-
Video Post Production SAN with Mac Mini Server
Our small video post production facility is moving from external drives to a SAN and here’s the plan.
4 Mac Pro stations connected via 1GbE ethernet to a managed 10 Gbe switch
10GbE switch connected to Sonnet xMac Mini Server via 10Gbe Small Tree single port PCI card
Sonnet Server connected via thunderbolt to 32TB Areca Thunderbolt RAIDWe mainly edit in ProRes with occasional green screen comping and no heavy special effects work.
My question is this….I keep reading that the way to go is a multi-port 10GbE PCI card with multiple direct connections as opposed to a 10GbE switch. Is the only reason cost? Because switches seem to be coming down drastically in price.
Thanks in advance for any help this forum can provide. It’s a big investment for a tiny company so I want to get it right.
-
6 Replies
-
I keep reading that the way to go is a multi-port 10GbE PCI card with multiple direct connections as opposed to a 10GbE switch. Is the only reason cost?
exactly where are you “reading” that multi port 10GbE PCI card is the way to go. Are you familiar with low cost 10Gbe switches ? Do you know how much they cost. Is your company really tiny if you have 4 editors ? Does this define a “tiny” company. These days, a tiny company is an editor with an intern.
If you want to “get it right” , you already know what to do. I see that this is your first post on Creative Cow.
Bob Zelin
Bob Zelin
Rescue 1, Inc.
maxavid@cfl.rr.com -
Thanks for the response, Bob. Let me be more specific:
Looking at the Netgear 8-Port 10-Gigabit ProSafe Plus Switch which is around $860 and would be quite a bit cheaper than a 4 port 10GbE card and offer more flexibility in the future if we add more bays. With our budget constraints, we may begin with our bays still going 1GbE to the switch initially, but then we could add an Atto Thunderlink adapter to each editor’s station as budget permits.So where I was hesitating was the switch vs. the multi-port NIC card. I realize each card would be a dedicated 10Gbe out to each computer which would helpful in a 4K environment, but I don’t see us actually editing 4k anytime soon.
Thanks again.
-
Hi John –
you have made all the right decisions. Just remember, with a x4 lane Thunderbolt 1 port on the Mac Mini, you are NEVER going to get true 10G speeds on all the computers. This is why an existing Mac Pro (even on ebay) is a better choice than a Thunderbolt 1 Mac Mini.
The multiport 10G card would just make you spend more money.We have found that even adding a second 10Gig connection on a Mac Mini server, and running that over 100MB/sec bogs down the first connection. So the Mac Mini is great for a small system, but for a powerful 4 user 10G system, it’s just not good enough. but for a small workgroup, all doing prores, your configuration will work wonderfully.
Let me know if you need anything else. You know how to contact me.
bob Zelin
Bob Zelin
Rescue 1, Inc.
maxavid@cfl.rr.com -
That’s tremendously helpful, Bob. Thank you. What about connecting the Mac Pro to the storage array? 10gig Ethernet through an atto thunder link? I’m trying to avoid buying a new Mac Pro with thunderbolt for the server. We have a few old mac pros we could use in house.
-
-
No, I’m not.
Reply to this Discussion! Login or Sign Up