Ideal hardware setup for Aperture

Is there an ideal hardware setup for working with 18megapixel raw files in aperture? Of the three...graphics card, cpu and ram...which are the most important to processing the raw image.
I am running 10.6.3 on a macbookpro 2.2GHz core 2 duo, 4G ram and an Nvidia card with 128Mb of vram.
Overall it feels somewhat slow, about 10 seconds to load the full raw image on screen. Is that just to be expected? Any form of image adjustment usually switches to low res while adjustment is being made.
Thanks in advance.

A fast hard drive seems to be the most important thing now. The more I use Aperture, the more I appreciate the need for fast, fast hard drives! Open the activity monitor and monitor your disk activity. Monitor the IO - if you are constantly in the hundreds for the disk IO counters, you are IO bound (and more than likely it's your library database and preview thumbnails database).
For a laptop, the Seagate 500GB with the 4 GB of flash built in that it manages might be a good way to go. I just got one and haven't had a time to put it in my Mac Book Pro for testing. If it manages to put most of your library database in the 4 GB flash cache, you won't see near the performance issues as with a regular hard drive.
You could get a smaller SSD for your primary drive and to put the library on, then get one of the kits to remove the optical drive and put the hard drive in that bay. Reference your masters on the hard drive and that way you won't go broke buying a huge SSD. Gasp! I know, me recommending referenced files - I'm grudgingly coming around. Well, that and Aperture 3 has some pretty nice features for referenced files that are making me more willing to consider that kind of a setup, esp. when I look at the disk activity and constant fragmentation of the library and thumbnail database files. I'm seriously considering getting an SSD just for my library database and thumbnail databases and referencing the masters on my internal RAID.
Also others have recommended iDefrag and I can heartily recommend it as well if you stick with traditional hard drives. If nothing else, download the free version and run it - I'll bet that the two aperture databases for your library will easily be the most fragmented files on your hard drive, followed by the thumbnails themselves. SSD obviously doesn't have the latency issues of rotating disk so defrag isn't needed - indeed it would just shorten the life of your SSD with a bunch of unnecessary writes. If you do consider SSD, the only one I can recommend for the Mac is from Other World Computing/MacSales as it does internal garbage collection. Until Mac OS X supports TRIM, normal SSDs that don't do internal garbage collection will run fine for a while, then hit a performance wall that will make you want to go back to your hard drive
Anyway don't feel bad - until I started tweaking my hard drive setup, there wasn't a real speed difference between my MacBook Pro and my Mac Pro - want to talk about a real downer!

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The ideal hardware setup / arrangement for After Effects?

Hello there,
Looking to buy some new hardware and am hoping to find some advice on the ideal hardware config for making After Effects scream. I find this questions is sorely lacking answers on the Internet beyond the basics of 'boot from an SSD' and the like... So I am hoping someone can answer these questions once and for all.
Two things I am after:
1. Fast working performance in AE. So when I move a layer about I am able to see it move smoothly in real-time as I drag it about with my mouse. Right now I get either stuttered movement when moving larger layers about, or the image begins to pixelate/drop res to such a horrible extent that I can not see what I am doing. The problem extends to when I am working with a large project file, with many layers, I get nasty lag when attempting to move about in the timeline, opening comps, etc. Everything starts to move quite slowly once I go past a certain number of layers. What upgrades will speed this element, the day to day working rather than rendering, up the most?
2. Faster rendering. Though this is not as key as point number 1.
I am guessing this performance will he helped by a beefier graphics card and more/faster RAM? I currently have a GTX 660ti 2GB and am upgrading to a GTX980 4GB, so hoping that will improve this.
I also have 64 GB of 1600 speed ram that AE happily consumes so think that base is covered. My CPU is a 3930k that is slightly overclocked. It gets maxed out when multicore rendering is happening but not otherwise. I've heard turning hyperthreading off in the BIOS can actually help AE performance?
I am booting/running AE from an SSD (Samsung 840 Pro), and have set my media cache to another dedicated SSD (Samsung 840 Pro). I run/keep my project files on yet another SSD and have other drives holing media.
My drive config plan is this:
- Boot from one 240GB SSD.
- Project files and current working media on 2x 1TB SSDs in RAID 0 (backed up)
- Further media storage on 2x 3TB HDDs in RAID 0 (backed up)
Now I am wondering if I can simply use the 2TB of SSD goodness as both the location for my AE media cache AND my project files/working media? Or am I better off having three fast and seperate storage locations? 1 for the boot, 2 for the project files and media, 3 for the cache?
Otherwise I am running AE on a Hackintosh 3930k CPU overclocked slightly, 64 GB RAM, Sabertooth X79 mobo, 660ti graphics card.
All comments/advice links much appreciated. Apologies if this has already been addressed elsewhere but I have yet to find a detailed response and only generalized comments such as 'use a fast drive for your media cache.'
What I would really like to know is the BEST drive configuration, the questioned detailed above...And what will increase the speed and quality of my real-time workflow in AE the most. Quickly navigating projects without lag, opening detailed comps with many layers, and moving large images around without lag or pixelation.
Thank you!

