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Some RAID questions
I’ve been doing a lot of research into RAID systems recently as I’m soon to purchase a new edit suite. There are a few questions that I still have, that hopefully someone can answer…
I want to have around 8TB or more of external storage set up as RAID 5, capable of handling 10bit HD. Most of what I currently do is captured as ProRes, but I’d like the option there for 10bit HD.
From what I’ve read on this forum the Maxx Digital and CalDigit systems seem popular. I’ve also come across a company called ProAvio – does anyone know anything about them? 10TB for £4000 (£££ not $$$) seems in keeping with the competition.
Would any of these units support 2k work?What I’m slightly confused about is the difference between hardware and software RAIDs. I understand that hardware is more stable and doesn’t strain the CPU, is this correct? Also I’m lead to believe that it isn’t possible to create a software RAID 5 anyway. So hardware is definitely the way I’ll need to go.
With that in mind, how would I go about setting up a hardware RAID? For instance, does using a RocketRaid 3522 card and an 8TB CalDigit RAID = hardware RAID, or am I missing something?
I’m aware that it’s possible to have the hardware actually onboard the RAID, but those systems are more than I need or can afford.Regarding internal storage, I’m thinking about one drive for OS and software and then three 1TB drives striped. These drives would be used primarily for archiving, paperwork and maybe some music and personal stuff (as I work from home) but I’d like the option there for use as media storage as a last resort, hence the RAID configuration. Will having a RAID controller in use with the external RAID allow me to hardware configure the internal RAID? If not, would I be unwise to have these drives as a software RAID 0 (bearing in mind what I’ve said I’ll be using it for)?
Any advice and recommendations are greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Alex -
18 Replies
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[Alex Elkins] “Would any of these units support 2k work? “
Yes. As long as you can safely get over 300MB/sec, then you’ll be able to do 2k. Most of the systems you’re talking about get closer to 500 or 600MB/sec.
RAID 5 is usually hardware based. I think you’ll really like the 8 drive RAID 5 setup.
-Russ
Russell Lasson
Ridgeline Digital Cinema Mastering
Universal Post
Salt Lake City, UT -
Hi Russ, thanks for your feedback. That’s reassured me. Do you have any opinions or feedback regarding my proposal for internal storage?
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NO need to stripe the internal drives….they are pretty fast on their own. Internal SATA can get 120MB/s…plenty fast for most codecs, except Uncompressed HD. Plus if you raided them all together RAID 0, if you lost a drive, then you lose all that information….across ALL drives. And since that would be a SOFTWARE Raid, if your OS crashes in a bad way, then the information is lost as well. But you can look into a hardware raid controller for that, like the CalDigit or Apple one (CalDigit is half the price of the Apple one…and you can install it yourself). But if you are going to have external RAID storage, having TWO controllers might be overkill.
Shane
GETTING ORGANIZED WITH FINAL CUT PRO DVD…don’t miss it.
Read my blog, Little Frog in High Def -
Thanks a lot Shane, you’ve saved me a bit of cash there, and more importantly the potential for losing lots of data. Given the usage I’d have for the internal storage I’ll happily settle for just the OS drive and then a further 1TB SATA then.
Any recommendations on the actual drives to choose – I can’t go wrong with Hitachi, right?Many thanks,
Alex -
Hitachi baby…
Shane
GETTING ORGANIZED WITH FINAL CUT PRO DVD…don’t miss it.
Read my blog, Little Frog in High Def -
Shane
you said “And since that would be a SOFTWARE Raid, if your OS crashes in a bad way, then the information is lost as well”
My understanding was that, unlike PC’s. the Mac OS actually wrote the stripe information to the raid 0 drives, such that if you did lose your system drive, or had to wipe it, or had to reinstall system from scratch, you would retain the stripe info, and once you got your system back, the drives would show up as a raid o stripeset with all the data intact.
BUT, you still cant do raid 5, and as its raid 0, you still run a risk of losing all the data if one drive fails.
am i wrong? please lemme know
“I like video because its so fast!”
Bob Flood
Greer & Associates, Inc. -
Alex
I would add a third internal drive and use it as a “mirror” of your system drive, and any valuable data on the second drive.
this is waht i do
My system drive, Macintosh HD, Has the OS, all the programs, and their prefernces and so on
My second drive, which i affectionatly call “Internal Secondary Drive”
holds all my project data, like FCP projects, DVD projects, autosave vault, waveforms and thumbnails, etc. I also use it for exports, dvd media, some sound files like music and sfx, and the like.I have a third drive which i call “backup”. I use Retrospect to copy ALL the system drive over to it once a day, as well as the Project info off my secondary drive. If either my primary or secondary quit, i am kinda covered. (i am working on “Ghosting” my system drive so i can get up and running faster)
BTW all of this is in addition to, but independent of, an e-sata raid that holds all the video.
hope this helps
“I like video because its so fast!”
Bob Flood
Greer & Associates, Inc. -
SInce I am not the DEEP technical guy, I go off what technical guys tell me. And I have heard from more than one source that software Raids are vulnerable if the OS crashes. They might not fail, but there is a chance they will. That is what I have been told.
Shane
GETTING ORGANIZED WITH FINAL CUT PRO DVD…don’t miss it.
Read my blog, Little Frog in High Def -
Shane
Thanx! I reckon we shud looky round these heah parts fer one o them compooter geek-os, an chaw em up a bit on that there raid con-fig-eration!
🙂
“I like video because its so fast!”
Bob Flood
Greer & Associates, Inc. -
Thanks for all the feedback, Bob.
[Bob Flood] “I would add a third internal drive and use it as a “mirror” of your system drive, and any valuable data on the second drive.”
That’s a sensible idea, thanks.[Bob Flood] “My second drive, which i affectionatly call “Internal Secondary Drive”
holds all my project data, like FCP projects, DVD projects, autosave vault, waveforms and thumbnails, etc. I also use it for exports, dvd media, some sound files like music and sfx, and the like.”
This is actually what I tend to do, but I’ve often wondered whether or not you should keep your project files etc on the same drive as the media. Is that generally considered a bad idea? If so, why?[Bob Flood] “i am working on “Ghosting” my system drive so i can get up and running faster”
What does ghosting a system drive mean? Why does not doing it mean you’re up and running more slowly?Thanks for all you help Bob and everyone else.
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