Any advice on Mac Pro setup? Have 2TB of image/video, need it all backed up

I'm looking at purchasing a Mac Pro (currently have a MBP and 2 1TB external drives).
I'm new to the world of RAID and not sure how to best spec out the drive configuration.
I have about 2TB of unique data (outside of my internal drive) which I would like to have completely backed up - this consists of image files of all sizes (tiny to 200MB), and lots of video for editing.
I have no clue how to set this up - I only recently started editing images and video, so haven't had to deal with these conztraints before.
1. I'm guessing Bay 1 should be either 500GB of 1TB, and hold my basics (email, calendar,etc) as well as all of my apps and their associated files.
I would certainly want this drive to be backed up, I assume maybe so I can simply boot off a clone of Bay 1 if this one fails?
2. Outside of Bay 1, I have 1.5-2TB of unique data right now, and but probably won't get up past 3TB anytime soon. How do I best make sure I have everything backed up, and keep things running quickly?
3. How should I incorporate Time Machine, if at all?
Thanks so much in advance for any advice!!

Hi there,
Basically, unless you go for super-expensive SAS-Drives and the Hardware-RAID card, you will be using SATA drives in your Mac Pro. You've obviously got four internaldrive bays which you can, as you said, fill with 4x 1 TB drives (from Apple, or any other compliant SATA drive (some chose Samsung, some Seagate, some Western Digital(WD)).
What he is talking about is a card that gives you a SATA externally (eSATA), which can then be connected via a cable to a set of drives in an external enclosure.
There are dedicated SATA controller cards, and apparently you could even use a simple "extender cable" as your Mac Pro comes with unused internal SATA connectors (http://www.macnn.com/articles/07/04/20/mac.pro.esata.extender/
http://macenstein.com/default/archives/678
- at $25 a rather inexpensive alternative perhaps?). However, I don't know if you might be losing performance compared to a dedicates SATA controller card for an external drive set (likely).
You will find plenty of different manufacturers of these combinations of drives and drive-housings, here's just one for illustration purposes:
http://www.mbsdirect.com/product.php?productid=17322
Have fun!
Let me know how it went, I am looking for a similar solution in about a month, after my new Mac Pro ships in a few weeks... that will be soo fast compared to my current setup!
Jonas
A good website for further reading is this one:
http://www.macintouch.com/readerreports/macpro/topic4359.html

Similar Messages

Just bought new Mac pro when I sync my iPhone 4 i lost all my contacts on the phone .tried restoring from backup no luck .is there any way I can retrieve my contacts

Just bought new Mac pro when I sync my iPhone 4 i lost all my contacts on the phone .tried restoring from backup no luck .is there any way I can retrieve my contacts

Why don't you just restore the to your pc from your most recent backup? You'll get the warning about erasing the media on the phone, but since you'll have all of your media and apps restored from backup, you shouldn't have much of a problem.

