Need help understanding scratch disk situation….

[Shane Ross]

[Daniel Flanagan] “Do I need two (one for Media and the other for render) or just one?”

Just one.

[Daniel Flanagan] “What are the advantages and disadvantages with going FW800 instead of eSATA?”

You can connect it to any computer that has FW800…and most do (macs anyway). eSATA requires and adapter as most computers do not have eSATA connections built in.

But I’d go with a QUAD interface drive…one that has USB, FW400, FW800 and eSATA. G-Drive-Q, G-RAID 3, CalDigit VR, Maxx Digital Edit Vault. This way you get the speed of eSATA when you need it, but then universal connectivity.

Shane

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[Rafael Amador]

Agree 100% with Shane.
Quad connexion HDs are great and in certain cases almost the only way to go.
Working with my MBP and the AJA ioHD I need to connect my HDs by eSATA because the FW bus is busy with the ioHD. But when I download from my EX-1 I need to connect the HDs by FW because the Express slot is busy. Without the Quad connexion drives it would be impossible to manage.
rafael

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[Zane Barker]

[Daniel Flanagan] “I was going to go eSATA until I found that FW800 will likely do just fine”

FW800 Drives can often do just fine, but I have notices a significant performance increase in editing when I stitched to a 2 drive esata raid.

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

[Daniel Flanagan]

Excellent, thanks for the help guys! Though I still have many more questions. I realize a quad interface would be useful simply because it gives me the eSATA option & backwards compatibility through FW & USB, but what about if I plan on occasionally working in FCP “on the road”, when I won’t necessarily have external power sources available? I know you can’t set scratch disk settings on a per project basis, so wouldn’t I need to have my drive with me wherever my computer goes? Or can I use a separate, portable HDD as my “on the road” drive and simply change scratch disk settings whenever required? I was looking at the OWC Mercury On-The-Go-Pro drives, and I could get a 320GB, 7,200 rpm unit with a 16MB cache, but I’d be limited to FW800 as my fastest connection. I guess what I’m asking is would I be running noticeably slower if I use a FW800 connection on a drive with a 16MB cache rather than eSATA on a drive with a 32MB cache? Also, is it true that a. eSATA isn’t hot swappable, i.e. must have computer off to connect or disconnect drive, and b. that if I go FW800 and get an ExpressCard/34 so I can have a second bus, that the bus won’t be powered? What if I go the desktop route and do a RAID 0 configuration over eSATA….would that be tons faster than a single drive? Finally, my computer, a year old top end MBP, only has a 5,400 rpm drive in it. Would I greatly benefit from installing a 7,200 rpm drive?

Thanks,
-Daniel

[Rafael Amador]

Hi Daniel,
For working on the road I’m using the LaCie Little Big Disk 500GB.
Is Quad and the FW is bus powered. Internally it have two 5.400 RPm disks set as Raid 0.

[Daniel Flanagan] “I guess what I’m asking is would I be running noticeably slower if I use a FW800 connection on a drive with a 16MB cache rather than eSATA on a drive with a 32MB cache? “
The write/read speed in those LaCie is more or less double when connected by eSATA than when connected by FW800.

[Daniel Flanagan] “inally, my computer, a year old top end MBP, only has a 5,400 rpm drive in it. Would I greatly benefit from installing a 7,200 rpm drive?
“
Mine is the same. 5400 RPM for a system HD is OK. Probably a faster HD will make the computer to start a little faster. In the other hand if you need to work with batteries, a 7.200 RPM will consume more.
rafael

http://www.nagavideo.com

(and here some clips for the friends: https://www.vimeo.com/2694745 )

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