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HP SAN with Mac OS X
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Scott –
I apologize for “lashing out” at you, but I encounter crap like this all the time. You are an art director, and are being forced into something that you should not have to deal with. I find it
ever-frustrating that these “IT experts” simply REFUSE to learn anything about MAC networking, or integrating into a PC enviornment, but when you ask them, they always say “oh yea, it will work”. I have heard this from before Gig ethernet was even out, when IT PC people would swear that they could run a video network over 100BaseT
in a Microsoft Server enviornment. Stupid then, and more stupid now (only because THEY refuse to learn anything about MAC networks).What is more threatening to me (and makes me more frustrated, and more crazy) is when Apple Enterprise is called in, and convinces the PC IT people that “all they need is an XServe, and drive storage” – because with rare exception within Apple Enterprise Group – Apple considers DV25 to be “perfectly fine” video, and firewire is all you need to get video into your network. And the idiot IT people, who would not know DV25 from Uncompressed HD say “yea, it looks great”.
The minute DV25 is “good enough” for every application (major TV shows, feature films, etc) – most of our careers on all of these forums are over. Yet if the IT department can “see a picture” or “hear some scratch audio” over the 2″ speaker inside your MAC or PC – they all rejoice and say “hey, it works great !”. I personally observed Apple Enterprise Group talk the US publisher “Tribune Corporation” into this mindset.
I know you know better, and I am sorry for attacking before.
Bob Zelin
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To be fair, I checked out this storage solution at the HP site.
It is termed
“HP ProLiant DL380G5 Cluster Solution with MSA2012fc”There are two servers and two switches and 8 clients can be handled.
And the actual storage module is a StorageWorks 2000fc which can be configured with a variety of drive types.
This, according to HP is ideal for
“Large companies that have multiple smaller departments and/or remote locations, and smaller companies whose storage needs demand shared resources.”
I have doubts if this can be successfully used formatted as an HFS+ volume. Even if it did, it probably will have trouble streaming DV over long timelines. Uncompressed SD or HD, extremely unlikely.
Neil Sadwelkar
neilsadwelkar.blogspot.comFCP Editor, Mumbai, India.
Completely PAL. -
Neil, Bob, Greg,
Thank you all for your input. I’ve already hinted to IT that this thing probably isn’t going to handle our needs for editing. I think they were also looking to hook it to our newsroom editing system which is based on Canopus Edius. (Currently editing anamorphic DVCPro) So, that should be interesting to watch, from afar.
At the very least; if we can get the SAN working, it would allow us to back up a 4TB XServe RAID to figure out why it’s slowed down so much (only half full). I started a thread in the FCP forum if anyone is interested.
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“HP, IBM, Hitachi, EMC, all make great shared storages, but absolutely none of them work with a Mac. And definitely can’t handle video.”
I think this depends on who’s doing the solution. Studio Network Solutions (SNS) have been implementing audio and video (FCP/Avid & Pro Tools) SAN solutions using EMC, IBM & LSI storage for years. Just finished up a 30 seat ProRes/HD uncompressed XSAN install running on EMC CX4 arrays the other day.
Regards,
Ryanhttps://www.studionetworksolutions.com
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You have one BIG problem here. Perhaps I missed it, but I don’t see that you have any SAN software. Thus, you do not have a SAN. Is the fibre switch zoned so that it is only one computer and the one RAID set? If not, all your data will be corrupt.
That said, you really need to have someone who does this day in and day out. You have an IT department that is out of its comfort zone. You have a complex system and the Cow is probably not the best way to get your very expensive equipment up and running. Just look at your lovely experience getting your SFPs for your Brocade.
We have installed HP storage before in a Mac environment, but that was using the higher-end EVA line which had Mac OS X specifically supported. In fact, we have it working with a Brocade switch. The EVA line runs screaming fast and it’s installed in a 20 seat SAN for uncompressed HD. Your unit does not support Mac OS X. This may be one of the issues.
Jeff Bernstein
Digital Desktop Consulting
Apple Pro Video VAR
XSAN Certified
MetaSAN Master Reseller323-653-7611
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Thanks for the insight.
The SAN is still not functional, and I’ve really washed my hands of it. I’ve given IT all of the information I’ve uncovered on their behalf and I’m not interested is working on it any more.
There is no SAN client software provided for the Macs. They are only trying to set it up as logical SCSI devices. (Kind of defeats the purpose of buying a SAN I think.)
It’s really more fun to watch this from afar, I find.
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“Well did he c..” – Mallrats
How did the story end Scott Thomas? Did they ever get your SAN working on your Macs? Yup this thread came up in a Google search 8 years later!
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Scott Thomas is still active on Creative Cow, and is the proud owner (in 2017) of a QNAP TS-531X. I don’t know exactly what WINK is using at their facility, but I hope that the idiots from 2009 that were so protective of their jobs are either dead or have become managers at the local McDonnald’s at this point. My distain for IT managers that refuse to new things (the way that Scott Thomas has continued to learn new things through today !) has not diminished. In 2009, were they running Windows Server 2008 – they probably still are ! There is only one end to the story – and it will continue forever. You either keep up with technology, or GET OUT OF THE BUSINESS. Period.
Bob Zelin
Bob Zelin
Rescue 1, Inc.
bobzelin@icloud.com -
Wow, I am just now re-reading this thread. So many bits of information I had forgotten.
One of the reasons the HP SAN wasn’t working was that the SFP fiber transceivers connected to the Brocade switch were not Brocade Certified to work with their switch. (No thank you’s for figuring that out)
The really sad thing is… (Bob, get a blanket or something…) We still have this thing. It’s still connected to two or three creative edit systems, and the rest of the business Intranet. Edit is old Mac Pros (2008-or-09-and-2013)
It’s way past EOL, but management hasn’t done anything about it. IT just does their best to keep it going.
The guy that foisted this upon us was kicked to the curb many years ago. I called him the soothsayer. He said all the things that management wanted to hear. He didn’t even understand how a video router worked or the chain of a signal path. He wasted so much money, it’s not even funny.
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