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NAS or Xserve for project file backup?
My company needs to invest in a shared project file back-up system. By “project files” I am referring to all the files associated with a project, except for the media files which will live on the external RAIDS plugged into each system.
Currently these project files live on a mirrored raid internally, and we are looking for a way to share at least the project files between editors. Keep in mind we are not going to be working on projects simultaneously, and aren’t even expecting to be able to work from this “server”. We can transfer the files off the “sever” onto the local machines when projects are going to be worked on. At the end of the day we will transfer the files back onto the “server”
Our current server is a PC server (This place used to be all PC avids) and we are having issues with transferring files over 2GB – so now we are looking for a mac friendlier solution.
So my question is… should we buy a NAS or an Xserve. And specifically what features are a must have. And what things should we avoid.
Keep in mind if budget was not an obstacle we would be purchasing a SAN. But like most people who post on here and get berated by bob – we don’t have the money to invest in a proper system. And unlike the people who want a ether based solution to host media files – we are just looking for a place to back-up, store, and share project files.
Thanks for your help!
-Rick
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5 Replies
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build your own NAS – here is how to do it. All you want to do is backup your project files, not media, right ?
Buy a MAC Pro (bare bones, 3 Gig RAM, or whatever the minimum configuration is). Buy an internal 1 TB SATA disk drive, and stick it into your new MAC Pro. This will become your “backup drive”. Buy a cheap ethernet switch (or use the left over switch you have, if it is Gig E). Plug all the MACs in your place into this switch. On your new MAC Pro, go to System Preferences>File Sharing, and turn on File Sharing. Assign the names and passwords of all your MAC systems to this new Mac Pro “server” that you have just created, and under “volumes” in the sharing window, assign your internal 1 TB drive.
Now, when you GoToServer from your other MAC’s, it will see this new MAC Pro, and the 1TB drive, and everyone can drag their project data to this one drive. And this is the start of your future shared storage system !
Cheap enough ?
Bob Zelin
(can I berate you now ?) -
Bob, I cannot tell if you are being serious or not.
If you are – would a Mac Pro be as fast as an Xserve? They are about the same price — but I am assuming the Xserve has features a desktop computer with file sharing does not – like permissions /admin type of things.
If you aren’t being serious I am still not sure what the difference between a ether based NAS and a server like an Xserve. And I’m not talking about some $200 hard drive with a cat5 plug. I am referring to products like the Buffalo 6TB TeraStation Pro II.
Again, I have worked with and maintained Fibre Channel SANs with xsan and FibreJet – so I know what the creme de la creme is — it’s just in this economy I cannot convince my company to purchase something this substantial. And honestly I don’t think it makes sense to invest $20k in a Ethernet based SAN since we do a lot of HD work. So we are going to continue to use the Sata connected RAIDs for media files – I just am looking for a way to share project files other than our current windows based server and/or the internal mirrored Raids in each edit bay.
Editor
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Hi Rick –
yes, I am being serious.
All you need is a MAC Pro for your application. And you can turn this into ethernet shared storage for your COMPRESSED HD Media in the future, with additional equipment, for A LOT LESS than 20 grand.
With Apple File Sharing, you simply go into the SHARING menu, and turn on and off read and write permissions for each user, for each drive assigned. It’s all built into the Apple OS-X.Ethernet connection works perfectly for Hi Def video, for ProRes422HQ, ProRes422 (even ProRes4444), and DVCProHD (no uncompressed HD however). Companies that do this right now are Maxx Digital Final Share, Small Tree Granite Stor, EditShare, and Apace Systems (and I think that 1Beyond has a system too !). So yes, it’s not a fantasy – it works.
But for your simple NAS for all of your edit systems, just to keep your project data (not media) – all you need is one simple boring mac, and someone to help you set it up.
Bob Zelin
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I’m not sure if this would work in a Mac environment (it should), but all of our backups are done to a LaCie 4TB ethernet appliance like this:
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/539234-REG/LaCie_301300U_4TB_Ethernet_Hard_Disk.html
It has an embedded operating system and is essentially a server/ethernet storage device all in one. LaCie has 6 and 8TB models as well. It’s hard to beat the prices on them too. Ours has been rock solid as a backup device since we bought it in Feb 2008. It’s run 24/7 since then with not a single hiccup or read/write problem.
It’s simply plugged into our ethernet switch and is simple to set up (I set it up myself). It just shows up to a windows network as another computer on the network.
Once it’s setup (it took about 30 minutes), there’s virtually nothing to configure, nothing to fuss with. The only problem we’ve had is that when the power goes out, it turns off sharing with the network. It takes about a minute to go into the GUI (via an IP address) and turn it back on.
Chris Blair
Magnetic Image, Inc.
Evansville, IN
http://www.videomi.com -
Just don’t try to use the LaCie ethernet NAS as a server. We tried that for a small setup of 3D rendering and found that a lot of our work ended up rendering without the designated material maps, since the drives were too slow to keep up…
– No Parking Production –
Finalcut Studio3, Dual G5 w. Kona 2, iMac i7 w. ioHD, X-Raid
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