[Mat @ lacie]

Hi Tim,
Yes, LaCie S2S is a true SATA II to SATA II solution (SATA II drives and SATA II controller).

Our S1S Array (RAID 5 – for SD uncompressed, not HD) is SATA II to SATA I (SATA II drives to SATA I controller).

For the noise level, I don’t have measured data. Maybe TJ can share some feedback since he is using one S2S in production.

Mat
mgasquy@lacie.com

[Mat @ lacie]

Hi Tim,
On S2S, there are 2 ways to stripe the drives.
1. There is an automatic “FAST” mode. This is done with 4 drives. The 5th drive stays idle and can be used as a spare later.
2. You can use the “JBOD” mode. In this mode, the 5 drives mount on your desktop. Then you can stripe all 5 drives with Mac OS X Disk Utility.

You can stripe 2 or more S2S together (on 1 card). Here is what we got with ATTO Benchmark Utility (sample size 80MB – max transfer size 8MB):
– 2x S2S: average read 307MB/s
– 3x S2S: average read 405MB/s
– 4x S2S: average read 462MB/s

Hope this helps.
Mat

[Mat @ lacie]

Just wanted to add one comment to TJ’s post. The S2S features Port Multiplication. So while it is a 5 drive array, there is only 1 SATA II connector in the back (controller can still see/control each drive individually).
Mat

[Mat @ lacie]

Hi Darren,
In regards to the LaCie drives, it all depends on what you want to do.
Here are some suggestions:

– d2 Extreme with Firewire 800 (single drives from 160GB up to 500GB)
https://www.lacie.com/products/product.htm?pid=10059
Can handle DV/HDV projects

– Big Disk Extreme with Firewire 800 (from 500GB up to 1TB with RAID 0 performance)
https://www.lacie.com/products/product.htm?pid=10279
Can handle SD uncompressed 8bit/10bit

– Biggest Disk F800 (from 1TB up to 2TB with RAID 5 for data security)
https://www.lacie.com/products/product.htm?pid=10326
Can handle DV/HDV

Other solutions like SATA products are available (for SD and HD uncompressed) but based on your configuration, it sounds like Firewire 800 would be fine.

I would suggest that you use a Firewire 800 PCI card for your PC:
https://www.lacie.com/products/product.htm?pid=10173

Hope this helps.
Mat
mgasquy@lacie.com

[Mat @ lacie]

Hi,
Actually any LaCie Firewire 800 drive (d2/Big Disk/Bigger Disk) can handle HDV.

The bit rate is similar to DV:
https://www.geocities.com/mammacow3/HDVSpec.htm

Hope this helps.
Mat
mgasquy@lacie.com

[Mat @ lacie]

Hi Craig,
Thanks for the comments.

Just wanted to add something. LaCie just released the 4th generation of d2/Big/Bigger. All drives feature a new thermal foam for even greater heat dissipation.

Some models (using hotter 500GB mechs) feature now a unique cooling system with variable speed fan (so drives remain quiet when there is no need for extra cooling): 500GB d2, 1TB Big Disk Extreme and all Bigger Disks.

Mat

[Mat @ lacie]

Hi Sean,
I had not realized that you were in UK. I am in the US so I can only suggest that you contact LaCie UK. They should be able to tell you what the local procedure is.

Here is their contact info:

LaCie Ltd
46 Gillingham Street
London SW1V 1HU
UNITED KINGDOM
Fax: +44 (0)20 7233 8338
sales.uk@lacie.com

Hope this helps.
Mat

[Mat @ lacie]

Hi Sean,
I am sorry to hear that you had bad experiences with our drives. Let me know if there is anything we can do to make it right to you.

I would like to respond to your comments about the quality of the components and the fact that the internet is full of people with problems with LaCie products.

1. LaCie has been doing external storage products for 17 years now. If we were using low quality components we would not have lasted that long and performed so well in the past few years. In our fiscal year 05 we shipped 2M units of external storage products, up from 1M the year before. We work exactly like a computer manufacturer. Drives manufacturers like Seagate send us mechs for us to qualify. If they match our requirements in performance/reliability we use them. Only best of breed components because it’s our reputation that’s on the line, not the reputation of Seagate, Hitachi or any other component that we use (Oxford 912 for example).

When it comes to the video editing world, our drives are used by thousands of professionals including high profile companies and individuals. You’ll always find people who had a great experience with 1 brand of drives, when other people don’t like the exact same drives. For people who had a bad experiences, we always do everything we can to make it right.

2. About the web. Most people who post online have technical problems and are looking for answers. Firewire drives have been extremely popular in the past 3 years and being the largest manufacturer, our name comes up more often. The reliability of the products is always the top priority but when you deal with hardware, the risk for failure is never 0.

I just came back from an event that gathered most of our industry (resellers and vendors) and LaCie received Best Hardware and Best Vendor Awards (out of 200 vendors across all categories). While it does not help with your specific situation, it shows that the reputation of LaCie is very strong and that our products are doing extremely well.

Feel free to email me if you need anything.

Mat
mgasquy@lacie.com

[Mat @ lacie]

Hi Don!
It’s always good to read nice things 🙂

In regards to a comment made about fan (somewhere in the thread), here is an FYI. LaCie has started to ship last month the 4th generation of d2/Big/Bigger. In order to accomodate for hotter 500GB mechs, they all have a unique cooling system with thermal foam and on some models a smart fan with automatic variable speeds (Big Disk 1TB and all Bigger Disks).

Talk to you soon!
Mat

[Mat @ lacie]

Hi,
In all the LaCie Porsche boxes, there is actually a big piece of paper (on top of the drive) stating that the drive comes formatted as FAT 32. It also states the 2 options for Mac and Pc users (HFS+/NTFS).

All the d2/Big Disk/Bigger Disk/Biggest F800/S1S/S2S come formatted for Mac.

Mat