RAID. What is it, and should I get it?

Hi all,
I am currently planning on getting a new Mac Pro, with all the works but when I was ording it I came across a part that mentioned about if I wanted a RAID drive. I wanted to know what this exactly is, and how it could help me later on. I plan on getting 4 750GB HD's, max RAM alloted, and wifi+bluetooth. Im not too familiar with how RAID drives work and the benifits of them are. Perhaps someone could help me out with an explaination and some examples of when a RAID drive would come in handy?
note: I plan on using my Mac Pro for a lot of HD video work, and Photoshop stuff.
Thanks in advance!

+Apple now offers a RAID Card for the Mac Pros and xserves that utilizes the existing drives. I was wondering if anyone had thoughts on it, how it works, what it really does, etc. With only 4 internal drives available, I wondered if perhaps using this card you could boot on RAID 5. It sounds pretty steep at $1k.+
http://www.schalliol.com/forums/MacGurus/newraid.png
"Ideal for video and creative professionals with demanding storage needs as well as for tower server applications, this hardware RAID option supports RAID levels 0, 1, 5, 0+1, and Enhanced JBOD. It has 256MB of cache and an integrated 72-hour battery for protecting the RAID cache. The card occupies the top PCI Express slot (slot 4) and connects to the four internal drive bays. To enable your Mac Pro for hardware RAID, select the Mac Pro RAID card option and two or more hard drives in bays 1 through 4. Each RAID level has minimum requirements for the number of hard drives"
RAID 0 (striping): Two to four hard drives; Maximum performance and capacity for the most demanding I/O requirements
RAID 1 (mirroring): Two hard drives, Maximum protection for critical data
RAID 5: Three or four hard drives, Data protection, up to 199MB/s of sequential read performance, and efficient capacity utilization
RAID 0+1: Four hard drives, A mirror of striped drive pairs providing performance and data protection
Apple adds:
+"For optimal disk utilization in a RAID set, all hard drives should be the same size. Your Mac Pro system ships with each hard drive individually configured in the Enhanced JBOD level with Mac OS X installed on the drive in bay 1. Using Apple's RAID Utility software, you can migrate the drives into a RAID set without reinstalling Mac OS X or reformatting the drives, or you can customize your RAID volumes to meet your exact requireme+nts."
Mac Pro RAID Card and Xserve RAID Card: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
<a href=http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=306212"]Mac Pro RAID Card: Capacity for four-drive RAID 5 configurations may be different than expected
The 304MB/sec. quoted by Apple is for a four drive striped RAID set. A striped RAID set will slow as the volume becomes full. By the time the RAID 0 is 80% full performance will be reduced to 215MB/sec. at 90% full, performance drops to 189MB/sec.
A hardware RAID does not provide faster performance than a software RAID. It does allow for optimal RAID 5 performance and it can reduce main CPU requirements by off loading RAID calculations to a secondary processor on the card.
Expect the Apple internal hardware RAID to provide performance very similar to a software RAID and add RAID 5 internal capabilities.
The problem with the Apple card is that an 8x PCIe slot is utilized to support only 4 drives. At a $999 price tag that is expensive and I would rather have a card that supported 8-12 drives. If Apple sold a RAID 6 card that supported the 4 internal bays plus provided two mini SAS connectors on the rear of the PCIe card for supporting 8 more drives for a total of 12, that would be a very cool product and certainly worth the $999 premium.
12 drive RAID 6 performance is awesome and provides twice the redundancy of RAID 5. AMUG replicated this setup using an external 12 bay NORCO DS-1240 and a Areca ARC-1231ML card. RAID 6 average write performance with a hot spare was 596MB/sec. You can see the review here:
NORCO DS-1240
- AMUG

Similar Messages

  • What is VPN and How To Get Rid of?

    So to the left of the airport symbol on the upper right area of my macbook another symbol is now there. i click it and says VPN: idle.
    I dont even know what this is. I'm completely oblivious to this. What is it and should i keep it there or what?
    Thanks.

    VPN stands for Virtual Private Network and is a way to connect to for example a home or office network while on some random internet connection.
    To get rid of it, click it, select "Open Internet Connect", choose the VPN-pane and uncheck "Show VPN status in menu bar".
    Martin

  • My iPhone 4 just went black all of the sudden.  I can't get it to turn back on and the battery wasn't dead.  Anyone know what causes this and how to get it back on?

    My iPhone 4 just went black all of the sudden.  I can't get it to turn back on and the battery wasn't dead.  Anyone know what causes this and how to get it back on?

    This has happend to my ipod once...
    did u keep it somewhere so tightly pressed??
    that might be a reason. Don't worry it will turn on after some time, try connecting it to your computer or charger and see if it helps!!...

  • Clock in tool bar stuck, somebody in another post suggest bettertouchtool, but don't know what that is and can't get to magnifying glass next to clock, get the error-beachball. I'm a novice w/ Mac. Thx.

    Hi - clock in tool bar stuck, somebody in another post suggest bettertouchtool, but don't know what that is and can't get to magnifying glass next to clock, get the error-beachball. I'm a novice w/ Mac. Thx.

    HI ..
    Open a Finder window.
    Select your user account on the left in the Sidebar. It has a small house icon.
    Now open the Library folder then the Preferences folder.
    Move the com.apple.systemuiserver.plist file from the Preferences folder to the Trash.
    Restart your Mac.
    edited by:  cs

  • My 2nd generation Nano indicates that about half of the space is 'other'. Anyone know what that means and how I get rid of it? All I've ever downloaded is music.

