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Thunderbolt RAID for 10GbE NAS
Hi all,
Our studio is looking for a Thunderbolt2 RAID array to share out over a 10GbE network via a 2013 Mac Pro for Premiere editing. We’ll have at most 4 users accessing the storage simultaneously and will need between 32 – 48TB of total space. We’re replacing a LaCie 8Big array that we’ve found flounders with multiple users reading/writing to the RAID (something I previously posted about in the NAS forum). I’ve tested out a Pegasus R2 in our setup and read/write speeds look sufficient for our needs – so how do the Promise units differ from something like a Thunderraid2 or Sonnett Fusion DX800RAID? Any other models we should be considering that would be suitable? Any feedback people have with a similar setup would be useful.
Thanks,
Jonathan -
6 Replies
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https://forums.creativecow.net/thread/375/173
Wasn’t this discussed by you already ? Get rid of the Mac Mini.
Use a Mac Pro as the server. No Promise R2 – use a Promise R8.
You already own the SanLink2 boxes. This configuration works fine.
I do this all the time.Without logging in, I don’t know why your Lacie 8Big is not working.
These products are all pretty similar. If you have 8 spindles running, and you are not sharing the same x4 lane buss on the Mac Mini, you should be fine.bob zelin
Bob Zelin
Rescue 1, Inc.
bobzelin@icloud.com -
Thanks for your response Bob. And yes, the preliminary issues with our storage were discussed but I’d like to know what the big differences are between these various Thunderbolt disk arrays before we invest in one. In real world terms will we see much performance variation between a Promise R8 vs. a Thunderraid2 vs. a Sonnett RAID array? If the differences are negligible I’m inclined toward the 48TB Thunderraid2 for more disk space (having enough available space to run RAID6 vs RAID5). Whatever we decide on will be shared out on a separate bus as the NIC on a Mac Pro.
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as you know, Sonnet does not make a native Thunderbolt array, but offers a thunderbolt to miniSAS adaptor so you can plug in their conventional miniSAS RAID array. Products like this are available from companies like Highpoint as well.
As for the native Thunderbolt arrays (Promise, Maxx Digital, G-Tech, Netstor) – the 8 bay performance is all pretty similar (900 MB/sec with RAID6). And of course the 16 bays get better performance (1100 MB/sec – maybe a little more). You only get close to 1300 MB/sec when you do RAID 0. I have unfortunately not tested out the Lacie that you have, but I have to assume the performance is similar (for the 8 bay).
Bob Zelin
Bob Zelin
Rescue 1, Inc.
bobzelin@icloud.com -
Thanks for the input Bob. Anyone know of any good way to secure these towers in a rack?
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when you say “secure these towers into a rack” – do you mean how do you rackmount the new Mac Pro cylinder ?
https://www.sonnettech.com/product/xmacproserver.html
You know Jonathan, you can call me too !
Bob Zelin
Bob Zelin
Rescue 1, Inc.
bobzelin@icloud.com -
Jonathan,
Feel free to give us a call at Maxx digital. We would love to talk and see if we can help you with your problems and give some advice.
Bryce
714-374-4944
bryce@maxxdigital.com
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