Mac Pro Slow Shutting down Disk Ut says needs repair

Hi hope someone can help,
My mac pro has been taking a long time to shut down recently and this morning when i booted up all i had was a black screen with my mouse pointer (really weird).
I used Disk Utility to "verify disk" and it said that repairs were necessary. Here's the log:
Aug 24 08:31:55: Disk Utility started.
Verifying volume “Aygies Raid”
Checking HFS Plus volume.
Checking Extents Overflow file.
Checking Catalog file.
Incorrect block count for file PACESupport.plist
(It should be 0 instead of 1)
cking multi-linked files.",0)
Checking Catalog hierarchy.
Checking Extended Attributes file.
Checking volume bitmap.
Checking volume information.
@ needs to be repaired.",1)
Aygies Raid
Error: The underlying task reported failure on exit
Disk Utility stopped verifying “Aygies Raid” because the following error was encountered:
The underlying task reported failure on exit
1 HFS volume checked
Volume needs repair
I have a clone of my drive on an external drive so i booted from that i tried to repair permissions on mac pros drives but it said repairs weren't needed, Log:
Verifying volume “Aygies Raid”
Checking HFS Plus volume.
Checking Extents Overflow file.
Checking Catalog file.
Checking multi-linked files.
Checking Catalog hierarchy.
Checking Extended Attributes file.
Checking volume bitmap.
Checking volume information.
The volume Aygies Raid appears to be OK.
Mounting Disk
1 HFS volume checked
Volume passed verification
But then i booted from the mac pro again and it said that it needs repair! I used disk warriour and this is its log:
DiskWarrior scanned the disk named "Aygies Raid" checking all files and folders for damage and potential
compatibility problems.
Permissions:
Started verify/repair permissions on disk disk2 Aygies Raid
Determining correct file permissions.
The privileges have been verified or repaired on the selected volume
Verify/repair finished permissions on disk disk2 Aygies Raid
Disk: "Aygies Raid"
The Property List data was checked in 17,785 files.
The Resource Data was checked in 9,721 files.
The maximum Folder Depth on this disk is 17. This does not exceed the maximum recommended depth.
The System Symbolic Link Files were checked and no problems were found.
Location: "Desktop"
File: ".a23t.obdev.LSD.plist"
Detected that Property List data is damaged and cannot be repaired.
XML parser error:
Unexpected character
at line 1
Old-style plist parser error:
Unexpected character '0x4' at line 1
Location: "Aygies Raid/Users/aygie/Library/Preferences/"
File: "com.SysternatemsCorporation.StudioExcellence.plist"
Detected that Property List data is damaged and cannot be repaired.
XML parser error:
Unexpected character at line 1
Old-style plist parser error:
Unexpected character '0x0' at line 1
Location: "Aygies Raid/Users/aygie/Library/Preferences/"
File: "com.EtworataCorporation.Zonesys.plist"
Detected that Property List data is damaged and cannot be repaired.
XML parser error:
Unexpected character at line 1
Old-style plist parser error:
Unexpected character '0x0' at line 1
Location: "Aygies Raid/Users/aygie/Library/Preferences/"
File: "com.AppersEurope.Sickle.plist"
Detected that Property List data is damaged and cannot be repaired.
XML parser error:
Unexpected character at line 1
Old-style plist parser error:
Unexpected character '0x0' at line 1
Location: "Aygies Raid/Users/aygie/Library/Preferences/"
File: "com.Roverbetter.Eclecticism.plist"
Detected that Property List data is damaged and cannot be repaired.
XML parser error:
Unexpected character at line 1
Old-style plist parser error:
Unexpected character '0x0' at line 1
Location: "Aygies Raid/Users/aygie/Library/Preferences/"
File: "com.Hostcyte.Craziness.plist"
Detected that Property List data is damaged and cannot be repaired.
XML parser error:
Unexpected character at line 1
Old-style plist parser error:
Unexpected character '0x0' at line 1
Location: "Aygies Raid/Users/aygie/Library/Preferences/"
Explanations:
Folder Depth: This number indicates how many folders are nested inside each other. If a disk contains only three
folders and Folder A is inside Folder B and Folder B is inside Folder C, then this disk has a maximum folder depth of
three. Folders nested too deeply can cause software compatibility problems.
Property List: This is a standard file format for storing data and is often used to store preferences. The names of
these files normally end with a .plist file extension. Corrupt property list files can cause system instability.
Resource Data: This is an older file format for storing data and was often used to store preferences. The names of
these files normally end with a .rsrc file extension. Corrupt resource data files can cause system instability.
System Symbolic Link Files: These are files used by the operating system that are similar to aliases. If these files are
damaged it may prevent startup or cause system instability.
Time: 24/8/07 08:44:56
DiskWarrior Version: 4.0
Went back to Disk utility and now it says that my hard drive doesn't need repair! whats going on! can anyone help?!
Thank you

