Matt Geier
Forum Replies Created
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Mark,
Nice post … this is interesting because Windows environments often ask the same things. Most of which have to do with the hardware, not the O/S itself.
The terms 32-bit and 64-bit refer to the way a computer’s processor handles information. In most all cases, the 64-bit version of and O/S will handle data faster, due to the the way it’s processed in the hardware.
64-bit is also a term given to a generation of computers in which 64-bit processors were the norm.
(This is why you have had 64 bit processors without actually using 64bit data from the prior o/s..)64-bit CPUs have existed in supercomputers since the 1960s and in RISC-based workstations and servers since the early 1990s. So in other words, (IBM, Sun, Cray, SGI..etc..)
In 2003 they were introduced to the (previously 32-bit) mainstream personal computer arena, in the form of the x86-64 and 64-bit PowerPC processor architectures.
Without further qualification, a 64-bit computer architecture generally has integer and addressing registers that are 64 bits wide, allowing direct support for 64-bit data types and addresses.
However, a CPU might have external data buses or address buses with different sizes than the registers, even larger (the 32-bit Pentium had a 64-bit data bus, for instance). The term may also refer to the size of low-level data types, such as 64-bit floating-point numbers.
I believe this explains answers to your questions. Let us know if you have more around this. 😛
For reference — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/64-bit
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Good one Jordan — I concur!
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Hi Fabrice,
I’ll post this here – for the sake of others to see my comment —
The likely hood that your storage is too slow is very possible. It may certainly have enough of the needed bandwidth on the wire, but if the storage drives are not able to read/write and respond fast enough, you’ll experience this dropped frame stuff.
It could also be attributed to something else, but the storage being to slow would be my first inclination.
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Fabrice
The likelyhood that your storage is too slow is very possible. It may certainly have enough of the needed bandwidth, but if the storage isn’t able to read/write/ and respond fast enough, you’ll experience this.
It happens a lot in Shared Environments …
Shoot over to the SAN Forum — There you can find more insight about storage performance etc.
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Jim,
Your test —
I do have a 58 minute Avid HDV doc on my RAID right now. That’s just a couple of minutes shy of your 60 minute test.What Bob speaks of is true. It will however, also depend on what video formats you use specifically. It has to be understood that EACH of the video formats from Final Cut Pro, have each of their own requirements when it comes to what the latency should be to pass an I/O before the next I/O needs to occur of that chosen format. (If you do not pass 1 I/O before the next is completed, you’ll likely drop a frame due to disk latency)
Although you can use a tool like AJA’s test to measure what you’re raid will read/write – I do know that it pop’s out what is usually a full bandwidth number of the raid, not a latency number of the disks. However, with that said, there’s a lot of way’s to test latency on the disks, and yes, running a video stream can certainly test it.
It would be too general to say that if you have a raid and you try to edit video on the raid and you drop a frame that your raid is truly the problem….
With that said, assuming the RAID is in fact fast enough, and you still have latency issues (completely possible). Well, then that’s when you start forking out monies and putting the combination of hardware together to give you what you are looking for in the overall profile to meet the performance (disks, raid controllers, back-planes, motherboards, network ports…etc etc..) (be prepared to go through many configurations before finding one that works for your “preferred latency” performance number) —It should also be noted that vendors do a fair amount of “testing” prior to you purchasing their solution. This is “simulated” testing. (It’s simulating a controlled environment, not your actual “working” environment) — In simulation applications, ‘latency’ refers to the time delay, normally measured in milliseconds (1/1,000 sec), between initial input and an output clearly discernible to the simulator trainee or simulator subject.
Believe it or not — the I/O requirements vary between video formats …. So it would be a valid comment to say you could likely put 10 x DV25 Streams on a RAID, that will only support 2-3 Streams of Pro Res… I’m trying to make the point that if one RAID is able to to XYZ, the same RAID under another condition may only do X, or Y, or Z, not all three together.
I hope this helps make sense..
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Jim,
The best way to test your storage capabilities is to install all the drives, build a RAID, and then start throwing video formats at it…
test each format limitations (because they all require different response times…)
for example you may find that you can run 5 or 6 streams of DV25 off the RAID with those drives, but if you try to run 1 stream of Pro Res it could fail.
