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Fibre Channel
Aloha,
I am looking for some sort of centralized storage for two G5 PowerMacs.
They will eventually need this storage for HD, so I am looking at a fibre channel interface.The questions I have deal with software. Do I need some sort of SAN management software to make this work? Remember, this is only for two machines and we would not be accessing the same project concurrently.
Basically, for any given project, one machine may be used to digitize, the other for editing, and then maybe back to the first for tape copies and DVD’s.As long as the project isn’t opened at the same time, and the capture scratch and a/v render folders are the same on both systems, we should be okay – right?
I am not horribly opposed to SAN software, but it seems like it might be more work than it saves you, and having one more piece of software running on top of FCP, PS, Motion, LiveType, etc. is more than likely to add problems.
If software is required whats our best bet? Apple’s Xsan? Rorke StudioNetFC? Something else?
Otherwise if no software is required, I’m just looking at 1 big SATA->4Gb FC RAID enclosure with a built in 4-port switch plus 2 4Gb FC cards/cables. Right?
Also – has anyone seen postings of FC RAID array decibel levels? Last studio I was in, we had to put the array in another room because of the noise – and we were not even cutting audio! Granted they were 12x10K SCSI’s, but it sounded like a leaf blower.
Thanks everyone,
Mike “Champion Sprinter (Sneakernet Division)” Peele -
1 Reply
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If you go with what you said “1 big SATA->4Gb FC RAID enclosure with a built in 4-port switch plus 2 4Gb FC cards/cables,” you would be fine… be warned though that almost every raid configuration is atleast volume level locking, so you definitely won’t be able to write at the same time(not a prob you said)— an Xsan solution would allow concurrent writing just not on the same file (file level locking), but what a pain in the @ss. If you bought a Facilis system up to 24bays at 500gb= 12TB storage and as little as 8bay=4TB system— you could cut it up and share it with the two computers and possibly not need a SanBox(Qlogic or otherwise)— you could be writing to the volume of one comp and reading from the other- these are all 4GB fibre solutions— there are others but i’m most familiar with xsan, facilis, and fibre Jet— it’s almost too much to fit here, but you seem on the right track. My friend usually handles this for me, nathan@thedrgroup.com —i’m sure he could answer your questions fully.
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