Is G-tech as good as CalDigit?

[Alan Okey]

I don\’t trust them – they\’re RAID-0. If one of the drives In it fails, you lose everything.

One of my clients had a lower capacity model and he got hosed when the G-RAID stopped working. He had to pay a fortune for data retrieval.

What CalDigit RAID do you own? If it\’s RAID-5, then there\’s no comparison. You\’d be comparing a protected RAID to Russian roulette.

[David Roth weiss]

Bill,

You’re comparing two very different products. The G-Tech device you pointed to is a fully enclosed, pre-manufactured hard drive with two completely unknown 2Tb drives inside, which cannot be replaced or swapped-out or anything, and it uses software raid, which is not as fast or as dependable as CalDigit’s 100% hardware raid products.

If one of the drives in the G-Tech enclosure goes “Klapooey,” the entire enclosure is NG, you can’t simply replace one or both drives. And, while I have no idea which CalDigit model you have, I do know it has replaceable drives. And, if you want you could even update all of them to larger drives, or buy a second set of drives, etc, etc, etc.

So, the bottom line is, don’t spend more than you want or buy more than you need, but know that when you’re spending your money on CalDigit you’re getting more than just two drives sealed in a disposable enclosure.

Doe s that make sense?

David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor/Colorist
David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los Angeles

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[Shane Ross]

I used to trust them. But then many dealers were getting drives returned that didn’t work right out of the box. And not a small number. 8 out of 15 would come back.

Shane

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[Tom Brooks]

Caldigit has great prices on their site right now. I have a VR 2TB unit that I bought to store some critical client assets on. I’m using it in RAID-1 for protection. It’s solid as a rock. For reasons David mentions, it’s a different product, way above the specific G-Raid in the link. Caldigit’s philosophy on RAID and on customer service makes sense.

That said, I’ve put countless hours on two G-RAID drives, too. Their fans make noise on cool winter mornings. I sent one in for repair about a year ago, which was done for free just past the 3-year warranty. The other one groans and wheezes on startup (again with the fan) but keeps going.

Right now, the CalDigit VR is a great buy. Well worth an extra $99.

[Russell Lasson]

Both companies are good.

[Bill Thomas] “It seems to have similar specs and supposed to be fine for DVC Pro-HD (which is what I edit in).”

You could edit DVCPROHD on a single drive without issue.

-Russ

Russell Lasson
Colorist/Digital Cinema Specialist
Color Mill
Salt Lake City, UT
http://www.colormill.net

[Colin Mcquillan]

It’s comparing oranges to apples.
The g-speed es would be their version of the product you have.

I own two g-speed es units and a 2tb g-raid. I haven’t had any issues with any of them. Also, Hitachi owns GTech,,, so it really isn’t any mystery what kind of drives you are getting inside.

Colin McQuillan
Vancouver, B.C.

“Live, love, laugh and be happy.”

[Bill Thomas]

Thanks for all the info, guys!!

For the record, my CalDigit is an S2VR 2.5TB with 5 Hitachi drives. The Raid is set at “Performance” which I’m guessing is Raid 0. (Can anyone confirm?).

As far as losing data, the tech at CalDigit said if 1 drive goes, I lose everything, so I assume it’s Raid 0.

The only issue I’ve had has been the external drives unmounting at random – but I think that’s a Leopard issue, not CalDigit. I have then had to use Diskwarrior to redo the directories.

Bill

[David Roth weiss]

[Bill Thomas] “As far as losing data, the tech at CalDigit said if 1 drive goes, I lose everything, so I assume it’s Raid 0. “

Yes, that would be RAID 0. You could change that to RAID 5.

[Bill Thomas] “The only issue I’ve had has been the external drives unmounting at random – but I think that’s a Leopard issue, not CalDigit. I have then had to use Diskwarrior to redo the directories.”

Have you spoken with CalDigit about this?

DiskWarrior should be considered routine maintenance, not an emergency measure only. If you run it once a month you might find you’ll never have emergencies.

David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor/Colorist
David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los Angeles

POST-PRODUCTION WITHOUT THE USUAL INSANITY ™

EPK Colorist – UP IN THE AIR – nominated for six academy awards

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[Alan Okey]

David,

The S2VR is a legacy CalDigit product that only does RAID-0, RAID-1 or JBOD. There’s no onboard RAID-5 controller.

[David Roth weiss]

[Alan Okey] “The S2VR is a legacy CalDigit product that only does RAID-0, RAID-1 or JBOD. There’s no onboard RAID-5 controller. “

Thanks for clarifying that Alan.

David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor/Colorist
David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los Angeles

POST-PRODUCTION WITHOUT THE USUAL INSANITY ™

EPK Colorist – UP IN THE AIR – nominated for six academy awards

A forum host of Creative COW’s Apple Final Cut Pro, Business & Marketing, Indie Film & Documentary, and Film History & Appreciations forums.