External Raid Advice Needed

Hello,
I have a Xserve (Intel) and I am setting it up in a co-location. They only accept rack equipment and I am in need of a raid 5 option for my server.
I dont want to spend the money and buy a Xserve since this is only for mysql database and one website.
I was told to go NAS but I am not sure thats a good option.
I wanted Firewire 800 but rack raid cost is not in my price range.
I have a fibre care for my xserve and was looking at rack units.
Anyone use any of these and have good luck with it?
My Xserve software raid has needed to be rebuilt twice in 3 months for no apparent reason so I cant trust it.
Please post experience and places for me to buy these options.
Thank you

I dont want to spend the money and buy a Xserve since this is only for mysql database and one website.
I assume you mean an XServe RAID since you already have an XServe...?
am in need of a raid 5 option for my server.
Have you considered the Hardware RAID card that is now available for the Intel XServe? It allows you to use the three internal drives as a RAID 5 array.

Similar Messages

External RAID advice...?

I want to purchase a 1TB external hard drive that I can configure in RAID 1 (2x500GB HDs). Anyone have experience in doing this/ advice in drives that have been more successful than others for this task? I've read so much on different drives and very conflicting reviews on different sites of the exact same drives that my head is spinning. I really just need a large reliable (backed up) storage system for my PowerBook.

Hi, bbourque99, and welcome to apple Discussions. I have no experience with RAIDs, but if I were shopping for a large storage array I'd look first at the warranties that are offered on pre-packaged drives in enclosures, and compare them with the warranties available on bare drives. If I could get a better warranty buying two bare 500GB drives and buying a case or cases separately to put them in, I'd do that for the sake of the better warranty on the drives themselves. The enclosure can always be replaced inexpensively, and no data is jeopardized if the bridge in an enclosure fails. If you use software that can configure two 500GB drives in separate enclosures as a RAID array, and the two drives' contents are mirrors of each other, then even having an enclosure or a drive fail only disables half of the array temporarily.
I assume that your intent is to mirror the two drives' contents so that each is a backup for the other, and to use them only for data storage. Do you also intend to clone your Powerbook's internal drive to them, or will you maintain a clone of your internal drive on a different external drive? I believe if you want to clone your internal drive to any external volume, you must commit the entire volume (a disk, or a partition on a disk that is partitioned) to that clone. If true, that would mean you'd have to partition your RAID drives so that each contains one partition for the clone, and another partition for data that isn't stored on the internal drive. I don't know whether or not drives that are part of a RAID can be partitioned, and if you're in doubt about that, I'd strongly suggest keeping another external drive for use as a backup (specifically, a bootable clone) of your internal drive.
My ignorance of RAIDs and successful experience with cloning via SuperDuper would lead me to rely instead on scheduled, automated, incrementally-updated cloning rather than setting up a RAID. I would set my internal drive to be cloned to an appropriately-sized external FireWire drive (or partition on a larger drive) every other night when my computer isn't in use. Similarly, I'd set SuperDuper to automatically clone one big external data drive to the other on the same basis during the intervening nights. Thus each backup would always be less than two days old, I'd always be able to boot my Powerbook without relying on either of the big data disks to do it, and I could always run the Powerbook without either of the big data drives connected to it for troubleshooting and maintenance purposes, even if its internal HD failed.

