Mac Pro – RAID3/5 external storage help

[Gary Adcock]

[steve997] “However I must have RAID 3 or 5.”

most SATA solutions do not offer these levels of raid protection and fewer offer swappable drives.

[steve997] ” Also, when 1 Tb is quoted in a RAID 3 or 5 setup, does that mean there is actually 1Tb of real storage available or is calculated on the combined disk sizes, before the RAID setup takes some of the space away (how much?) “

the latter is correct – how much is left depends on the raid level but 1 T @ raid 5 leaves something like 750 gigs or so. [steve997] “Would I be better off looking at FC2 storage for what I want. I’m thinking FC2”

Fibre channel is cheap when you count the redundancy, or distance from the drives. I have a closet full of drives, and because I am on fibre I can access any of the storage in my arrays (I have 6 on one switch) without loss of speed. 2g fibre is cheap.
Companies like G- Tech are now shipping the G-Speed – 4G fibre solutions that can do in excess of 340 mgs a sec- so fibre is viable and very affordable when you count the redundancy (safety) that having a hardware raid can give you

gary adcock
Studio37
HD & Film Consultation
Post and Production Workflows

[Steve Voyk]

Thanks for the reply Gary.

I looked at the G-RAID Pro with FW800 connectivity. Whilst their website ‘guarantees’ playback for up to 2 streams of uncompressed 10bit SD, I read report about not to even consider FW800 for SD uncompressed work.

Does any one here use the G-RAID Pro and how have you found it ? Cn anyone sugest any other solutions, particularly SATA that has a RAID system built in ?

Alternatively, recommendations for FC2 storage that is cheap would be appreciated. All the 4Gb FC (1Tb) seems to be over the USD$4k price point which is above my budget currently.

All help appreciated.
Regards,
Steve

[Bob Roberts]

I use a G-Raid over FW800 for uncompressed SD without fail. I’ve also used it to cut DV, HDV, and DVCProHD on my G5. Obviously SATA is going to give you greater performance, but FW800 is pretty inexpensive for what you are actually able to accomplish…don’t plan on uncompressed HD though.

[Gary Adcock]

[steve997] “Whilst their website ‘guarantees’ playback for up to 2 streams of uncompressed 10bit SD, I read report about not to even consider FW800 for SD uncompressed work.”

IT has to do with redundancy with media of that type – YES the G-Raidpro will play back 2 streams of 10bit SD without issue, and with the raid redundancy you have backup protection.
Many people are uncomfortable with FW as a storage solution for highend work. I have had one unit running non stop for months without issue. As long as you add a FWE buss ONLY for the storage you should not have issues with your raid.

Most people are still trying to run Firewire devices along with FW storage on the same buss and that is where everyone gets into trouble.

gary adcock
Studio37
HD & Film Consultation
Post and Production Workflows

[Supervideo]

Hi I was thinking of using G-Raid over FW800 for my HDV work can you please tell me how well that went ….can I expect smooth editing in FC