for After Effects advice, Eric on the forum here can give you the best info. However, I have seen him say many times that AE is MEMORY INTENSIVE,....the more, the better. You HAVE 64GB...that seems very adequate for most workflows.
The OTHER thing he says is that other than Ray-Tracing, the GPU is HARDLY used at all.....CPU speed and number of cores are a BIG factor in AE performance.....your 3930k overclocked should be adequate....the MORE OC, the BETTER.
Next is the drive system....you have NOT described EXACTLY what you are doing NOW....you mentioned what your PLAN is,but for , right NOW you said : " I run/keep my project files on yet another SSD and have other drives holing media. "
HERE is where you MAY be doing something that may....or may NOT.....be causing slowdowns.   With AE it is RECOMMENDED to use a dedicated drive for the "Global Performance Cache"...the HIGHER the speed of this drive, the BETTER, as AE STORES already "rendered" frames, ( for "previews", of course), on it so it DOESN"T have to RE-RENDER ALL the frames all over again every time you make a change to your work !!! So, in YOUR case : your OS drive is great...Samsung Pro models are the BEST...you have the 840 Pro ,which is only SLIGHTLY behind the 850 Pro in performance. ANOTHER 840,or, 850 Pro would be GREAT as the " Global performance cache drive" AND would also be the place to put ALL previews,Cache files, media cache files for Premier Pro,too. The overall speed and less latency of the SATAIII SSD will surpass the performance of a 2 disk RAID 0....even a 3 disk RAID 0.
Next....the speed at which you SERVE UP the video files can be important in preventing a slowdown.....ESPECIALLY if using large, uncompressed files. Here, you have options.....it is NOT necessary to put your project files on a SEPARATE drive from your media...you just want to make sure that the drive with your media and project files is as fast as the OTHERS in your system ! SO, you COULD use a THIRD SSD as a "working drive" for ACTIVE projects only.....a 1TB SSD perhaps...Crucial M550 is CHEAPER than the Samsung and as good as the 840 pros. As the CAPACITY of SSDs are small...you would MOVE all media and completed project files to HDDs for archiving and storage....the use of RAID with your existing HDDs would NOT be needed for this function.
Another option would be to take FOUR quality 1TB HDDs...( the Seagates are selling for $44 right now), and create a RAID 0 off the motherboard to have a large 4TB capacity AND speed similar to the SSDs!   WARNING !!! the odds of ONE drive failing are BIG....you would immediately lose ALL your data !! HOWEVER....if you back up that RAID 0 RELIGIOUSLY....you would have NO worries. One way to do THAT is to buy a 4TB ENTERPRISE level 7200rpm HDD....Seagate has one with a 128 MB cache that does over 200MB/sec. for just over $300.
Even with all this covered, there are MANY factors which can CHOKE a fast computer....the CODECS you are using have a HUGE bearing on performance. The VERSION of After Effects is important...NEWEST versions have the BEST performance with features like the "global performance cache", etc. The use of "third party plug-ins" can CRIPPLE a machine if these are NOT written to take advantage of "hyperthreading",OR, are "32 bit" and HUMBLE your machine because AE is NOW 64 bit!!
Make sure you have Windows fully updated and the newest drivers for your video card. Then , make sure your Windows POWER SETTINGS are set to MAXIMUM PERFORMANCE when"plugged in"....the DEFAULT Windows settings...even under "high performance" has setttings that will THROTTLE your GPU and CPU if you don't change them.....I found THAT out the hard way!
Finally, make sure , in AE settings, you have set the"memory allocation" correctly...there is a formula regarding how much to assign on a "per CPU core basis". There ALSO is a selection to make for "allowing multiple frames" to be processed...make sure THAT is set correctly.
Good luck !!     I hope this helps!