Two things off the top:
128MB are GUID partitions that are not user volumes.
There is also a 200MB EFI partition as well.
Drive Genius needs to get their program updated.
You need to work from an "emergency" boot drive to repair your boot drive, RAID or no. I hope you are and not from CD or DVDs.
Forget about Permissions. They are very minor. They only have to do with ownership and security and based on what is in
/Library/Receipts
Trying to verify? all you want to do is repair and rebuild.
If you ran DU and DW and did repair and rebuild and WROTE NEW DIRECTORY and the problem remains, erase and restore, or...
+I am useless with RAID and have no idea...+
Don't use it except to test, learn, experiment with. But not for system drive.
Above I asked, "are these a matched pair of drives" ie, same make, (looks like same size), vendor, model? they should be. Less chance of trouble if nothing else.
ON the boot volume, do a Get Info when you click on the drive, look for "Ignore Ownership on this Volume" and make sure it is NOT CHECKED. It can't be to repair permissions and be bootable.
The underlying cause of disk errors may be marginal or bad RAM. Test those FBDIMMs. Run Apple Hardware Test and Memtest (even Microsoft uses Memtest for Vista).
Drives rarely break. Systems do. Directory and btree catalogue and volume information blocks do.

I already have flashplayer on my mac. I have been using online video tutorials for learning, but suddenly all my YouTube vodeos say "plug-in blocked". I follow the instructions for installing or updating, but nothing has helped. I have looked everywhere i

I already have flashplayer on my mac. I have been using online video tutorials for learning, but suddenly all my YouTube vodeos say "plug-in blocked". I follow the instructions for installing or updating, but nothing has helped. I have looked everywhere in Safari help with no success. How can I restore this plug-in, PLEASE?
Austin Moore
Knoxville, Tennessee

I already have flashplayer on my mac. I have been using online video tutorials for learning, but suddenly all my YouTube vodeos say "plug-in blocked". I follow the instructions for installing or updating, but nothing has helped. I have looked everywhere in Safari help with no success. How can I restore this plug-in, PLEASE?
Austin Moore
Knoxville, Tennessee

TS3694 I applied the update today to an Iphone 5 and it totally trashed the phone. Total restore WOULD NOT bring it back- it is a nice paper weight- Error 6. Any body got a clue? Have tried restore several times- yes- disconnected all usb devices THX

I applied the update today to an Iphone 5 and it totally trashed the phone. Total restore WOULD NOT bring it back- it is a nice paper weight- Error 6. Any body got a clue? Have tried restore several times- yes- disconnected all usb devices THX

Did you try all 7 trouble shooting steps outlined Apple Support Page you linked from?

Photostream Issue - I have had several phones over the years all backing up via iCloud/Photostream. It seems that the oldest of my photos and videos are simply gone and I cannot seem to figure out how to get access to them. Why is this happening?

Photostream Issue - I have had several phones over the years all backing up via iCloud/Photostream. It seems that the oldest of my photos and videos are simply gone and I cannot seem to figure out how to get access to them. Why is this happening? Is there anything I can do to get them back? I'm freaked out by the thought that I am paying for what I thought was a safe place for my photos to be stored and accessed later but now see that there are nearly 500 pictures/videos gone from my photostream folder. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you. - Michael

Hi newmarket,
Photo Stream is not a respository for archiving photos. It is a cloud storage device that will store the last month or last 1000 photos taken by any device on the same Apple ID, and then will "share" those photos with all other devices that have Photo Stream turned on,and that are logged onto the same Apple ID.
iCloud backups will contain all of the photos that were on your camera roll the last time you backed up your device.
If you have photos outside of the Photo Stream parameters, and they are not all on your current camera roll, then you have no way to retrieve them unless you have imported them to the computer you sync with or have uploaded them to some other cloud service like DropBox.
Sorry,
GB

HT1766 i have a iphone 3gs that needs to be backed up and I have a new computer

I have a iphone 3gs that needs to be backed up and I have a new computer

You can backup only your settings, messages, recent calls, apps and Camera Roll in your new iTunes.
Your photo albums and music has to be on your computer to sync them back to your iPhone.
Message was edited by: cheonweb

HT3500 i have a mac pro and have connected to my wireless canon printer. I was able to print but now the printer comes up with the paper in the tray is the wrong size. but the paper is A4. does any one know what is wrong.