IBook and external HDD - Advice needed

Hi all,
I am using an old G3 white dual USB iBook with OS X 10.2.8. The backlight cable broke a year ago, and I finally worked up the nerve to replace it myself...and while I'm in there, I'd like to drop in a new 120GB Seagate hard drive to replace the practically full 30GB in there now. Now before I do all this, I really want to back everything up to an external hard disk.
I have an old Western Digital Caviar 60GB disk that I put into an external enclosure (an AcomData 509), but so far I've had no luck getting Disk Utility to reformat it. Disk Utility sees the hardware and reports it as "0,00 Bytes DMI" and gives the correct model number for the disk, however DU simply won't reformat.
When I tried to put an Apple Extended partition on there, it popped up a progress window saying "Setting up partition map" with a blue candy cane progress bar and then just sits there doing nothing. CPU usage doesn't go up, the drive light never flickers, and right clicking DU in the Dock never reports that the app isn't responding. If I try to quit, it just beeps and won't quit. The console has the following lines:
May 19 13:00:18 c<edited IP address out> kextd[507]: a link/load error occured for kernel extension (null)
/System/Library/Filesystems/msdos.fs/msdos.util: device safe_read error @ 0, Device not configured
The same thing happens even if the option to zero the disk is selected. In either case, DU must be force quit.
So, with no success there, I decided to try to format it as an MS-DOS File System. Clicking Erase makes a progress window with the candy cane bar very quickly pop up and then disappear with no indication that anything happened at all. The console had the following lines after that:
/System/Library/Filesystems/msdos.fs/msdos.util: device safe_read error @ 0, Device not configured
/sbin/newfs_msdos: warning: /dev/disk2 is not a character device
/sbin/newfs_msdos: meta data exceeds file system size
If I select the zero disk option, the progress window pops up flashing "Remounting Volume" then "Writing zeros" and then DU abruptly crashes. If anyone needs the crashdump log, I'll be happy to post it, but it is very long.
Typing "diskutil list" in the terminal shows:
/dev/disk2
#: type name size identifier
0: *0.0 B disk2
1: 0.0 B disk2
Typing "diskutil info /dev/disk2" reports
Device Node: /dev/disk2
Device Identifier: disk2
Mount Point:
Volume Name:
can't open: /dev/disk2 (Permission denied)
File System:
Partition Type:
Media Type: Generic
Protocol: USB
Total Size: 0.0 B
Free Space: 0.0 B
Read Only: No
Ejectable: No
I thought it might be interesting to try the eraseDisk for diskutil, but here's what happened:
sudo diskutil eraseDisk HFS+ BackupDisk /dev/disk2
Password:
error -5344 making new partition
Unmount old disk
Erasing disk2
/sbin/newfs_hfs: write (sector 0, 45568 bytes): Device not configured
Remounting volume
Could not mount disk
I'm not very familiar with using fdisk, but when I tried to run it with "sudo fdisk" it told me it must be run as root...ok?
This drive originally had Redhat Linux 7 with one large ext2 partition if I remember right. Clearly something happened to it, but I don't know what.
Since I really need this data backed up, I tried using my 3rd gen 20GB iPod, but unfortunately, when I try to copy over my home directory I routinely get an error -50. This happens on specific files, but even when I try to copy one at a time, I still get a message that certain files or folders couldn't be copied. The iPod is formatted FAT32, if that makes any difference.
So, I need some advice. Should I go buy a new had drive to put in the enclosure and hope this one works? Would it be better to find a NAS, and if so, what's a good model? Should I get a 2.5" external enclosure and put the old iBook hard drive in there and try to mount that once I've installed Tiger on the new Seagate? (I know there are bound to be permission issues with getting into my home directory like that...)
Any suggestions would be very much appreciated. Thank you in advance.
iBook dual USB, 600MHz G3, 30GB HD Mac OS X (10.2.x)

