External RAID

I'm going to be buying the new Mac Pro and I'll need some Thunderbolt 2 External storage. My question centers around having an enclosure that is for everyday use and an enclosure for just backup. Is it better to have 2 separate enclosures for my purposes or 1 large enclosure?

The power supplies they put in high end RAID enclosures is pretty reliable. But Grant is absolutely correct, if it comes to uptime then a separate backup is the only way to go. there are some really nice RAID units out there. You just need to define how many TB of storage and the selections will fall into place.
Early on I figured that moving to the Thunderbolt 2 specification would have little actual performance difference for most RAID units. But testing is showing 20% increase on some 8 drive units. The more drives in a RAID, the more the increase over their earlier Tbolt Rev 1 siblings. Most 4 and 5 drive Tbolt RAIDs are not going to show any benefits when updated to Rev 2.
Rick

Similar Messages

Unable to capture to external RAID drive FCP 7

Here are my specs:
Model Identifier: MacPro1,1
Processor Name: Dual-Core Intel Xeon
Processor Speed: 2.66 GHz
Number Of Processors: 2
Total Number Of Cores: 4
L2 Cache (per processor): 4 MB
Memory: 4 GB
Bus Speed: 1.33 GHz
Boot ROM Version: MP11.005C.B08
Running:
OS X 10.5.8
Final Cut Studio 3 (recently upgraded from Studio 1)
At the end of last year I had a problem with capturing and upon research it seemed to be that the most recent update of QuickTime was not compatible with Final Cut Pro 5, which was causing my machine to not be able to capture at all. So we upgraded to Final Cut Studio 3 (FCP7) and part of the problem was solved but an issue still remains.
For over 3 years we have been using an external Raid drive as a capture scratch and we still have over 5 TBs free. The Raid is connected by SCSI. Earlier last year I was able to capture to the Raid drive without any problems but now the capture will freeze whenever that is set as the capture scratch. If I set the internal drive as the capture scratch it captures without any issues.
The problem is that using the internal as the capture scratch can only be a short term solution. The drive is only so large and I have a problem with finder if I try to move files from the internal drive to the external. Finder freezes up and I can't even force quit properly. So being able to once again use the external as the main capture scratch is the only real solution. The external is fully functionally and communicating with the Mac.
Any help with resolving this would be appreciated!

Off the top of my head, because I haven't worked with SCSI in years--
"The problem is that using the internal as the capture scratch can only be a short term solution. The drive is only so large and I have a problem with finder if I try to move files from the internal drive to the external. Finder freezes up and I can't even force quit properly. So being able to once again use the external as the main capture scratch is the only real solution. The external is fully functionally and communicating with the Mac."
Are you trying to move files while you have FCP open? The fact that simply moving files is giving you finder issues and freezing you up, says that all is not well with the scsi raid. You should not see that at all.
You might try powering down the mac and the raid, unplugging and letting the machine sit for a while to discharge the capacitors. Then try reseating the scsi card. (pull it out carefully and plug it back in.)
On another note, when you upgraded fcp, did you do a clean install?

Lost External RAID 5 after upgrading to Windows 8.1

I have a Proavio EB4FR External RAID 5 connected through the eSATA port. It worked with my Windows 7 Pro and Windows 8 Pro no problem, tonight I've upgraded to Windows 8.1. I can no longer see the RAID 5 drive.
It is detected as an "Other" device with question mark. Cannot see it in Disk Management at all.
Proavio is very bad in returning back to customers so I'm not expecting any response back from them, I was hoping that somebody here can suggest some good ideas that I can chase...
Thanks in advance,
Akin