I have connected to my wireless canon printer but it wont let me print from my mac pro. printer comes up with the message that the paper size doesnt match the printer settings. I have tried to change the settings on the printer but that didnt work. can anyone help

Well... no help was found here.. so I abandoned the wireless- ness of my printer. I bought a
small 10 port hub because only 2 USB ports really isn't enough with wireless mouse, wireless internet
and any kind of printer. I also bought a long USB cable. I now print--wired since this can be done
as an alternative to wireless with this printer. Because I don't want a cable "hanging around"
when the printer is not in use, I simple disconnect it and reconnect when I want to print.
It's a temporary solution others may find helpful as well. Apparently there's been a lot of
confusion and problems getting this printer set up wirelessly with our MacBooks.
Shame on HP for not helping us out!

If I have a bootable copy of a disk running 10.4.11, is there any reason I can't swap out the internal drive of a newly purchased Mac Pro and have it boot from the tiger disk? Thanks very much for any insight.

or is there some sort of built in protection against this.

In addition, if you are talking about an older machine like a G4 or earlier with PATA drives, the Mac Pro uses SATA drives, so this is not a simple swap out, but if there's room an adapter like this might work in that situation:
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Sonnet%20Technology/TPASA/
so that you could use the drive in the new computer to copy the data files, not for booting the OS.
If you need to transfer files from one machine to the other, you could do this over a network, or use FW target drive mode, or get a universal bare drive cable adapter.
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Newer%20Technology/U3NVSPATA/

New Mac Pro setup questions..

Hi,
Just pulled the trigger on a Mac Pro 3gh, 4gb, ATI 1900. I am going to that from a dual 1.42 quicksilver and had some questions.
It seems migration assistant may not be the best way to go. Is this true, should I reinstall everything? Is it possible to drag and drop apps to the new machine?
Is it possible to get mail info from another machine to the new one? I have an iMac at home that I have been using Mail with and would like all the email addresses on the new machine at work. My old setup, I was still using Enterouge (sp) and would like to use Mail like at home.
I have the stock 250gb drive and I need to figure out different drive scenarios. I recently bought two external 500gb drives before even thinking about a new system. I am a commercial photographer and one drive is a backup that lives offsite from my studio for protection. Should I mirror with an external?
Thanks for any help!
HD

This FAQ may be helpful:
A Basic Guide for Migrating to Intel-Macs
If you are migrating a PowerPC system (G3, G4, or G5) to an Intel-Mac be careful what you migrate. Keep in mind that some items that may get transferred will not work on Intel machines and may end up causing your computer's operating system to malfunction.
Rosetta supports "software that runs on the PowerPC G3 or G4 processor that are built for Mac OS X". This excludes the items that are not universal binaries or simply will not work in Rosetta:
Classic Environment, and subsequently any Mac OS 9 or earlier applications
Screensavers written for the PowerPC
System Preference add-ons
All Unsanity Haxies
Browser and other plug-ins
Contextual Menu Items
Applications which specifically require the PowerPC G5
Kernel extensions
Java applications with JNI (PowerPC) libraries
See also What Can Be Translated by Rosetta.
In addition to the above you could also have problems with migrated cache files and/or cache files containing code that is incompatible.
If you migrate a user folder that contains any of these items, you may find that your Intel-Mac is malfunctioning. It would be wise to take care when migrating your systems from a PowerPC platform to an Intel-Mac platform to assure that you do not migrate these incompatible items.
If you have problems with applications not working, then completely uninstall said application and reinstall it from scratch. Take great care with Java applications and Java-based Peer-to-Peer applications. Many Java apps will not work on Intel-Macs as they are currently compiled. As of this time Limewire, Cabos, and Acquisition are available as universal binaries. Do not install browser plug-ins such as Flash or Shockwave from downloaded installers unless they are universal binaries. The version of OS X installed on your Intel-Mac comes with special compatible versions of Flash and Shockwave plug-ins for use with your browser.
The same problem will exist for any hardware drivers such as mouse software unless the drivers have been compiled as universal binaries. For third-party mice the current choices are USB Overdrive or SteerMouse. Contact the developer or manufacturer of your third-party mouse software to find out when a universal binary version will be available.
Also be careful with some backup utilities and third-party disk repair utilities. Disk Warrior (does not work), TechTool Pro (pre-4.5.1 versions do not work), SuperDuper (newest release works), and Drive Genius (untested) may not work properly on Intel-Macs. The same caution may apply to the many "maintenance" utilities that have not yet been converted to universal binaries.
Before migrating or installing software on your Intel-Mac check MacFixit's Rosetta Compatibility Index.
Additional links that will be helpful to new Intel-Mac users:
Intel In Macs
Apple Guide to Universal Applications
MacInTouch List of Compatible Universal Binaries
MacInTouch List of Rosetta Compatible Applications
MacUpdate List of Intel-Compatible Software
Written by Kappy with additional contributions from a brody.
Here is a list of where your important data is stored ("~" stands for "Home"):
Your Data in Documents:
~/Library/Application Support/AddressBook (copy the whole folder)
~/Library/Application Support/iCal (copy the whole folder)
Also in ~ / Library/ Application Support (copy whatever else you need)
~/Library/Keychains (copy the whole folder)
~/Library/Mail (copy the whole folder)
~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.mail.plist (This is a very important file which contains all email account settings and general mail preferences.)
~ / Library/iTunes (copy the whole folder)
~ / Library/Safari (copy the whole folder)
~/ Pictures/iPhoto Library
If you want cookies:
~/Library/Cookies/Cookies.plist
~/Library/Application Support/WebFoundation/HTTPCookies.plist
For Entourage users:
Entourage is in Documents/Microsoft User Data
Also in ~ /Library/ Preferences/Microsoft
Why reward points?(Quoted from Discussions Terms of Use.)
The reward system helps to increase community participation. When a community member gives you (or another member) a reward for providing helpful advice or a solution to their question, your accumulated points will increase your status level within the community.
Members may reward you with 5 points if they deem that your reply is helpful and 10 points if you post a solution to their issue. Likewise, when you mark a reply as Helpful or Solved in your own created topic, you will be awarding the respondent with the same point values.

