[Matt Geier]

Hi Todd,

Have you considered using Google Drive or paying Dropbox for larger / business type access?

There are probably some additional resources you could utilize as well, such as a hosting company for file storage, or something similar.

Let us know.

If you’d like to connect with me to discuss this offline, feel free to contact me through The Cow and we can hook up!

I have some more resources you can utilize if you’d like to get some File Storage for purposes servicing those needs you have to address.

Matt Geier
(Video Networking Solutions Expert)
(Creative Design Workflow Consultant)
(Social Media Networks Consultant)
(Technical Video Industry Sales Consultant)

[Matt Geier]

Hi Ed,

Link Aggregation on the client won’t work out of the operating system the way you’d expect.
For you to link aggregate those client ports and pass data down both at the same time, requires the software application to support this, much like the reference to AVID Isis.

If you set this up out of the os without something special from the software on the client side, you’ll see data move over 1 of the links. The other will be connected and appear to be doing something at the same time, but if you watch the io you’ll see what I mean.

Link Aggregation on the server will be what you look to do, even if you have more then one server, you just set them all up with link aggregation to your managed switch.
This is where most folks will implement link aggregation, even for six ports of 10GbE in some cases, not just 1GbE networking.

Smart Switches are a one step up from Unmanaged Switches. They have some things in common. Most of them cannot be set up to properly support Dynamic Link Aggregation which is what Apple O/S uses by default. Dynamic is the best for cases of shared storage most of the time. These kind of switches also don’t have high packet forwarding rates and lack in overall processing power to manage the data properly, leaving you at the mercy of the switch performance and what it does do.

They should not be used for video or traffic/data intensive networks. It’s not the right choice.

Perhaps calling some of the companies and speaking to the vendors will help you better understand this and get some clear cut answers to your questions.

Feel free to call Small Tree or shoot over to our creative cow forum for more consult on the subject. I represent their West Sales region of the US and Canada. Maybe connecting to get some user references and other resources is what you need too.

Let us all know what else we can do to help further.

Best regards, and good luck,

Matt Geier
(Video Networking Solutions Expert)
(Creative Design Workflow Consultant)
(Social Media Networks Consultant)
(Technical Video Industry Sales Consultant)

[Matt Geier]

Hi Shane,

Lots of people in the industry experiment with this in both SAN and NAS. As with any of the shared storage configurations, you need to deploy and set it all up to work a certain way depending on your workflow.

I recently spoke to a gentleman who was installing his Small Tree Quad Port 1GbE adapter to connect to a switch with link aggregation, and connect his Gtech RAID over thunderbolt to his xMac configuration. For the moment, his RAID only goes about 350MB/sec tops. Sharing the bandwidth with just 6 workstations, means that the bandwidth to his RAID is one bottleneck, then moving down to the 400MB/sec link agg pipe being shared, then to each client working over 1GbE.

He won’t find stellar real time performance, but he’s setting up for push / pull of Photoshop files. The users still won’t pull or push faster then a max of 70-90MB/sec. They will realistically always see lower if they all hit the RAID and network at once.

It’s all about conditions and what kind of performance you need vs want vs actually get with all the various overheads.

Let us know if we can help. You’ll probably want Small Tree multiport adapters to serve the network for this. Maybe something more. Give us a call or swing by our Creative Cow Forum if you’d like some pre sales consult on this subject! I represent the West Coast Sales Region at Small Tree.

Regards and best of luck,

Matt Geier
(Video Networking Solutions Expert)
(Creative Design Workflow Consultant)
(Social Media Networks Consultant)
(Technical Video Industry Sales Consultant)

[Matt Geier]

Hi Eduardo,

It’s always exciting to see someone investigating shared storage.
Be sure to fully understand everything. Otherwise you’ll get caught up and be forced to spend more on bandages and support rather then a config out of the box designed to do this for you by design. Be sure to utilize the experts here. Lots of choices for you to consider.

Don’t forget to give Small Tree a call. You can get a price/performance configuration that many will
will agree is one of the best on the market. Without the standard high costs associated with fiber.

Let us know what questions you have and were all happy to answer them.
For all intensive purposes on this post, I represent Small Trees Sales Division.

Best regards, and best of luck,

Matt Geier
(Video Networking Solutions Expert)
(Creative Design Workflow Consultant)
(Social Media Networks Consultant)
(Technical Video Industry Sales Consultant)

[Matt Geier]

They can be expensive. Speaking from experience as a user on a team, as well as a one man show I understand your point.

Were you aware they offer single user access as well as group, professional and enterprise levels?

Matt Geier
(Video Networking Solutions Expert)
(Creative Design Workflow Consultant)
(Social Media Networks Consultant)
(Technical Video Industry Sales Consultant)

[Matt Geier]

Hi Ned,

Have you looked into Salesforce.com?
I use a Mac. I don’t use any Mac software to be my CRM system/database, etc…

That’s a feature heavy platform independent solution. Even at the lowest subscription level.

I have experience with various CRMs and other Customer Management integrations.