Thank you for the suggestions.
I tried the repartitioning, but DU stalled out with the message "Preparing drives ... unmounting old volumes." It still didn't report any higher cpu usage, the drive light never flashed, and DU wouldn't quit normally. I tried using diskutil partitionDisk at the command line, and that returned an "error -5344 making new partition" and "You have specified partition sizes which will not fit on the device." I tried 60G as the size, and when that didn't work, I tried all the way down to 30G, still with the same result. (Interestingly, DU no longer says the disk is a WD600 as before - it just says "DMI" under the description.) What could I be doing wrong?
Oh, with the iPod I was trying to copy only a few folders, like a "School" folder, from my home directory, not the whole thing at once. It copied fine for a while, then it returned the error -50 and stopped. The message dialog with the error -50 stayed up there and would never go away, and if I tried to log out or restart, I'd be told the Finder couldn't quit because some operation was still in progress.
If I tried to copy a different folder, or copy smaller batches of files, I'd either still get that error, or the Finder would say that it couldn't copy a file, and ask if I wanted to stop or continue. Whichever choice I made, the message dialog wouldn't go away, even if the rest of the copy completed successfully. Trying to log out or restart would again tell me the Finder couldn't quit as before.
I should mention that the exact same thing happens when I try to copy some things out to my USB drive (a SanDisk Cruzer Micro). A few years ago, when I tried to copy some school files from the iBook onto a Windows 2000 (NTFS) machine over a network, I had a similar problem with the error -50. I got around that by going to the Win machine and using it to do the copy. Copying onto the iBook from either machine worked just fine, though.
Anywho, those other drive enclosures are very nice, but they're so expensive, and if I had to get a new drive, too, I might have to not eat for the rest of the month, lol. And I doubt I could get one shipped and get this little machine all fixed up before school starts next week (and I'll definitely be needing it for school, unfortunately).
So barring a good enclosure, do you think I'd have better luck with a MyBook external or something similar? Or a NAS? What worries me is that if I'm already having trouble copying onto the iPod and the USB drive, what are the chances it'll be any better with one of those? Could it just be some issue with FAT32?
Would it be possible for me to get a 2.5" enclosure and put the iBook's current disk in there, do my repairs, install Tiger on the new Seagate, and then mount the old disk over Firewire and move my files to the new disk that way? How would I make my files public so the new install will let me read them? In Windows, making the folder shared was enough...any suggestions for something equivalent in OS X (Jaguar)?
Again, thanks for your help, very much appreciated. ~:o)
iBook dual USB, 600MHz G3, 30GB HD Mac OS X (10.2.x)
iBook dual USB, 600MHz G3, 30GB HD Mac OS X (10.2.x)

Managing a large library across multiple external HDDs (advice needed)

Here's the rundown. I have an extensive media library, and I've found that satisfying my storage, editing, and convenience needs at the same time is difficult.
Setup:
Mac Mini - 120GB
Mini Stack - Partitioned 500GB (120 backing up main drive, 380 for iTunes Music and misc.)
FreeAgent - 320GB (backup for Music)
2x MyBook 1.5TB - iTunes Movies (1 backs up to the other)
2x MyBook 750 - iTunes TV Shows (1 backs up to the other)
I'm operating right now with about 160GBs of music, music videos, and podcasts, about 950GBs of Movies, and about 500GBs of TV Shows and other misc Video that I organize in the "TV Shows" section of iTunes.
I have all of my content nested within iTunes folders on each drive, and when adding or editing content I change the preferences to point to the appropriate folder.
The problems I'm running into are that iTunes keeps wanting to update my library each time, and if a edit a file that is not in the currently selected iTunes folder the edits are only reflected in iTunes (not to the file itself).
This comes up most frequently when I'm adding ripped TV Shows, as iTunes always adds them first as Movies, which I then change. I also rename the files and add artwork. If I'm pointing to the correct folder the files will move from a Movies folder to a TV Shows folder, reflect new names, and retain episode and other info. If not they don't update.
So I want to know if there is a way to set my itunes folder permanently to the music location, add movies and tv shows from locations without copying to main folder AND retain the same editing abilities that you have by selecting "keep iTunes folder organized."
Thanks for any suggestions.
-Ryan

iTunes hasn't really caught up with Apple's seeming trend towards devices that are smaller and smaller and the glut of media that requires large storage. I guess in the end it might be expected one goes to cloud storage of some sort.
I have never bought anything from iTunes Store but I guess it will still download to someplace indicated in preferences for your media folder location even if you have turned off copy to for other methods of adding media. Two options then. Either make that place your internal drive and move files to the external as you download them, or make it the external drive and work with special handling of music files on the internal. You can override iTunes copying items if you hold down the option key while dragging the item to itunes.

External RAID 1 (mirrored) advice

Sorry if this question is in the wrong place.
I need an external RAID 1 (mirrored) for work.
We need more shared storage space on our G4 Mac server. I'm a graphic designer not an IT person but the job has fallen to me. Needs to be external RAID drive (with firewire 400, 800 or USB 2) as our internal hard drives that are also mirrored are in use and maxed out. Here are some products I was looking at and each has pros and cons. Need something that is more reliable than fast as well as easy to use. What do you think? Thanks for your insight. Chris
http://www.lacie.com/us/products/product.htm?pid=10969
http://www.drobo.com/Products/drobo.html
http://www.g-technology.com/Products/G-SAFE.cfm
http://www.newertech.com/products/gmax.php
http://www.istarusa.com/storage/mini_trayless/v7age220uf.aspx

More info
We have 8 macs on ethernet and one g4 server. Looking for something in the 1TB plus range. Easy enough for the non IT person to manage.