The saga continues Mac Pro setup

Sorry to start yet another one my first time here.After much reading and research, among reading over 50 pages here in this forum alone I would like some guidance on setting up my new Mac Pro (2008) dual quad core 2.8Ghz bad boy.
I just purchased 4 Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD6400AAKS 640GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM from Newegg here -> http://tinyurl.com/6jmpbr Because these seem to be suggested for use many times throughout this and other forums. I hope these are the correct ones? They were also a great buy however, I am somewhat fearful of Newegg’s shipping strategy (lack of proper packing and UPS tends to toss shipments around like a pro-wrestler). In addition, I would have also like to have got them from different sources as not from the same batch but hey the price was too good to miss out on and I did not feel like waiting.
Now for the best approach, or approaches, to setting them up for best usage and optimal performance. 2 sets striped and mirrored Raid 10 I think it is ( preferably with a small boot partition for just the OS say 100gb)
or
1 drive for the OS and move users, and applications to a striped and mirrored Raid. I have read most of the links provided here and in other forums but I am still not sure the best route to go. Also most of the information is somewhat not as thorough as I would like.
(Background or helpful information as to my needs)
I do a small amount of lightroom and aperture toying around but not a lot. I do encode video some mostly for just personal use movies, some final cut studio occasionally, and I do have (but not used yet) logic studio (for one of my son’s to use). My biggest no no’s or issues that I would have would be in playing games like COD4 or moving large amounts of data on and off the machine which would frag out my system. I think? Most of the work that I would be doing would not push the system very much and I feel I have enough memory and space that I will need. Except for a backup this is where my next problem lies. In reading I hear advice to use superduper, carboncloner, to backup and re-image back to the system. From what I am hearing this is to defrag, while backing up the system. I have used both of these products but have recently started using clonetool would like feedback on it as well.
In addition to the hard drives , just after getting my unit I purchased 16gig of “supposedly” matched pairs from MacGeeks (Ebay store) at a reasonable price I believe -> http://tinyurl.com/6fgmq6 They all seem to work fine and haven’t noticed any problems and since they had such good feedback I decided to chance getting my ram from someone other the “the blood-suckers” AKA Apple. I really did not need a Mac Pro like some do I just wanted one so that I could have a great machine that would last hopefully for many years of worry free service and not have the burning desire to get a better unit. I feel this will fulfill my desires and needs for many years to come if I get the proper advice on setting my unit up the first time. I would love as much instruction and insight on the approaches Mac users have to helping a noob set his up. I can’t believe this all started this year in July with the purchase of a Mac book 2.4Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo laptop. That first taste was all that it has taken. In September this year I purchased a Dell mini 9 netbook and turned in into a very fast (but not a powerhouse) couch and coffee shop machine running leopard 10.5.5 even faster for the basics (boot up, surfing) than my real Mac book. I would love to get the full experience and pleasure out of my Mac Pro. I very much appreciate all the help and tips from the people in the Mac community.