How much knowledge do you have in web based programing for software development kits and APIs etc?

How much might you b e you looking to spend? Costs drive everything, right?

Matt Geier
(Video Networking Solutions Expert)
(Creative Design Workflow Consultant)
(Social Media Networks Consultant)
(Technical Video Industry Sales Consultant)

[Matt Geier]

Hi Joachim,

I saw your post and wanted to lend a response.

Note:
I read that you are trunking two ports together on your Mac.
Just a tip that although the idea is a good one, its not doing anything to improve your performance any.

Client Workstations:
AFP, SMB, NFS etc.. are all what they refer to as “single socket” protocols.
The traffic your are sending and receiving will only be moving over one of these ports at any given time, not both at the same time. (some applications are written to provide “multi threaded network support”) but the OS doesn’t work like this by default in the way you might think. When your Mac connects to your server, its established over the logical connection to use.

Server Head:
Link aggregation was really designed for servers. It will provide the most benefit here when you need a lot of users connected. It is going to focus on the server side where you need more bandwidth and network connection access. It’s often used in a “many to one” concept. (ie…10 workstations load balancing over 8 link aggregated ports.)

If you have two workstations or six workstations, you can directly connect those to the server. If you have twelve stations and six ports on the server, you connect the users to a switch and start setting up link agg on the server. This is the ideal method for a large majority.

If you are looking for an easy to understand, very reliable, easy to set up real time video NAS network using 1GbE and/or 10GbE networking Small Tree has a wonderful solution that works. (damn near right out of the box)

Even if you seek information, Small Tree is useful to help you in your research.

It’s true that there are several other solutions that may work for you as well.
It’s also true that you can piece together your own solution….

Who do you want to call or blame if something breaks? Yourself?

Small Tree is certainly a dominant solution provider and integrator choice that knows IO and Real Time performance extremely well. What else might you expect from a group dedicated to High Performance and Real Time Video engineering backgrounds from places like SGI and Cray Technologies?

Get the assurances and guarantees you need for performance and support of video and graphics workflows over Ethernet on your Mac environment before you purchase a solution. Small Tree should be among the top of your choices!

It would be worth your time to inquire with us!

There are plenty of references to be found on Small Tree’s expertise right here on the Creative Cow in itself.

Keep us all posted on where this turns out for you. We all like to know.

Regards,

Matt Geier – Small Tree
I manage and support pre and post sales development in Western US and Canada sales regions.

[Matt Geier]

Hi Chris,

This is a little abnormal from my usual method of approach to engaging on the forums.

I saw your post and knew I wanted to talk to you and learn more about your needs so I can help address them accordingly.

I’m interested in having you work with me here at Small Tree.

Feel free to visit Small Tree’s Creative Cow Forum as well as our Facebook and Twitter feeds to review more content on this type of subject. https://forums.creativecow.net/smalltree

I encourage your Interests further.

Regards,

Matt Geier

Direct and Channel Sales Accounts Manager
United States & Canada, Western Regions
Small Tree Communications
866-782-4622

[Matt Geier]

Hi Pattie,

To design for mobile, is much like designing for the web browser on your monitor in context.

You should designate a “mobile” site, and your current website serves as your “standard” site. (mobile = mobile devices, standard = everything on a regular monitor).

You’ll notice nowadays, that a lot of places you go to on your smart phone or another device point you to “the mobile” version of that website or company you go to visit.

You’ll need to have a design that matches widths of the screen real estate on the mobile devices (it’s a lot less then what your monitor gives you), and also have a site that supports the mobile platform properly (for example you won’t want super big downloads, because data will likely be transferred over a mobile network, and that’s going to be slower then if you were connected to your Ethernet cable or Wireless Internet at home). Another example is that some mobile devices don’t support flash and other “web standards” that were designed for non mobile viewing.

Those are the kinds of things to keep in mind. There’s quite a few things to think about.

I’m sure someone else will chime in as well.

Thanks for posting. Send me a friend request if you like and we can connect offline if you are interested in more insights.

Matt G

[Matt Geier]

Hi all,

I felt it worth mentioning that I know several solutions in the field that are still going strong.
Were going on 4 years now since Small Tree first released ST RAID (3gb SAS) shared NAS storage.
I’ve updated a few folks with R680s to get a little more performance out of their3gb drives. (20-25% better performance.)

Small Tree still offers some 3gb product. (while supplies last) but most are obviously going for 6gb products if they can.

They both still work if your using them under supported configurations. I’m starting to see more places budgeting more for their shared storage installs and upgrades to plan for the future. I keep seeing an increase with teams coming up with 3yr plans to keep things going too, so that’s always promising.

Just remember as long as you can get support from the provider, users should continue to have confidence that old and new stuff will work. (assuming the provider knows it will for certain or at least has a plan to support you if something goes wrong on the older gear.)

Just my $0.02

🙂

Matt Geier
(Video Networking Solutions Expert)
(Creative Design Workflow Consultant)
(Social Media Networks Consultant)
(Technical Video Industry Sales Consultant)