Huge Issues opening projects from eSATA External RAID-Please Help!

Hi peeps. I'm hoping you guys have some insight into my issue here. I thought I get further talking with you rather than trying Dell again. Here's my system specs in brief....
Dell Studio XPS 9100
Intel i7-960 3.2Ghz
18Gb DDR3 SDRAM 1333Mhz
Radeon HD 5870 1GB (until I can afford Quadro, but has no bearing on issue)
Windows 7 Pro 64bit - all updated
Venus DS3R Pro External RAID enclosure w/ 2x500Gb WD 7200rpm Drives in RAID 0 Config (forget exact models and am writing this not from edit system but from my internet-connected system)
Running CS5 Master Collection - all updates installed as of writing.
Ok, so here's my issue. Shortly after getting new system (above) and installing newly-purchased CS5 I had to work on one new project and make client-requested changes to an old project. Issue has been the same for both. When my external RAID was connected via eSATA, Premiere would take forever (and I mean forever) to load assets, would often (6 times out of 10) crash or hang-up system so badly as to require hard reset. Those times when I finally got the timeline up, playback was horribly choppy on both HD 720p (new project) and SD (old project). If any files needed conforming, Premiere would take (literally) hours and hours to perform task, and trying to export anything to DVD, blu-ray or encodes to files I would get multiple render issues or complete failures.
I was tearing my hair out until I finally remembered that Venus enclosure also has USB (2.0) out. Hooked this up and all problems went away. Projects loading correctly and quickly and playback is what I would expect from USB and software-only playback (as I mentioned above, am running Radeon card that came with system until I can afford NVidia option)
One strange thing is that After Effects was performing fine when drive was connected via eSATA (although the projects were very simple - I will test on complex project from archive).
My question is - do you guys agree with me that it's some kind of SATA driver issue? Or is there something going on in Premiere of which I'm unaware? I called Dell support and they helpfully informed me that "all my BIOS and chipware drivers are up to date but that I should rest assured that my complete satisfaction is their primary concern". Thanks Dell...you want to come finish my edit for me then?
Anyway...what do we think? Thinking of installing an eSATA card into a free slot - good idea?
Any help would be much appreciated - would like to get back onto eSATA thruput ASAP, esp. after I get Quadro card - prob next month.
Thanks in advance for your time!

Did this external enclosure ever work well with its eSATA connection? I doubt highly that this is a Premiere issue--as far as the program is concerned, it's blind to the nature of the storage medium you're using. Rather, I'd suspect a faulty or low-quality RAID or SATA controller in the enclosure. I've had issues before with "bargain" enclosures that either wouldn't connect over a certain interface, or were so sporadic and slipshod that I just pulled the drive out of the enclosure and used it bare.
If the enclosure worked well before, I would look at the eSATA connection on your computer as the issue. You might circumvent the Dell drivers site/advice and go hunting for your own from the OEMs.

External raid, Formatted for VISTA and OSX?

I need an external raid for both platforms. Nothing fancy, do not need to boot from it, just a work horse.
So, #1 I need help buying a raid or advice on increasing through put.
2)I have decided it would be best for an external raid so I can share it with other artist for diff projects.
3)I have a macpro dual quad 2.8. 6gig sdram 2008 10.5.6…Bootcamp, Vista 64
4)I need faster through put for working with large file sizes,dpx, exr file sequences, playing back 1080p quicktimes in FCP. Compositing in after effects, nuke, some photoshop with 4k image sequences. As of now pulling this media off a local drive can be slow. I do not have specific data through put specs?
5)I do not need any back up. All this local media has already been backed up on a triple redundancy server over a network. I want speed not back up. I want to work local on a fast external raid, than wipe it clean.
6)I need a fast raid that I can format and work a job using Vista working in the PC world for a project. Than after that project I will format it to do a job on the mac. I need a raid that will allow me to use it for either platform. Very important to be able to use both platform.
What hardware do you recommend for my simple needs. I am overwhelmed with options. scsi, esata, JOBD, fiber optic, Raid 0, 5, 10. ahh
My projects have not exceeded 1 terabyte. That’s seems a sufficient size.
OK, I hope that covers the basics and my reasons are reasonable. I am saavy enough to build it myself to save cost. Something simple, efficient, cost effective and smart for my needs. My hang up is will it work with the PC than with the mac
Thanks so much. Advice is appreciated. You guys are the best!
Message was edited by: dupsta