Hi Kate,
Copying below from setupapi.dev.log;
>>> [Device Uninstall (Device Manager) - SCSI\DISK&VEN_&PROD_EXTERNALRAID\4&2F621F8A&0&050000]
>>> Section start 2014/02/02 12:54:07.432
cmd: "C:\Windows\system32\mmc.exe" C:\Windows\system32\devmgmt.msc
dvi: {DIF_REMOVE} 12:54:07.447
dvi: No class installer for 'ExternalRAID'
dvi: No CoInstallers found
dvi: Default installer: Enter 12:54:07.447
dvi: {Remove DEVICE}
dvi: InstanceID = 'SCSI\DISK&VEN_&PROD_EXTERNALRAID\4&2F621F8A&0&050000'
dvi: Query-and-Remove succeeded
dvi: {Remove DEVICE exit (0x00000000)}
dvi: Default installer: Exit
dvi: {DIF_REMOVE - exit(0x00000000)} 12:54:07.463
<<< Section end 2014/02/02 12:54:07.463
<<< [Exit status: SUCCESS]
External drive still working when I boot from my Windows 7 drive.
Thanks a lot for looking into this...

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

Is the latest iMac compatible with external raid 1 drive setups?

I'm considering different new Mac options to replace my first gen Mac Pro. The new and most outfitted iMac seems like a good solution for my mostly Photoshop work. But, is the new iMac compaticle with Thunderbolt external RAID multi drive enclosures?

Sure, why not contact OWC (www.macsales.com) where they sell RAID solutions for Macs. Because they specialize in Macs they test every product they sell.

HDD setup - Internal RAID, External RAID or single discs

I know variations on this question have been done to death on this forum, but I'm still struggling to understand how to apply it to my specific requirements and hardware.
I am looking to optimise the performance/speed of my Hackintosh for video editing on Premiere and grading on Resolve Lite, Colorista and AE.
I work mainly with Pro-Res files, sometimes with AVCHD, and occasionally with raw.
My Hackintosh specs are as follows:
Part
Component
Processor
4th Generation Haswell Core i7-4770 - Quad Core 3.4GHz (3.9GHz Turbo Boost)
Motherboard
GIGABYTE 8 Series GA-Z87N-WIFI
Memory
16GB Crucial Ballistix Tactical 1600MHz
Primary Graphics
Zotac Nvidia GTX 770 - 2GB Video Memory, 1059MHz Core Clock, 7010MHz Memory Clock
Secondary Graphics
Intel HD 4600 Graphics
Maximum Video Resolution
2560x1600
Hard Drive
240GB CRUCIAL SSD 32MB Cache (OS and Programs)
Hard Drive
1TB TOSHIBA SATA III 7200RPM 32MB Cache
Network Card
Integrated 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet LAN
Wifi
Atheros AR9287 802.11BGN 300Mbps
Sound
High Definition 7.1 Channel Audio
Power Supply
Corsair CX600M 600w Modular PSU, 80 PLUS Bronze
Chassis
Bitfenix Prodidgy
External Ports
1 x PS/2 Keyboard/Mouse Port
3 x HDMI Ports
3 x DVI Ports
1 x Display Port
2 x Antenna Connectors
6 x USB 3.0/2.0 Ports
2 x USB 2.0/1.1 Ports
2 x Ethernet Ports
1 x Optical S/PDIF Out Connector
5 x Audio Jacks
Operating System
OS X Mavericks
I have also purchased a USB3 Lacie 4Big Quadra 8TB external RAID.
I currently run the OS and programs from the SSD, and have partitioned the 1TB SATA III HDD, using one partition for scratch and the other for projects, media and exports.
My question is, what would be my best solution for optimising performance?
1. Buying a couple more HDDs, installing them internally and striping along with the existing disc as a 3-disc RAID 0, using the Lacie as backup/storage only?
2. Buying a couple more HDDs, installing them internally as single discs (SSD for OS & Apps; HDD1 for Scratch; HDD2 for Media and Projects; HDD3 for Exports), again using the Lacie for backup/storage only.
3. Using the Lacie as an external 4-disc RAID 0, and the existing internal HDD as storage. Buying further HDD(s) for backup.
Also, if RAID is the answer, what is the best configuration in terms of which disc(s) to point Premiere to? i.e does Premiere treat the RAID as a single disc for i/o purposes, creating a bottleneck with high bandwidths, or does it act as it would if different file types were pointed at separate individual discs?
Many thanks in advance for helping the IT dunce!

Start here: Tweakers Page and continue reading all the articles there.