Printer Setup for Aperture and Epson R1800

After installing the upgrade to 1.5, something went wrong with my printer setup for both my R1800 and my PictureMate Deluxe.
I've done the following:
Reset the printer system.
Reinstalled the Drivers
Attempted to Print from Aperture using about 30 + combinations of settings.
I'm still getting colors that are off and overall dark photos.
Best Setting appears to be
Printer Settings
Print Settings
Media Type: Premium Glossy Photo Paper
Color: Color
Mode: Advanced (Photo, High Speed, Finest Detail, Off)
Color Management
Off (No Color Adjustment)
ColorSync Profile: SPR1800 PrmGlsy Photo.icc
Black Point Compensation = Checked
Gamma 1.10
The resulting pictures appear to be about 1 f-stop or so underexposed and the colors are off (I'm color blind, so I can't say exactly how). I know that it is the setup of the printer settings. If I print the same pictures from Nikon Capture on my Windows computer, the print is perfect. I prefer to use Aperture for my photo work.
Epson doesn't have Aperture and doesn't understand all of the settings. The Apple Care support tech stated that he is not qualified to answer and said to call back when the Aperture team is working. I've got a ton of Christmas gifts to print out!
Assistance would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
-William

william:
you don't state in your original posting whether or not you've calibrated your monitors, especially to a 2.2 Gamma. in order to get the most accurate screen->print matching you have to hardware calibrate your monitors. this is by far the single most significant improvement i've made in my workflow. prior to calibration my monitors were set to a gamma of 1.8 which is much brighter than 2.2 and this causes you to NOT correct your images with the additional exposure required for proper printing. my prints were always too dark prior to calibration.
the spyder 2 from color vision is an excellent choice.
scott
PowerMac G5 2.5GHz Mac OS X (10.4.8) MacBook Pro 2.0GHz

Ideal drives setup for running Logic???

Hello,
I just purchased an internal 256GB Samsung 840 pro SSD drive. I have an external Firewire 800 2 TB external hard drive (7200 rpm) as well. What would be the ideal setup for running Logic?
Thanks!
2011 iMac 27", 16 GB of RAM, Logic Pro 9.1.8, OS X 10.7.5

Thanks.
Already talked to the tech doing the installation and he said I can stay on Lion.
Going to get rid of the optical drive, like you suggested, and keep the internal HDD to work in conjunction with the SSD. So, I'll put my OS X and Logic on the SSD, samples on the internal HDD, and project folders on the external firewire drive. Is this what you suggest? Did I miss anything?

Ideal disk setup for MDFs, LDFs, TempDB, and cube files?

I'm about to build an enterprise SQL Server that will run both OLTP and our data warehouse (OLAP). What is the proper disk setup for data files, please? Is it something like:
1 for MDFs
1 for LDFs
1 for TempDB
1 for OLAP files
Or something close to that?
Thanks for any guidance.

Please take a look at these URLs:
How to configure the hard disks for optimal performance?
Disk Partition Alignment Best Practices for SQL Server
SQL Server Storage Best Practices
T-SQL Articles
T-SQL e-book by TechNet Wiki Community
T-SQL blog

Best Hardware Setup for FLV Video Centered Standalaone

Can anyone recommend a system setup for a standalone app i'm
concepting that will have large and high quality (hopefully) flv
video playing as a background, hi-res png's or jpgs doing all sorts
of animation in the foreground and all while keeping a fairly high
overall framerate? my stage size is currently slated as 1024x768
BTW.
What's more/most important?
processor speed?
will a dual core help or not even be utilized (proposing
standalone with flash 8 runtime)?
will a suped up video card make a difference?
obviously the more RAM the better but is there a point where
that starts maxing out too?
any other considerations to note?
I'm curious to see what other users who've had a decent
amount of FLV centered projects have to say on the matter. Thanks
in advance
Pat

Can anyone recommend a system setup for a standalone app i'm
concepting that will have large and high quality (hopefully) flv
video playing as a background, hi-res png's or jpgs doing all sorts
of animation in the foreground and all while keeping a fairly high
overall framerate? my stage size is currently slated as 1024x768
BTW.
What's more/most important?
processor speed?
will a dual core help or not even be utilized (proposing
standalone with flash 8 runtime)?
will a suped up video card make a difference?
obviously the more RAM the better but is there a point where
that starts maxing out too?
any other considerations to note?
I'm curious to see what other users who've had a decent
amount of FLV centered projects have to say on the matter. Thanks
in advance
Pat

What is the Ideal Production Setup For One Admin and 4 Managed Servers

Dear Experts
I will be starting with production setup including one Admin server and 4 managed servers in one single domain.
I am thinking of creating a single node environment(no clusters) as the machine has following configuration
OS : Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter
RAM : 48 GB
System Type : 64 bit
Processor : Intel(Xenon) 4 processors [email protected]
Can you please let me know if this configuration would suffice for the 4 managed servers if i assign Xmx and Xms as 4096 and Heap Space as 1024 to all the Managed Servers.
It is very urgent and i need to convey to the Infrastructure team if harware procurement is required.
We are looking at somewhere around 300 concurrent users(maximum load) and 100(minimum load) at a given point of time.
Please reply ASAP.
Thanks in advance
Edited by: Abhinav Mittal on Apr 23, 2013 7:58 PM
Edited by: Abhinav Mittal on Apr 23, 2013 8:03 PM