Thanks The hatter for the input, I decided to test it by taking a drive out it would boot with three drives so that was a success. However, upon replacing the pulled drive back into the raid FAIL.
So a do over was then implemented.
This time I chose to do it with 2 sets mirrored and then stiped the two sets. Viola I tested pulling the drive and booting (ok) then re-inserted the drive back into the raid and booted then repaired the degrading raid and I'm good so at least if I have a drive failure happen before I get my backup strategy setup (more money for external backup) I should be good.
One note I most certainly understand this is not a route most people would take but it is pretty fast now and that pleases me.
Also at the beginning of this episode
I first tried to setup a boot (OS X only) drive and move users and apps to other drives and symlinking but that seemed to be even more difficult than setting up the raid. I think that is the preferred setup route but I don't have the skills to get r done <a little Larry the cable-guy humor.
Thanks and if you guys have any tips or suggestions please help a noob out. I appreciate all you guys for the help with this seemingly difficult setup.

I recently purchased a new Mac Pro and have been trying to back it up on my Time Capsule for the first time. However, it says there is no available disk space. This time capsule was used with my old Mac Pro that had a Home vault open on it.

The time capsule was used with my prior Mac Pro laptop that unfortunately had the home vault active on it.
My new Mac Book Pro does not have home vault open. But I am unable to back up my new MAC pro laptop because it says there is not enough storage space available. Therefore, t there any way to just completely delete all the old backup data out of my Time Capsule from my prior Mac Laptop?
When I go into the time capsule - it shows me NOTHING as being in the backup datas. So, I don't know where to begin to delete all the old data off the
time Capsule and start with a completely empty machine.

Therefore, t there any way to just completely delete all the old backup data out of my Time Capsule from my prior Mac Laptop?
Here is how to do this:
Open Macintosh HD > Applications > Utilities > AirPort Utility
Click Manual Setup
Click the Disks icon at the top of the AirPort Utility window
Click the Disks tab below the icons
Click Erase
The "Quick Erase" option will only take a moment or two
Now you can backup your MacBook Pro. If you connect an Ethernet cable from the MBP to one of the LAN <-> ports on the TC, the first backup will go 3-5 times faster than wireless.
Once you have the first backup done, you can use wireless for subsequent backups since they will only take a few minutes

Need advice about Mac Pro and Windows networking

I currently have 2 machines at work: One HP Windows PC (high configuration) and a PowerMac G5 2GHz dual. I'm basically close to purchasing a new Mac Pro to replace both machines but need some advice. I do the majority of design work on the Mac. However I need the Windows PC to also do some design work but mainly use it to connect into the windows network at work. Basically I need to be able to access the network drives (which are set up with Novell Netware, with IPX turned off), Novell GroupWise email system and connect to the internet through the LAN. Can I do this with a Mac Pro, with either Bootcamp or Parallels? Is there any sacrifice in terms of performance in using Bootcamp or Parallels? The end result I want is similar to what I am doing at the moment - at the moment I use a PC to network and the Mac to design, side by side with each other. What I want is to do this from one machine, not two. (I also need the PC side of things as I need to use some software that isn't available on the Mac, eg. bespoke databases that run on PC). Is it easy to network under Bootcamp/Parallels? What pitfalls are there that I need to be aware of?

