Shared storage for editing advice

[Russell Lasson]

You’d probably get better performance if you created a RAID in the Mac Pro using 3 SATA drives, then used file sharing to allow the laptops to connect over gigabit ethernet.

That way, the Mac Pro doesn’t create a bottle neck on the gigabit ethernet cable because the drives are local.

Just don’t open the same project on different computers:)

-Russ

Russell Lasson
Kaleidoscope Pictures
Provo, UT

[Josh Wallace]

I guess what I want is an array that can connect to the edit machine via FW800 or eSATA to avoid bottle necks on the network and to give us the best performance for editing but that can also support two machines writing rushes to it over Gigabit Ethernet.
Some like the LaCie Ethernet RAID have Gigabit Ethernet built in, not sure if that would give performance advantages or just save you having to buy a seperate hub.
Has anyone used one of these?

[Simon Blackledge]

Agreed with internal drives in a mac pro.

Get a good gig-e router and plug both gige ports from macpro into it and Aggregate them for better performance from the mac pro.
s

[Russell Lasson]

I don’t know of any solution that shares over gigabit ethernet and FW800 or eSATA. Nor have I tested using gigabit ethernet drives for video. I’d also like to know how they perform if anyone has specs on that.

-Russ

Russell Lasson
Kaleidoscope Pictures
Provo, UT

[Bob Flood]

Hi

a while back i did a google for editshare, and one of the hits was “editshare alternative”

https://www.ieei.com/ieeibroadcast/vstor.shtml?gclid=CL-49PXxipECFQdukgodslNO_A

he gave em a quote of like 8,000 for 2 machines and 4 tb, considerably cheaper than editshare

HTH

“I like video because its so fast!”

Bob Flood
Greer & Associates, Inc.

[Bob Zelin]

Josh –
this is the answer that you want, so you will not waste any more time on this.

THERE IS NO CHEAP SHARED STORAGE SYSTEM FOR VIDEO MEDIA. Not unless you consider $20,000 to be cheap. All these home brew “psuedo” SAN (NAS) systems DONT WORK. There are LOTS of companies making SAN systems – Apple XSAN, EditShare, Apace Systems VSTOR, Facilis Terblocks, Charismac, Studio Network Solutions, and “home made” Tiger Technology Meta SAN (which is very nice) – but they all have one thing in common – THEY ARE NOT CHEAP. Anyone that tells you otherwise is misleading you.

I look for cheap solutions all the time – systems that can just plug in, and let 2 guys share some SD media (not even HD) without any aggrivation, or without spending any money. It doesn’t exist. Unless you are working at DV25, don’t even look at NAS type products.

Bob Zelin

[Russell Lasson]

In response to Bob’s comments it should be noted that file sharing is far from a perfect solution. I did it for about 8 months and it was problematic. It worked for the projects at the time, but since we’ve upgraded to XSAN and a XserveRAID. It’s been rock solid.

-Russ

Russell Lasson
Kaleidoscope Pictures
Provo, UT

[Josh Wallace]

Thanks very much for your feedback.
Looks like I need some more budget!

[Jimmy Brunger]

One NAS system that does work very well in a collaborative environment apparently is the Max-T Sledgehammer. It runs a variety of drive types and configs, which connect to the server via 10GigE or Fibre Channel. Clients can either connect to it via 10gigE, Fibre, Infiniband or 1GigE.

Still not cheap by any stretch, but depending on capacity and number of concurrent users it will still be cheaper than a comparable XRAID or similar I think.

Haven’t got one myself, but have been in talks with them and got quotes/setups. Worth a look.

Does anyone here run one that might have some experiences to share?

I think they’re mainly for use with Autodesk systems and FCP/VFX stations, but I presume they fit into most workflows.

How do the Terrablocks compare btw?

*Production Studio Premium CS2 / *Combustion 3 / Mocha v1.0.1 / Elastic Reality
————————————-
Win XP Pro 32 / Intel P4 3GHz / 2GB RAM / GeForce FX5200 / DeckLink Pro / Roland DS-5s / Sony BVM-20G1E / 2 x Dell 2007FP / DVS SDI Clipstation / Wacom Intuos 3 A4 / 110GB/80GB/600GB RAID-0

[Dennis Bress]

Hi Bob, hope you are well.

