Mid Range RAID 0 USB 3, for video editing ?

Storage & Archiving

Mid Range RAID 0 USB 3, for video editing ?

Posted by Jay Galione on April 28, 2016 at 3:51 pm

Looking for a RAID solution for multicam video editing on my Mid 2010 Mac Pro

Processor 2.8 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon
Memory 4 GB 1066 MHz DDR3 ECC
Graphics ATI Radeon HD 5770 1024 MB

I have a USB 3.0 PCIe card so I’m looking for a 4 bay RAID 0 USB 3 with at least 4x4TB drives. Though more storage is always preferable (4x6TB). If I can buy an enclosure with thunderbolt and USB 3.0, that’s even better in case of a future upgrade to thunderbolt. Though I’ll settle for USB 3 for cost purposes.

Can’t quite afford the G-RAID or Maxx, but I know I should avoid the Drobo and other extreme bargain options. Is there a reliable middle road? Hoping to get running for under 1400.

Also planning to upgrade RAM. Does anyone know how much RAM I could bump this machine up to? Brand recommendations?

Thanks!

Jay Galione replied 10 years ago 3 Members · 5 Replies
5 Replies

Jon Schilling
April 30, 2016 at 4:48 am

Jay,

You might want to check memory options & empty USB 3.0
drive enclosures from OWC https://www.macsales.com
as you want to do things on the cheap. Maxx should
be able to handle your drive enclosure needs but
CALL OWC for your Macs memory option upgrades, they’re
Known for them.

Jon Schilling
Sales and Marketing

GB Labs
23890 Copper Hill Drive -Suite 103
Valencia, CA 91355 – USA
e-Mail: Jon@GBLabs.com
Mobile: +1 661-495-8641
Skype: cgijon
http://www.gblabs.com
Jay Galione
May 1, 2016 at 3:54 pm

Thanks for the tip, Jon.
I went with macsales for the RAM (32GB) and OWC RAID (4x4tb with Enterprise drives, 5 yr warranty). Maybe not the highest rated RAID in the biz but if they stand behind it for 5 years, I’ll be happy.
Let ya know.
Jay
Jon Schilling
May 1, 2016 at 9:53 pm

Jay,

Good! Glad I could help.

Jon Schilling
Sales and Marketing

GB Labs
23890 Copper Hill Drive -Suite 103
Valencia, CA 91355 – USA
e-Mail: Jon@GBLabs.com
Mobile: +1 661-495-8641
Skype: cgijon
http://www.gblabs.com
Neil Sadwelkar
May 6, 2016 at 8:44 am

Between USB3.0 and Thunderbolt, 4-bay RAIDs you’re likely to see better speeds with a Thunderbolt RAID.

I haven’t done a side by side comparison with the same box, but from observation, and running Blackmagic Speed test on new RAIDs, I’ve found the G-Tech 4-bay, and Promise 4-bay deliver consistently 400 MB/sec plus read and write speeds. Whereas USB3.0 G-Tech and Stardom RAIDs over USB 3.0 rarely go over 240 MB/sec.

Cost of Thunderbolt RAID boxes are likely to be higher.

While on the subject of speed, I just bought a Samsung Evo 1 TB SSD. In a small USB3.0 enclosure this little thing delivers consistently over 400 MB/sec speeds. 1 TB is not great capacity, but its enough as a ‘scratch’ drive for PrPro or FCP X. Or even a Cache disk for Resolve.

Another observation I have is that is some enclosures, over USB 3.0 the speed difference between RAID0 and RAID5 is only marginal, so maybe you should take a look at the safety of RAID5.

———————————–
Neil Sadwelkar
neilsadwelkar.blogspot.com
twitter: fcpguru
FCP Editor, Edit systems consultant
Mumbai India
Jay Galione
May 16, 2016 at 3:38 pm

Thanks for the info Neil. Very helpful going forward. I went with the 4 bay USB 3.0 RAID from OWC. It’s giving me the speed I need to run 6 ProRes streams in FCP 7 multicam. I should do some tests but I think it can even handle more than that.

Reply to this Discussion! Login or Sign Up

Creative Communities of the World Forums