Hi,
I would suggest the FirmTek SeriTek/5PM and the HighPoint RR 2314. This will allow you to install the PC driver on the PC and the Mac driver in OS X.
You could use different disks for PC or Mac and swap the disks in and out as needed. Or you could reformat as you suggested in your post. You could also erase the hard disks using the DOS format in Mac OS X Disk Utility and share the volume between the two OS types. The options are virtually unlimited with this external configuration.
http://www.amug.org/amug-web/html/amug/reviews/articles/firmtek/5pm/
http://firmtek.stores.yahoo.net/sata5pm.html
http://www.amug.org/amug-web/html/amug/reviews/articles/highpoint/2314/
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000NAXGIU
If 130MB/sec. performance is fast enough and you do not need RAID 5 you may want to consider the less expensive SeriTek/2SE2-E controller. This can be setup on the Macintosh or the PC and the card is less expensive.
http://www.amug.org/amug-web/html/amug/reviews/articles/firmtek/5pm/
http://firmtek.stores.yahoo.net/sata5pm2se2.html
Have fun!

External RAID not recognized

I put together a 2x200 gb external RAID drive several months ago that has been working like a charm over FireWire to my Mac Mini. Galaxy Metal Gear enclosure with a pair of identical Western Digital 200gb drives, all of it brand new from newegg less than a year ago. I store my iTunes library and all my photos, plus documents and stuff like that -- basically the only thing I keep on the Mini's internal HD are applications and the system software (it's the boot disk, not the external).
I recently got a MacBook and wanted to put my iTunes library onto it so I could have some music on the road. The external drive was mounted on my Mini, so I tried to eject it but it wouldn't eject after several minutes. I had quit out of iTunes and anything else I could think of, but it still wouldn't eject. So (and here's where I'm an idiot) I just pulled the FireWire cable out of the back of the Mini.
Now all the drive does is spin and make random sounds, won't mount, won't get recognized in Disk Repair, won't get recognized by System Profiler, nada. I even downloaded Data Rescue II and ran it in the demo version just to see if it would work, but that won't recognize the drive either.
Any solutions? Is the drive dead? Can I disconnect one of the RAID drives and see if that will mount or would that hopelessly mess up my data?
any advice would be most welcome, thanks!

Hi Mark Ankcorn-
It sounds like one of the drives in the RAID is bad. Don't overlook the obvious and be sure to try a new USB or firewire cable.
The problem with a 2 drive RAID is when one drive goes bad there goes the RAID. Your data is already hopelessly messed up.
Luck-
-DP

Portable external raid - should I get 5400 or 7200 rpm?

Hi,
I'm in need of a portable external raid 1 for live data protection. I do illustration work in photoshop and I use bridge to access and view files and reference. I would like to write all my files and read all my files from an external raid 1 and I am wondering if I should get a 5400 or 7200 rpm setup.
My concern is read and write speeds.
My portable setup is a mbp 2.16 intel core duo. I'm thinking of getting the g raid mini 2.
Thanks in advance

Thanks for the response.
To clarify my question though -
1. I'm wondering if either will be fast enough to work off of - I'm planning on keeping the internal drive clean and all data would reside on the raid(so no incremental backups will be needed).
2. will the difference between 5400 and 7200 be worth the difference in price - ie. lag time or a noticeable speed difference.
Thanks

Advice Needed... which is better?