When your running Windows via bootcamp, you are essentially Running windows on a PC architecture. You will have all the same capabilities that you have now.
When you use Parallels to run Windows, you are running Windows as a virtual machine running within the confines of the Mac OS. The advantage is that you can run multiple OS's at the same time, and easily share files and data between them. The disadvantage is that the OS running within Parallels has a slightly performance hit, meaning you are not running as fast as the bootcamp version, but the performance hit is very slight. The only place that Parallels is lacking at the moment is in support of 3D or accelerated graphics. That is Parallels currently cannot make use of a graphics card 3D capabilities or advance GPU options. Parallels has stated their intent is to provide better graphic card support in the near future.
With all this in mind, I don;t see any reason why you cannot use Parallels for your Windows networking needs, and the Mac for your design needs, all at the same time. You will need of course to ensure you have enough RAM to support both OS's if you intend to run them at the same time.
Tom N.

Mac Pro setup and expansions for Pro Audio applications? Help please...!

Hello everyone.
I want to buy an 8 core mac pro mainly for professional audio applications (Logic, plugins etc) and I have a few questions about upgrading and expansion.
1. Since Logic is a 32 bit application and can only address up to 4GB of RAM, does it worth upgrading to 16GB or should I spend the money upgrading the processors?
2. I've noticed that the Mac Pro has three (excluding the graphics card slot) full length PCI Express slots. Can I install a PCIe card with the shorter connectors? (like this UAD-2 DSP card: http://www.uaudio.com/products/uad/uad2quadomni/index.html)
3. Can the Mac Pro handle hard disk drives with capacity grater than 1TB and HDDs with speeds grater than 7200 rpm internally? If yes, why Apple doesn't have these options within the Apple Store?
I know that my questions may be a bit silly but since this is a big investment I would like to get everything right.
Any help and advice would be very much appreciated...

Windows 32-bit I have some bookmarked articles, but each app/process has its own 2GB address space and uses page and swap a lot more than Mac.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/64-bit
Free memory doesn't sit idle or go to waste, even Vista/7 will cache 3-4GB to improve system performance. And it isn't released until or unless freed, not fixed or locked and someone else requests more. Mac OS and Mac Pro especially need more memory, and it does show benefits.
A lot depends on how well written software is to take full and proper advantage. And that is ongoing.
Snow Leopard takes a step further into 64-bit, the first time that 64-bit drivers have been attempted. Big review of Snow Leo:
http://arstechnica.com/apple/reviews/2009/08/mac-os-x-10-6.ars
Memory use: http://www.barefeats.com/nehal04.html
http://macperformanceguide.com/OptimizingPhotoshop-Configuration.html
4 vs 8 core: http://www.barefeats.com/nehal08.html
http://www.barefeats.com/nehal03.html
comprehensive: http://eshop.macsales.com/Reviews/Benchmarks/NehalemTests.html
Ars review 2009 Mac Pro:
http://arstechnica.com/apple/reviews/2009/04/266ghz-8-core-mac-pro-review.ars
Keep your eye on this site for news, tips, on hardware and software updates and compatibility, and reader input: http://www.xlr8yourmac.com/

Upgrade advice for Mac Pro early 2008 needed

I've upgraded to 14 GB ram but my old 2008 Mac Pro (2 x 2.8 GHz Quad-core) now definitely needs replacing. As I want to keep my high end NEC monitor (I work with print design and don't like glossy screens) I wonder if a new Mac Pro is the only realistic option? They're a bit above my budget really but not sure that the top end Mac mini (2.3GHz quad-core Intel Core i7) will be a lot more powerful than what I have now.
I'm working mainly in the Adobe creative suite. Any advice much appreciated.

Just canceled the order. However I finally got to speak to a tech support guy that seemed a bit more knowledgeable. For less money, and (he said) a better way to go, he recommended the Mercury Accelsior_E2
PCI Express SSD. The 120 GB is $299.
Specs here:
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/SSD/PCIe/OWC/Mercury_Accelsior/Buy_Now
I'll look into the Tempo Pro and compare. Grant mentions that some users have been having trouble getting a PCIe SSD mounted strategy to boot consistently - that concerns me. Grant, can you point me to reports? How have you come by this info?
Hatter - I probably will only use one SSD to get me through the next year or two. Then I'll upgrade. Hatter, the Tempo Pro appears to only be a card adapter, and the SSDs are addtional, correct? The card itself runs $234.
I am looking at the MacRumors review of the OWC and Tempo products too.

Any advice on Mac Pro setup? Have 2TB of image/video, need it all backed up

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