Play with it, get some ideas from others here like the one above. Tell us how far it goes. That’s your limitation on the drives.
Keeping in mind all the hardware plays a role, and all the different options you could configure will play a role in the performance profile of the entire configuration.
Keep us posted.
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Bob means well here – 🙂
Take his advice!
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Who’s iSCSI initiator are you using on the Mac to see the iSCSI storage target?
I don’t have any idea what the issue might be.
I’m only asking questions to see if I can lend ideas or suggestions.
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Morten,
I will tell you that what Nate says in his post is all true (except maybe the comment about 10Gb, that’s more of his opinion…) 🙂
In your particular environment, 10Gb certainly isn’t going to boost you much, although, that may depend on what kind of video streams you’re working with…
What are your video stream format requirements?
The bottom line …
Is the reality that a Fibre Channel SAN can do the job here, as well as an Ethernet environment, Gigabit or 10Gb, if configured correctly in either case.
There’s absolutely no reason to not adopt 10Gb Ethernet because you don’t think it’s really there. The fact remains that there are many many users of 10Gb in Apple environments and that market continues to grow every day, especially now with FCoE coming and what it promises to bring Ethernet environments.
Both of these (FC and Ethernet) are Proven Technologies and have been around for 20+ years. What’s going to drive the purchase of one solution set or another is going to be primarily cost, and the technical support, or solution management support you receive after your purchase.
When looking, you should compare Price / Performance / Scalability / and Support in the solution as a whole, not one part of a solution compared to another part of another separate solution.
The reality of Ethernet Performance on a Mac…
Gigabit Speeds from an editing client can be achieved and sustained at 30-90MB/sec inside a Jumbo Frame network. (obviously a determining factor is how much you actually use on the wire in any given scenario)
Being able to achieve 90MB/sec, means you can comfortably fit two streams of Pro Res HQ on the wire. Further more, as long as the storage has enough read/write bandwidth, and the overall hardware profile is fast enough together (client to server to storage, then back…), then you can successfully move a Pro Res HQ stream back and forth in Real Time just fine in Gigabit Ethernet.
For requirments where you have a significant amount more of usage or bandwidth needs, 10Gb Speeds can be sustained between 200-300MB/sec.
Again, as long as the storage has enough read/write bandwidth, and the overall hardware profile is fast enough together (client to server to storage, then back…), then you can successfully move a Pro Res HQ stream back and forth in Real Time just fine in 10Gb Ethernet.
Real Time editing environments…
When someone sits down to create real time, shared storage, video editing environment, they are mostly focused on providing network bandwidth to their users. This is the reality, there are a lot of people doing it. What happens though, is people become surprised when they sit there, do the math, and say everything will work because all the bandwidth read and write numbers jive, or a vendor said they could do XYZ. They rush off, buy the pieces, put it together, and low and behold, it doesn’t work the way they thought!
If someone is designing a real time video editing shared storage solution for you, to meet your needs, then whatever you get, Fibre Channel or otherwise, better hold up at the conditions you’ve specified, otherwise the solution has failed, period, plain and simple.
There are a lot of solutions available to you. I hope this helps with some additional information about Ethernet possibilities.
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Hi Brandon,
You could do this with a Fibre Channel SAN. You can also do this with an Ethernet based network utilizing multi-port Gigabit or 10Gb in your dedicated server.
As long as you’re not doing anything uncompressed, Gigabit or 10Gb Ethernet can support you. Bandwidth allocation and resources do not become a problem, if you scale the network correctly.
To support 3-5 users, you can get along just fine with a Quad or Six Port Ethernet Card, giving each user their own link…
Each Gigabit wire can run up to 90MB/sec, which is plenty of bandwidth for editing video stream sizes….
The real question is going to be weather or not you have enough network bandwidth, AND if your server AND storage is fast enough to support the real time requirements.
If you’d like to call me, I can discuss some Ethernet options that would suit you.
Regards,
Matt G
Small Tree
651-209-6509 x 1