Hello... I am not a computer 'genius", but not a complete "computer idiot' either. I have a question, and then I will give my reasoning, because maybe it matters in the decision.
Which is better, a PC (Gateway) with 6GB Ram, i5 processor, 1.5TB HD or an Imac 4GB Ram, i3 processor, 1TB HD??
Basically, I have had a Dell 2GB Ram desktop for 7 years, which suited me fine. I ran CS3 on it with no problems. I recently had a virus, and had to swipe my computer, and when I re-installed Adobe, my Premiere Pro will no longer allow me to edit properly (audio plays fine, while video lags and skips around during viewing). I know it is time to get a new computer either way, and a few friends have told me that I really shouldnt be running Premiere Pro on 2GB of ram, and suggested at least 6GB.
I found a Gateway for $650 on bestbuy site with the above specs... but then someone I know, told me I would be better with an Imac with the specs above. Is that possible that a 4GB mac would run better than the 6GB PC?
also.. will CS3 work on the Windows 7 PC, but if I get Mac system I will be using CS5.
I use Photoshop, and Premier Pro for simple music video editing (5-6min videos). I do not do anything major..but want to at least be able to view what I am doing.
thanks

While I don't agree that Macs are as inferior as some here claim, for your purposes an i5 iMac is certainly inadequate. The i7 quad core iMac is something else again; it can take up to 16GB of RAM, which is plenty for most applications. The particular i7 CPU in the iMac is also quite capable with a number of performance enhancing technologies on board. The big problem with the iMac, though, is that it comes with only one internal HDD; there is an added SSD option, but in my opinion it's still too expensive. For video you should have at least two internal drives and preferable three or four, as others here have said. External drives are generally slower, even if you use a FireWire 800 port. Sometime this year Apple may add a Thunderbolt port to the iMac, as they have to the MacBook Pro. This will be a game changer for external media, with unheard of flexibility in connectivity and the performance of Fiber Chanel at an affordable price. There are already external RAIDs coming to market with Thunderbolt connections. However, there is no date certain for such an iMac refresh.
For even semi-serious video you need some heavy iron, whether Mac or PC. There are some great Mac Pros available now with up to 12 cores on two 6 core Intel Westmere processors; however, even though I am a Mac fan, I'm sure you can build or get a BTO Windows PC with comparable specs for less. I suggest a minimum of four modern CPU cores to handle multi-threading and multi-tasking chores. At least two fast internal hard drives, four is preferable. And, of course, the more RAM the better, though this too will raise the price. You may not get the maximum RAM right away; the important thing is that the motherboard be able to support substantial RAM upgrades so that you can grow into it.
The challenge, even with PCs, is that a number of core technologies are changing right now. SixGb/s hard drives are becoming available but it would take a high-end and relatively new motherboard to support them properly. So, besides the question of which computer to get, you have to consider when to get it. If you need it right now, that narrows your choices somewhat because you cannot wait for these new technologies to come on line.
The most important thing to consider, though, is not to cheap out. Presumably you will be doing some real work on it, so think of this computer as an investment in your own future. Buy the most computer you can afford and a little bit more. Oh, and there is a new Version of Final Cut Pro coming out soon that will be Intel only and 64 bit capable, so Apple is moving ahead on this front, too. Remember, not all of Adobe's CS apps are 64 bit yet either. It's just one more technology in transition.
One point I will concede, however, is that Windows has better video drivers than OS X. Even on a Mac, running Windows in Boot Camp delivers better video frame rates than the Mac versions of the same apps running in OS X. So, for reasons of cost and better video support, a Windows PC is probably the way to go. PCs also have it over Macs in the number of options available. If you are not a techie yourself, I agree as well that it is probably a good idea to have someone who is built it custom for you. Of course, with a custom PC you won't get the kind of warrantee that comes from Dell or Apple, but the person who builds it for you will probably be able to service it as well.
Ultimately, of course, your budget is likely to govern the kind of PC you get more than your preferred specs. But even with Windows PCs you get what you pay for. A cheap PC is just that, a cheap PC. Inexpensive PCs are affordable because they use inferior components. Keep that in mind.

External RAID-1 storage providers?