As the only Gold Channel Partner for Apace Systems, ieei.tv can offer the entry level vStor model v2100-2U4TDB at $8,900. This is well below $20,000. Oh yaaaaa.

It can offer shared realtime editing for 2 or more edit bays, FCP, Avid, Canopus or all at once.

Add $200. for FedEx shipping anywhere in the USA, $400. for international.

Not bad for a turnkey, tested, bullet proof, no frame drop, realtime editing share tool for video media and graphics editors.

Oh, and not only does the vStor support realtime jitter free editing, but also is used to solve the archive dilemma. “Where can I store some projects, bins, sequences or just files for safe protected archive, but for immediate access”? We call it OnlineArchive. Looking for media on fw drives on the shelf is a thing of the past with vStor. Each vStor is raid 5 protected so all media is protected. Plus, each vStor is an ftp server that with Apace integrated admin management tools make it easy for editors to ftp files to other offices or clients. When you add up shared realtime storage, archive and ftp in a single device and what it would cost to try to accomplish that with other solutions, the vStor saves you $$$$$$ Plus the headache of dealing with multiple machines / manufacturers support etc. Everyone would love to have a tool that does all that the vStor does and with a dedicated lead Apace engineer that understands your install / use and can do remote access (with your approval) and help you install and manage your vStor. Saves us airplane rides and hotels, and better yet, helps the editor get back to work in a non intrusive way. Pretty kool. 🙂

The vStor is like a Swiss army knife, powerful, easy to use and economic. Specs below on the entry level model 2U system. If you hit our site at http://www.ieei.tv and see link on the left on vStor you can see that the vStor model v3000 supports 40 x DVCpro50 video streams concurrently or 10 x 10 bit Apple ProRes 422 video streams. Ohhhh yaaaaaa. For DVCpro50, this means you could have 10 edit bays, all doing 4 streams each simultaneously. Every vStor comes with the Apace web based integrated management tools that allows for all kinds of administration of the vStor. Tools that help in the collaboration process of multiple editors. Tools that help define read and write access to work so that editors are not over writing each others work. If you move up to the v2200 series you get an even more powerful s/w tool called TotalShare that helps in the collaboration process.

Entry level Apace vStor:

v2100-2U4TDB, Apace Systems vStor, stream support for up to 20 DV25/HDV, 10 DVCPRO50, 4 DVCPRO-HD, 2 10-bit SD (recent tests results show being able to support 4-5 Streams of uSD easily) 2 8-bit 7:1 DNxHD, or 2 8-bit ProRes 422, 4TB raw capacity (3TB net capacity) in RAID 5, 2U 19 rackmount, 8 hot-swap 500GB s-ATA drives, dual GigE ports, & software. Stores 267 hours of DV25 video under RAID 5 protection. Includes Apace admin tools. Also includes ftp server built in and OnlineArchive.

vStor is very simple to deploy, you simply rack the 2U chassis in a rack or set the vStor on a desk. With dual GigE on the vStor you can direct connect using cross over cable two edit bays, or connect the vStor into a low cost jumbo frame supported GigE switch and you are up and running. Heck, as producers / editors “Predators” work with notebooks more, vStor and ethernet makes sense, all they need to do is plug in the cat5e or 6 Cable and they can edit off the vStor.

vStor is easy to use, easy to share, easy to admin, and as you grow….easy to add more edit bays or graphics stations to the share.

vStor allows you to…… “Tell better stories”

Bob, let me know when you have some time and we can send you a demo vStor for you to play with.

Thanks and Best Regards,

Best Regards,
Dennis Bress
714-878-1276

IEEI and IEEI.TV, 110 Agate Avenue – Newport Beach – CA – 92662 – USA
Tele: 949-673-2943 Cell: 714-878-1276 Fax: 949-673-0249 Email dennis@ieei.com
Skype me @ ieei_usa
Web sites: http://www.ieei.tv and http://www.ieei.com

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