Heap size must be calculated according to the applications that are been deployed on each JVM.
With no deployments, you dont need more than 256k for managed servers heap size and 512k for adminserver. As biggest its your heap size, longer will take your garbage collection. And if you can prevent it, better do it.
Kinds,
Gabriel Abelha

Mac Pro ideal HD setup for Logic?

Hey guys - just want to ask suggestions for the ideal hard drive set up for using logic.
I have a dual quad 2.8 mac pro with 10gb of ram. External sound card is usally a line 6 ux1, but when im recording vocals or anything miked up it's
my focusrite saffire pro 40.
I have 4 internal drives:
1. boot up drive is 240gb SSD,
2. "tracking" drive,
3. "loops" drive,
4. personal data drive - pics, docs, movies, music, etc....
So i was told many years ago (when i had a imac) that the idea drive set up was to have a boot/apps drive, tracking drive, & loops drive.
I've done that but im not sure how to get logic to work like that. Even though my projects are all stored on the tracking drive,
the loops end up there too...
Is it ok like that or can someone suggest an alternative? Im using logic studio 8 btw
thanks in advance
Mal

I have a Mac Pro 2*2.26 system. I use Logic and iPhoto extensively with a 200 GB iTunes collection and a 80 GB iPhoto collection.
I use the default 640GB drive as my boot drive with applications. I use a second 1 Terrabyte drive as my "Home Directory" for documents (iPhoto library, iTunes library, Logic files, etc...). I use a third Terrabyte drive for my Time Machine backups. All are internal drives.
Given you have over a terrabyte of data files, it would seem logical to keep the boot drive for system files and applications. For your documents or "Home Directory" it would seem a 1.5 or 2 terrrabyte drive is in order, with a third 2 terrabyte drive for your Time Machine backups.
I don't think a RAID configuration would be of benefit to you if you are not finding performance issues with Final Cut Express.
Barr

Ideal Production setup for around 5000 application users

Hi,
We are in the process of upgrading our hardware to cater about 5000 application users. Please share information on these -
a) Production server
i) Server Brand
ii) OS
iii) Database size
iv) No. of CPUs with speed
v) Physical RAM size
vi) Disc partitioning info (database disc size, swap size etc.,)
b) DR server configuration (same as above)
c) Network connection speed between application tier and db tier
Any other additional information is also appreciated.
Thanks for your help.
Regards,
SA

What about the eBusiness requirements and recommandations ? You could probably get better advices from eBusiness guys over dedicated forums :
General EBS Discussion
Nicolas.

What is the best hardware setup for Design Premium?

I'm a high school teacher and teach Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Dreamweaver, Flash, and I use Bridge for yearbook. My school district is buying me new computers but wants me to come up with all the specs that I want. I'm supposed to give them my top choices for everything. However, I'm a user- not a tech person. Can someone please give me a run down for what I should ask for? I need to know everything from processor, to RAM, graphics card, hard drive, tablets, monitors, etc. If you work with these software programs all the time, what would your ultimate set up be?
I'm currently using CS4 but would like to upgrade. My school district does not use Macs- only PCs. I was not told a price range, so just give me the best of everything.
Please help ASAP.
Thank you!

" I'm currently using CS4 but would like to upgrade"
IF THE UPGRATE IS TO CS5 64 BITS. Better to work with quad core with H.T. like i7 920,930,950. If you like somthing faster we talk about i7 970,980x, 990.
RAM: If you will work with heavy files, start with 12G RAM 3x4. So you have the possibility to upgrate after to 24 if you need it.
"graphics card"
Nvidia card: GTX460, GTX470. NO NEED TO GO TO SERIES GTX5..
"hard drive" many choises. Depent of what performance you want, This can incrise the price a loot.
"monitors" I will say samsung 23, the are sheep and if you like you can have 2 monitor on each PC.
How many PC'S YOU NEED??
B.R.
Cristobal

Ideal Oracle setup for education

Hi All,
I am new to Oracle and would like to know if anyone has set up an evironment at home to learn Oracle database basics on. I am interested in learning how to set up and administer a database and eventually develop on it.
I have a couple computers that I can use for this and a copy of Windows 2000 Server and Windows XP Pro. I can also install Red Hat Linux 9 if it is recommended.
Please forgive me if this has been posted a million times.
Doug

