Sonnet vs. G-Tech

[David Roth weiss]

The two products you’re looking at are essentially identical. Both are reasonable in every way. You will lose approx. 25% of your storage with a RAID 5 config, so four drives can get tight real fast, so you might want to consider 3Tb hard drives.

David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor/Colorist
David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los Angeles
https://www.drwfilms.com

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[Alex Gerulaitis]

[David Roth Weiss] “The two products you’re looking at are essentially identical”

The Sonnet Fusion box is closer to G-Speed Q I think: controller in the box, quad interface.

G-Speed eS is much faster due to separate eSATA links to each drive, but also much less portable since the RAID brain is on the controller that’s in the host computer.

If speed and reliability is important, I’d go with G-Speed eS Pro. If portability is – G-Speed Q or the Sonnet Fusion box.

Alex (DV411)

[Bob Zelin]

Sonnet support is dramatically better than G-Tech support.

Bob Zelin

[Jef Huey]

Thanks for the input so far.

Portability is not a big deal in this application.

So the conundrum is better performance or better support.

I have had trouble finding performance specs on the Sonnet product that can be used in comparison.

Jef

[Alex Gerulaitis]

Unlike Sonnet, G-Tech is here on the forum and actually providing support, as well.

I haven’t dealt with Sonnet support – G-Tech’s support however was more than gracious and helpful in the 10+ years of my doing business with them.

[Jef Huey] “I have had trouble finding performance specs on the Sonnet product that can be used in comparison.”

“Data Transfer Speed: Up to 225 MB/s, depending on drives, interface(2), and configuration.”

I was also dead wrong regarding performance – G-Speed eS only has one eSATA port, meaning it won’t be faster than the Fusion box all other things being equal. In fact its RAID5 numbers are rather unimpressive at below 200MB/s. Its main advantage is simplicity and expandability: using a RAID controller with multiple eSATA ports, you can create a large (and very fast) array.

Alex (DV411)

[Bob Zelin]

basing my response strictly to Alex’s line card on DV411, Dulce Systems is another company that
makes excellent products, that will give you superior support – and Alex sells these products as well.
You will get much greater performance from the Dulce line than from G-Tech.

Bob Zelin

[Jef Huey]

Thanks Bob and Alex,

Good info. I went to the DV411 site and did not see Dulce products.
I may contact them directly.

Thanks again,

Jef

[Alex Gerulaitis]

Quite a few things on the web site are outdated.

Depending on the workflow, my favorite setup for a DAS array is a 6G MiniSAS box ($500-1700 4-8 bay) with a decent (ATTO, Areca) RAID controller. It will be $500-1200 more expensive than an eSATA or “quad-interface” boxes, and will suit mostly performance-oriented workflows.

Single eSATA and quad-interface boxes are inherently cheap (not in a good way) because nobody makes decent yet inexpensive eSATA or multiple-interface controllers. That for now is the domain of MiniSAS.

Personally, I don’t trust the RAID5 protection these boxes offer. I don’t trust that in the event of drive failure they will do all the right steps to perform a complex procedure of disengaging the bad drive, accepting a new one, and rebuilding the array.

Alex (DV411)

[Ron Amborn]

Jef
Here is amother option that we could offer. maybe Alex could sell this to you.

https://www.maxxdigital.com/evo-vr-maxx-digital.html

Sincerely,
Ron Amborn President
Maxx Entertainment Digital
21562 Newland Street
Huntington Beach , Ca 92646
Direct 714-374-4944
Cell 714-713-4492 Fax 714-374-3404
ron@maxxdigital.com
http://www.maxxdigital.com

[Jef Huey]

Thanks for the info Ron. I will give it a good look.

Cheers,

Jef