I'm looking for suggestions and providers of RAID-1 (mirroring) storage solutions. I work in-house for a corporate video company and we think that an external RAID-1 storage would be best. I'm also very open to hear what other people think would work for us as i'd rate my technical knowledge at intermediate.
All our work is currently DV25. We may switch to HDV in 2 years or so. Currently we're working off various single drive Firewire or USB 2.0-based hard drives. Thus, I don't believe read speed is a concern for our needs. Also, I read alot about the drive speeds of technology like SATA III, so maybe read speed is a null issue?
We like RAID-1 for it's simplicity, it's very easy to understand how it works . It also feels like the right 'place' we'd like to be on the backup spectrum. We could be more intense with the backups (e.g. multiple backup drives at off-shore locations) or less intense (simply burn project files to DVD), so RAID-1 feels like a nice balance.
Cost is almost a null issue. But we're looking for a solution that provides for some portability. So we're not looking for some intense multi-server rack solution, but more something like a typical LaCie drive that we can put into our backpack and move to a different location. We definietly don't mind paying extra for the 'backup' drive as it pays off for us in piece of mind and ease of use.
How we're basically looking to do this is that when we're done a project and the RAID-1 is near full, we would simply catalogue it (whole different discussion lol), then place it on a nice looking shelf for clients to gawk at. We don't generate a ton of data. With the availability of 1+ TB hard drives, we would probably only be putting one or two RAID-1 drives into our storage space per year.
In terms of a RAID-1 drive/provider, we'd prefer to deal with a company that would still be around and relevant ~10 years down the road. Great customer service is also key. Internal build quality is important, and i'd be very happy to have an ugly ugly chassis if the internal parts were top notch. We also live in Canada incase that's an issue. We bought a G-Tech drive a while back and had to pay an extra 20% on it due to import duties .

Thanks Shane for the reply! My last experience with 'hot swap' was ~5 years ago with a server. It required a bunch of special trays, and I had extra hard drives pre mounted into these trays for hot swap daily backups. What is hot swapping a drive like now a days? Is it simply plug and play?
How durable is the CalDigit FirewireVR? The front grill looks delicate :S. As I may bring the drive to different locations (though it would be reasonably cushioned), durability is important to me.
Would you recommend that I buy spare hard drives directly from the enclosure manufacturer (e.g. CalDigit)? Do you know why they are so expensive (250 GB drive from CalDigit ~$120), higher quality? Since i'm doing RAID-1, would it be ok for me to buy drives from Best Buy (could get 500 GB for ~$100).
Also to clarify my previous post, our intention would be to use multiple enclosures. So once the RAID-1 is filled, we would NOT take out both hard drives and put them on the shelf. Rather we'd prefer to simply put the enclosure, WITH the hard drives inside, onto the shelf.
But if hot swapping IS simply 'plop in the naked hard drive and you're good to go', then maybe I'd be open to simply storing the RAID-1 hard drive pair on the shelf...
Message was edited by: Phillip Roh

Stability of Internal/External RAID

Hello, I was curious to know if you were going to set up a RAID, is there a choice between going with internal drives or external? I've been looking at some external RAID set-ups (G-Technology, Lacie) and they look pretty good. But would a internal drive be better or is it more suceptible to failure?
Also, if I did go internal, is setting up the RAID done in the OS or would I have to buy some software to do it?
thx

I meant, are you interested in RAID because you are seeking automatic backup, greater throughput or some other benefit?
If automatic backup, you will be better off with offline backup rather than RAID. Mirrored RAID only provides a degree of protection against one of the two drives in the array failing ... but most failures (i.e. loss of critical files) occur because of user error or a software glitch, and mirrored RAID is not going to protect you from that. Hence my emphasis on offline backup rather than RAID.
If greater throughput, you would need an external enclosure with an eSATA interface and SATA-II drives to have any chance of achieving greater throughput than you could achieve with a single SATA-II drive. If the external interface is FW400 or FW800 or if the external enclosure uses IDE drives instead of SATA-II drives, you won't get any greater throughput with RAID than if you had a single external hard drive. (The FW400/FW800/IDE interfaces are the limiting factors.) And if you're shooting DV, HDV or AVCHD, RAID isn't going to make any difference anyway because their data rates are well within the throughput capabilities of FW400 and FW800. The only way RAID would benefit is if you are comparing a pair of striped 5400 rpm drives against a single 7200 rpm drive ... and the single 7200 rpm drive would probably still win the throughput contest.
As for recommendations on drives themselves, I'd suggest either WD Caviar SE16 drives or Seagate 7200.11 drives. Both are excellent. Hitachi drives perform great but they run hot, and heat is the primary enemy of hard drive life; the drives that have failed me without warning have all been Hitachi drives. And i've never been a fan of Maxtor drives. One man's opinion (and experience).