Any of the operating systems should be sufficient-- I would tend to suggest that you use whatever you're most comfortable with. If you're a Windows guy, use Windows, if you're a Linux guy, use Linux.
I would suggest that you probably want to start learning with Oracle 9.2. Oracle 10g is available for Linux, but there are a lot more people, and a lot more papers, that deal with 9i at the moment.
Justin
Distributed Database Consulting, Inc.
http://www.ddbcinc.com/askDDBC

Problems with MacBook requirements for Aperture

Eager to enter the world of Aperture, I ran down to my local Mac store to upgrade my MacBook RAM from 2x256 MB to 2x512 MB after receiving the message in the beginning of installment that a minimum of 1GB RAM was required to run the software.
Having done that, everything seemed OK: the installer allowed me to proceed and finish the installation. However - when I try to open Aperture, I get the annoying message: “ Your computer does not meet the minimum hardware requirements for Aperture”...
I’ve read many of the discussion threads concerning this issue and it seems that it definately is possible to run Aperture on MacBooks.
The final comment in this thread especially seemed to answer the question once and for all: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=2405153
I even ran the Aperture Compatibility Checker 1.5.1 to make sure that every requirement was met - got the message that I could run Aperture on the MacBook - but I can’t!
Help!

- Correction: not the final comment on the mentioned thread, but the comment by Joe Schorr:
Re: New MacBook 13" Doesn't run Aperture??
Posted: May 16, 2006 10:31 AM in response to: Badlydrawnboy
Solved
Aperture does run on the new MacBooks, but it is NOT officially supported, >due to limitations with the graphics card. This means if you call AppleCare, >you'll simply be told that you're running Aperture on an unsupported >configuration. It's an "at-your-own-risk" experience.
That being said, Aperture will install and run on a MacBook...at least you're >not disallowed from using it. No hacks needed!
And of course, Aperture is fully supported on all MacBook PRO models.
Joe Schorr
Sr. Product Manager, Aperture
Apple

Hardware requirements for RAC Setup on Linux

Hi,
Can any body help me...We are soon going for the RAC setup on linux operating system.So,i need to provide the customer,the hardware needed for this setup.
Please send me the list of all the things right from small things....
regards,
Mohammed

Hi Mohammed,
In addition you may find good information in below doc:
http://download.oracle.com/docs/cd/B19306_01/rac.102/b28759/toc.htm
Regards,
Marcello M.

Hardware required for RAC setup at home

Hi All,
Could you please suggest the Hardware required for practicing RAC at home.
Regards,
VN

Hi, "user7202581",
For practicing purposes, you could consider a VBox / OVM based setup at home. We have used those for Hands On Labs in the course of Oracle Open World more than once. I recommend you use a machine with at least 8GB memory and dual core (HT enabled) processors. Some configuration examples: Lenovo Laptop, ThinkPad, 8GB, 320GB HDD, i5 dual core, 2.5 GHz, Win 7 or a Mac Mini, latest version, i5 dual core, 2.3GHz and 8GB memory would do the trick for a two node cluster. Note that I mention the hosting OS in case you use VBox. For OVM based setups you either have to use a dual boot system or use a dedicated machine. You will be somewhat restricted with respect to the hardware failures you can impose on this system obviously (due to the VM setup), but for practicing purposes, you should find those environments sufficient, I think. Also see: RAC on OVM templates: http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/server-storage/vm/rac-template-11grel2-166623.html
Hope that helps. Thanks,
Markus

Hardware requirements for Fusion Applications Setup

Hi,
I want to provision Oracle Fusion Applications CRM domain as a reference implementation to understand the CRM functionality and for other R&D purposes.
For such an implementation with no high traffic, no load balancing/high availability and just setting up just an FA CRM product offering-- Please help me in understanding the minimum hardware requirements for provisioning this set up.
(Raising this thread in this forum in reference to few other FA threads being addressed in this forum.
Please suggest me the most appropriate forum if this is not the right place)
Thanks,
Srikanth.

Hi!
I hope all the things are ok with you, well i have a trouble, i'm installing Oracle Applications 11i (Oracle DB 10g) on RHEL4, i have all the requirements to install and i followed the steps to install on
the manual r115102ins-1, i begin the installation with the displays screen but one of this check progress bars (Monitor Installation Progress), during the installation, Rapid Install displays a main progress bar and an individual progress bar.
When i enter the correct path for Oracle Applications Rapid Install -RDBMS Disk3, the porcentage stops in 86% and not go on, why? Is there a solution?
Is there anyone for help me!!
Best Regards!!

Ideal hardware setup for Aperture

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