Mac Pro Internal Video Storage RAID

[Shane Ross]

[Richard Walton] “What are the secondary market alternatives that will do “tie” the drives together to create the RAID 2.”

RAID 2 doesn’t really exist. Raid 0, Raid 1, Raid 3 (no one really uses that), Raid 5, Raid 6, Raid 50, Raid 60.

If you have two drives, your only options are Raid 0 (Striped Raid…making the two drives into one larger drive, thus making it faster) or Raid 1 (Mirroring…making the two drives appear as one drive, but the information on both is exactly the same…but this is a SLOW raid)

[Richard Walton] “Are their disadvantages to doing this (an internal RAID) rather than going to an external RAID / storage solution.”

No…only if you compare it to RAID 5 or Protected Raid solutions. If you compare this to other RAID 0 solutions, like G-Raids…then this is better. Faster and cheaper. But same danger…lose one drive and ALL the information is lost. That is why raid 0 is called a “scary raid.” But many of us have used Raid 0 for a long time with no issues.

Here…read this:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAID

Shane

GETTING ORGANIZED WITH FINAL CUT PRO DVD…don’t miss it.
Read my blog, Little Frog in High Def

[Ken Jones]

[Richard Walton] “Apple’s internal RAID solution is a $700.00 card.”
You don’t need to buy a $700 card. The Mac Pro already has all the connections you need to slide in 3 more hard drives.

[Richard Walton] “What are the secondary market alternatives that will do “tie” the drives together to create the RAID 2. “
You would use the application “Disk Utility” to create a RAID. This software is already in your Utility folder.

[Zane Barker]

[Ken Jones] “[Richard Walton] “Apple’s internal RAID solution is a $700.00 card.”
You don’t need to buy a $700 card. The Mac Pro already has all the connections you need to slide in 3 more hard drives. “

[Ken Jones] “You would use the application “Disk Utility” to create a RAID”

Sure you can just raid them using disk utility, thats perfectly fine, however you should understand what it is that that raid card will do for you.

A raid can be done in 2 ways via software or via hardware. One vary big advantage with a hardware raid is that it is much more reliable, they also are a bit faster. A software raid is just the opposite not quite as reliable and a little bit slower.

So that raid card apple sells will let you build a hardware raid, while disk utility will only let you build a software raid.

There are no “technical solutions” to your “artistic problems”.
Don’t let technology get in the way of your creativity!

[Richard Walton]

Shane – Your post was very helpful. Actually I meant to write Raid 1 (mirroring) when I mistakenly wrote Raid 2. You call Raid 1 the SLOW raid and I assume this is largely because all writes have to be done twice. With short form (2 to 5 minute projects) will Raid 1 slow down the actual workflow – as in the finger tapping time that renders do for me now?

Am I correct in assuming you use Raid 0 to create continuous LARGE projects?

Thanks!

Dick Walton
Natural History Services
https://www.rkwalton.com
Critters Podcast
https://www.rkwalton.com/podcast.html

[Richard Walton]

Ken and Zane:

Thanks for pointing out the differing (software / hardware) possibilities for RAIDS.

Dick

Dick Walton
Natural History Services
https://www.rkwalton.com
Critters Podcast
https://www.rkwalton.com/podcast.html

[Shane Ross]

[Richard Walton] “With short form (2 to 5 minute projects) will Raid 1 slow down the actual workflow – as in the finger tapping time that renders do for me now?”

RAID 1 will be fine for anything like DV or HDV…low data rates. As long as you have a good connection like FW800 or eSATA, or internal SATA. Raid 0 isn’t for large projects per se…it is for SPEED. For footage with HIGH data rates. YOu need multiple disks striped together for speed. Read the Wiki page.

Shane

GETTING ORGANIZED WITH FINAL CUT PRO DVD…don’t miss it.
Read my blog, Little Frog in High Def

[Chadwick Chennault]

Highpoint Technologies makes several RocketRaid cards that are OS X compatible, support RAID 5, and are not too expensive. I am a big fan of RAID 5. It offers a compromise between speed and redundancy. It has saved my behind several times.

You need at least 3 drives to take advantage of RAID 5’s features. And you will get much better speed with 5 or more drives.

One draw back of the Highpoint cards is that they are not OS X bootable, so you will have to keep a separate system drive. Also, you may consider housing your drives in an external enclosure. But you can buy a card, an enclosure and 3 drives for just a little more than what you will pay for the Apple card alone.

[Alan Okey]

Check out the CalDigit RAID card. In addition to RAID 0 and 1, it provides true hardware RAID 5 at a reasonable price (assuming you use 3 drives or more).

https://www.CalDigit.com/RAIDCard/

[Richard Walton]

THan ks – I’ll check it out!

Dick Walton
Natural History Services
https://www.rkwalton.com
Critters Podcast
https://www.rkwalton.com/podcast.html

[Richard Walton]

RAID 5 seems a good choice and it seems like it will work
well with the bay configuration.

Thanks!

Dick Walton
Natural History Services
https://www.rkwalton.com
Critters Podcast
https://www.rkwalton.com/podcast.html