AP3 collaboration, referenced files on external RAID

We are a small photo-studio with three photographers working together.
Here's how we work now:
- we import into AP3, unreferenced.
- when we finish the project we export as new Library and save it to an external RAID-solution (Synology) for all to have access to the project(s)
problems with this:
The weight of the exported projects, hence the time to copy and import
what we would like to do:
- use referenced for the RAW images
- keep these on a shared drive
- pass around projects which weigh less and speed up the process
Will the Libraries pick up the correct referenced files after importing them into each users Library or after opening them as a stand-alone Libary?
Any problems we can expect?
Any good references or help on the subject is welcome and appreciated.
many thanks
Henk

Yes it may work but also yes you can expect problems. Aperture is a single-user application not designed for the collaborative workflow you describe.
Apple badly needs a pro single-user laptop/desktop Apple-supported synch workflow. Badly needed and requested since v1. Here we are years later still dealing with workarounds, some flaky. Filemaker, Apple's other database app, has had this capability for decades.
Hopefully other folks will post solutions that may work, but remember that multi-user workarounds of this single-user app are prone to being flaky. Plan accordingly, including most importantly to back up original image files on and off site prior to import into Aperture or any other images management app.
Good luck!
-Allen Wicks

Video intensive work on Mac Pro? Advice Needed

Hi everyone,
I've been originally saving up for a while now for an iMac 24" as it offers the best specification price wise. But now I leaning on the Mac Pro and therefore need some advice.
I know that there are alot of posts on advice - need to buy mac etc. so therfore I would really appreciate if I am afforded some help.
I am mostly going to do ALOT of video encoding (via handbrake) and I am looking for the best configuration available to achieve lowest waiting time.

I think you should go back and look at the other threads with advice, your budget. There is "ideal" and "affordable."
Will it pay for itself in 24 months so you can afford the next revision at that time?
Start with an 8-Core 3GHz.
Add a Port Multiplier controller and two drive cases, 5 drives each, nearly 400MB/sec RAID.
Throw in 8GB RAM.
Add in costs for software upgrades, two sets of backups, four internal 500GB drives.
Seagate has 750GB, as does WD. Hitachi has their $450 1000GB monster.
Give yourself time to build, test, and optimize your setup, and expect to change it over time as you learn more.
Can't afford that? then trim the 8-core. But Apple has shown how efficient next generation applications already are for video when it comes to 3GHz 8-core Mac Pro.

Faster memory, external RAIDS, and the WD Raptor 150

Hello,
I've just got a g5 quad and need to fit it out for photoshop.
Does anybody know if there is any point in fitting memory faster than the 533mhz it comes with; what options there are for an external RAID (possibly 4 sata II drives?); and whether anyone has got a WD Raptor 150 to work in the internal bays.
I know that's three questions, but they are only little.
g5 Mac OS X (10.4.4) I thought mac's were supposed to 'just work'
g5 Mac OS X (10.4.5) I thought mac's were supposed to 'just work'

It seems that Crucial lists 667 RAM as compatible. But, I am not sure I would mix chips with different speeds. And I really don’t think you would see a real world benefit going from 533 to 667.
For external raids I prefer Granite Digital but there are others: miniG, WiebeTech, MacGurus… just to name a few (all US vendors though).
I have the WD 150 Raptor, however there is a known issue with this and other WD drives. Presently, I have kept mine installed as I am only using it as a boot/program drive and the issues in my case only come up when trying to copy very large files to the Raptor (which I don’t do because I don’t use it for storage). But I have a cloned back up ready at all times.
Mike

External Raid Advice Needed

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