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

External RAID not mounting

Hi,
I am using an external RAID drive (with eSATA connections) and have found that it won't mount on my desktop. There isn't a deathly clicking associated with it failing, so I'm wondering why it won't mount.
In DISK UTILITY, it finally shows up in the list of drives, but I can't do anything with it.
Any suggestions to help get this back online. It's my archive back up drive, so very important.
Thanks
Using a MAC PRO with 10.6.4

I have run the Disk Warrior repair disk and the RAID drive returned to the desktop. I repaired the Permissions of my main HD, and corrected a number of errors. There seemed to be problems with the structure of the RAID drive but Disk Warrior managed to fix them.
Now I find I have a kernel panic. It ONLY happens when I click on this RAID drive. The screen darkens and an official dialog box scrolls down. Somewhat like this (link below)
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1392?viewlocale=en_US
Any suggestions now, since I cannot click on the drive without a Kernel panic occuring.
Update to 10.6.5??
M

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

Library Corrupt on External RAID

I have a Drobo external RAID that I store my iTunes Library on so I have data redundancy. The library is VERY large with 393 movies and 687 albums. I notice the about once a week the library file becomes corrupt and iTunes rebuilds it from the XML file. This is annoying as it misclassifies Music Videos and Movies and loses some artwork.
I've noticed that the problem occurs after iTunes is not running and the RAID is in sleep mode. Is this a known issue when the iTunes library is on an external disk that goes to sleep mode?
I disabled Sleep in Energy Savings settings, but I'd rather save the energy to be honest!

In a way you're pulling the plug on the external when the library file is still open which is a good way to corrupt any file, especially if iTunes is actually writing to it at the time (which it does constantly when it is open). Maybe there's some fancy UNIX programming way of doing it but I can't help you with that at all. You basically have to make sure the drives do not go to sleep when iTunes is running.

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

What external raid devices can I use on my Non-Thunderbolt Macbook pro (Mid 2009)?

I'm looking for the best external Raid drive options for my non-thunderbolt port 2009 Macbook Pro. I only require 2Tb total storage (prefer RAID 1 so it'll be 2x2tb drives, removeable). Can I still use a thunderbolt drive or would I be wasting my $$ if I can't take advantage of the speed?
I have a 17" Macbook pro 5,2 (mid 2009) running 10.6.8 OS X (Snow Leopard), Intel core, without a Thunderbolt port.
Thanks!

Hi, cubingcouple.
Thank you for visiting Apple Support Communities.
I understand that your MacBook is not working with your external display. display shows a blank screen. Here is the best troubleshooting resource to go through when experiencing these symptoms.
Apple computers: Troubleshooting issues with video on internal or external displays
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT201177
Cheers,
Jason H.

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 Enclosure

Hi guys, my external raid enclosure Mapower TB32 broke down saying I/O to the disk is failing. So I am seeking to replace it with an external enclosure which can give me at least Raid 5 with 1.5 tb disk. I use an internal areca 1110 in Raid 0.
Which one would you recommend for a budget of GBP£400. I was looking at the Areca 5020. Is there anything else I should consider here.
Thank you.

OK! I managed to get a Q5 as my external raid HDD. Now I have got 2 1.5TBs WD15EADS Western Digital HDDs hooked on my Areca 1110 in RAID 0. Apparently these drives are really slow for some reason, I don't know why. They are beaten by a single Seagate Hybrid in terms of benchmark. On the other hand I was planning to use theSE WD in RAID 5 alongside the 2 Seagate 1.5TBs. In addition I ordered another Seagate 1.5TB and when delivered it indicated that its a 5400rpm rather than the 7200, I currently have. So this means that I may have to RMA this HDD. Unfortunately one of my 1.5tbs just gone dead and needs to be RMA.
Now the major question that is worrying me now is which are the HDDs to go for here. The Seagate 1.5tb @ 7200rpm appears to be out of production and they are nowhere to be seen here in Egland. I am currently considering to sell the Western Digital and the remaining Seagate on Ebay and go for something else. Are the 5400rpm 1.5tb good for HD editing or the 1tbs @7200rpm.
Can someone help here,, some advise will be greatly appreciated.

External RAID

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