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Help selecting External HD – Raid/Array
I edit mostly HDV projects on FCP 6.0.5 I am running out of drive space and need to buy a new external drive or drives. I have used Lacie firewire 800 drives almost exclusively. I have had one 500GB drive go bad on me. I am leaning towards getting a 1TB or 2TB Raid/Array drive, but I don’t know much about this. My understanding is that a Raid or Array drive backs up your work on a second drive within the hard drive, but I really don’t know much about this. Can anyone explain what a Raid & Array drive is? Is there a difference between Raid and Array? I also noticed that in many of these Raid drives, there are different settings or ways for the drive to back up your work. It also seems that there is a huge price range for 1TB and 2TB Raid drives…ranging from about $200 to about $700.
Can anyone help me here and make some recommendations? I have read a few posts on here about this and am still unclear. I did notice that G-Tech drives have been recommended by a number of people. Any help would be greatly appreciated as I need to make a purchase soon.Thanks,
Dan -
12 Replies
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Call MaxxDigital, explain your needs and they will set you up. maxxdigital.com
What you really want is a RAID 5 array. This means that one drive in the array can completely fail, but you continue to work because your media is backed up.
I run both the EVO HD unit from Maxx and we’ve just set up a brand new 24TB Shared Storage system with 6 workstations all connected via Ethernet. Absolutely amazing and I never would have believed the darn thing would work until I saw it.
Maxx sells all manner of drives and manufacturers so just call them and they’ll set you up with the best solution to meet your needs.
Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Biscardi Creative Media
HD and SD Production for Broadcast and Independent Productions.STOP STARING AND START GRADING WITH APPLE COLOR Apple Color Training DVD available now!
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One more thing I failed to mention…I do not want to spend too much on the drive, but know you often get what you pay for. Bottom line… I want the best product for the money.
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You get what you pay for. Go cheap and you get cheap drives that aren’t reliable. If you want reliable storage, you have to spend a little.
Why not tell us your budget?
I too recommend the EVO HD series. They are one of the least expensive and reliable RAID storage options. I would recommend CalDigit, but that is out of your price range. G-Tech…I have been hit and miss with them, so I tend to stay away. But others have had success.
I avoid Lacie at all costs because of all the drive case manufacturers, they are the only ones that don’t like to install cooling fans in their cases. Save a buck at the risk of your data.
Shane
GETTING ORGANIZED WITH FINAL CUT PRO DVD…don’t miss it.
Read my blog, Little Frog in High Def -
[Dan Herz] “One more thing I failed to mention…I do not want to spend too much on the drive, but know you often get what you pay for. Bottom line… I want the best product for the money.
“Absolutely, you get what you pay for. Go cheap, and all you’ll get is RAID 0 with more chance of failure.
Pay a little bit more, get security of knowing you have something more reliable with some fail safe built in.
Again, call Maxx as they sell a host of manufacturers, not just their own. They will set you up with the best bang for your buck.
Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Biscardi Creative Media
HD and SD Production for Broadcast and Independent Productions.STOP STARING AND START GRADING WITH APPLE COLOR Apple Color Training DVD available now!
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I would like to keep the cost about $600 or less…and would be willing to reduce the size of the drive if need be to keep the costs where I need them to be.
Can you also explain to me what a Raid drive actually is? And what is an Array? And it seems there are several types of Raid…what do the numbers mean and which one do I want in order to best back up and protect my media and my projects? -
[Dan Herz] “Can you also explain to me what a Raid drive actually is? And what is an Array?”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redundant_array_of_independent_disks
Colin McQuillan
Vancouver, B.C. -
Shane,
I had a question about your post
I too recommend the EVO HD series. They are one of the least expensive and reliable RAID storage options. I would recommend CalDigit, but that is out of your price range
When I research it, the EVO seems way more expensive than the CalDigit. Am I looking at the wrong hardware?
Thanks
Ally -
EVO HD2 Towers….
https://maxxdigital.com/shop/index.php?cPath=58_104
CalDigit HD One
OK…looking at these specs looks like the HD ONE and the EVO HD 2 are on par price wise. I was comparing the HD PRO which is a more high end box (more memory, hot swapable, more backup things like extra power supply and fan).
Shane
GETTING ORGANIZED WITH FINAL CUT PRO DVD…don’t miss it.
Read my blog, Little Frog in High Def -
I thought you were comparing it to the Caldigit VR. I’m actually looking for a 2TB Raid 1 (want to mirror) to use with HD video on Final Cut. I’ve also been told that the Glyph GT062 is pretty good. Any thoughts on those?
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You do know that Raid 1 seriously hampers your drive speed. Raid 1 is never recommended for video editing…archive only. The 2TB drives are very fast though..
No experience with Glyph.
Shane
GETTING ORGANIZED WITH FINAL CUT PRO DVD…don’t miss it.
Read my blog, Little Frog in High Def
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