to 400 conversion lead?”
Yes.

You will need a HD with two FW800 sockets, one to the iMac and the other to the IO through the FW400/800 cable, what I’m not sure is will work.
rafael

http://www.nagavideo.com

[Rafael Amador]

[Rafael Amador] “You will need a HD with two FW800 sockets, one to the iMac and the other to the IO through the FW400/800 cable, what I’m not sure is will work.”
Sorry. This makes no sense. I haven’t pick the “ethernet”.
Not sure if you will find any affordable ethernet solution.
I think Walter was using very big and expensive raids.
rafael

http://www.nagavideo.com

[Michael Gissing]

Walter was using an extra MacPro as a server via ethernet. Bob Zellin is the one who worked out how to make such a system work but given you have a single iMac this is not a practical solution.

What you are thinking of is a NAS unit. I use these (Thecus is a good brand) as ethernet RAID5 units for audio post but they are not suitable for HD video bandwidth like ProRes.

Trying to run drives plus the IO on a single FW800 port is likely to cause problems. Search this forum as I am sure this has been discussed before.

[Tim Goodill]

Thanks for advice, I have checked forums but can’t find anything specific to using an iMac with aja io FireWire 400 and a drive connected using the Ethernet port. I know with only one FireWire 800 port I can’t daisychain which is why I am thinking of using the Ethernet port.

It’s fine if it’s not possible to edit up to xdcam 35 mbits on the iMac as I will sell it and buy an older mac pro. But it would only be for occasional use hence trying to do it with the iMac I already have (iMac i7). I’ve gone down this route because I was able to rent the iMac out to a production using edit share so it paid for its self. Maybe in my näivety I thought because I edited on the mac using the Ethernet port on the production that I could get some sort of nas/raid to work as well?

Is it not possible then without spending a small fortune?

Thanks
Tim

[Michael Gissing]

If you limit your search to iMac specifics, you will not find posts about ethernet servers, particularity Bob Zellin’s solutions. There has also been many discussions about NAS units. XDCam 35 might be doable, depending on frame rate but how reliable do you need for editing.

Most info on using ethernet require dual ethernet and the ability to handle Jumbo frames, so it is possible but probably not a budget solution.

[David Peralta]

IF your imac has thunderbolt, look into a thunderbolt drive. a Pegasus or one of those Lacie Drives