    My 2nd generation Nano indicates that about half the space is 'other'. Anyone know what that means and how I get rid of it? All I've ever downloaded is music.

    gomeznoles wrote:
    My 2nd generation Nano indicates that about half the space is 'other'. Anyone know what that means and how I get rid of it? All I've ever downloaded is music.
    The Other data on your iPod is album art, file allocation structures, your main library file, and any other data that the iPod uses to read its songs. 
    You can have it removed by going to your itunes and plugging your ipod back into it.   Click the device then click the music tab then uncheck box that says include album artwork.. then sync again.. this time the OTHER stuff will now be removed.

  • I go onto ordinary websites and then all of a sudden this grey box appears on the middle of my screen, then it automatically restarts my computer. I am not really sure what to do and how to get it fixed

    I go onto ordinary websites and then all of a sudden this grey box appears on the middle of my screen, then it automatically restarts my computer. I am not really sure what to do and how to get it fixed. Any help would be great. Thanks

    what does the box say?  Is is a black box with grey writing?

  • I'm trying to connect my iPad to my Samsung galaxy s by bluetooth but the ipad will pair with it but not connect and says "its not supported" does anyone know what this means and how I get it to work?

    I'm trying to connect my iPad to my Samsung galaxy s by bluetooth but the ipad will pair with it but not connect and says "its not supported" does anyone know what this means and how I get it to work?

    iOS devices do not have the BT profiles that support file sharing and othr general functions. See:
    iOS: Supported Bluetooth profiles
    Basically it support headphones, keyboards, speakers, peer-to-peer gaming

  • An icon has appeared on my desktop called colour sync utility.  I clicked on it, and it came up with information about needing to repair something which I tried to do but it didnt work. What is this and shouldI be worried ?

    An icon has appeared on my desktop called colour sync utility.  I clicked on it, and it came up with information about needing to repair something which I tried to do but it didnt work. What is this and shouldI be worried ?

    The Color Sync Utility is part of OSX and usually resides in the Application/Utilities folder.
    Don't know how it appeared on your desktop.
    But it is no malware, spyware or the like but as said part of OSX.
    http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=Mac/10.6/en/8476.html
    Stefan

  • I want to move my music and photos to an external hard drive from my iMac. What external hard drive should I get?

    I want to move my music and photos to an external hard drive from my iMac.  What kind of hard drive should I get?  Will it remove it from iMac and only be on external hard drive?

    How to correctly move your media:
    iTunes: How to move the library to an EHD
    iPhoto: How to move the Library to an EHD
    It is important that the External Hard Drive is formatted as Mac OS Extended (journaled).
    And also make sure that all is working to your Satisfaction before Deleting anything Off your Mac.

  • While verifying permission using the disk utility program, I get the message: Warning SUID file "system/library/core has been modified and will not be repaired. What is this and should I take corrective actions?

    While verifying and repairing permissions using the disk utiliaty program, I get the message: Warning the SUID file "system/library/core has been modified and will not be repaired. What is this and do I need to take some corrective actions? Thanks. WDG

    Ignore it, your fine.
    http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1448?locale=da_DK
    If your tuning up your Mac, you need to read all the tricks.
    Step by Step to fix your Mac

  • What is "other" and how to get rid of it?

    I have attached a picture of the "other" on my MacBook Pro. I've run CleanMyMac 2, Gemini Pro, and other programs to clean out my computer, and I STILL have tons of "other" files eating up my memory. What is it and what can I do to clean out my hard drive? Thanks for the help!

    For information about the Other category in the Storage display, see this support article. If the Storage display seems to be inaccurate, try rebuilding the Spotlight index.
    Empty the Trash if you haven't already done so. If you use iPhoto, empty its internal Trash first:
              iPhoto ▹ Empty Trash
    Do the same in other applications, such as Aperture, that have an internal Trash feature. Then restart the computer. That will temporarily free up some space.
    According to Apple documentation, you need at least 9 GB of available space on the startup volume (as shown in the Finder Info window) for normal operation—not the mythical 10%, 15%, or any other percentage. You also need enough space left over to allow for growth of the data. There is little or no performance advantage to having more available space than the minimum Apple recommends. Available storage space that you'll never use is wasted space.
    When Time Machine backs up a portable Mac, some of the free space will be used to make local snapshots, which are backup copies of recently deleted files. The space occupied by local snapshots is reported as available by the Finder, and should be considered as such. In the Storage display of System Information, local snapshots are shown as  Backups. The snapshots are automatically deleted when they expire or when free space falls below a certain level. You ordinarily don't need to, and should not, delete local snapshots yourself. If you followed bad advice to disable local snapshots by running a shell command, you may have ended up with a lot of data in the Other category. Ask for instructions in that case.
    See this support article for some simple ways to free up storage space.
    You can more effectively use a tool such as OmniDiskSweeper (ODS) or GrandPerspective (GP) to explore the volume and find out what's taking up the space. You can also delete files with it, but don't do that unless you're sure that you know what you're deleting and that all data is safely backed up. That means you have multiple backups, not just one. Note that ODS only works with OS X 10.8 or later. If you're running an older OS version, use GP.
    Deleting files inside an iPhoto or Aperture library will corrupt the library. Any changes to a photo library must be made from within the application that created it. The same goes for Mail files.
    Proceed further only if the problem isn't solved by the above steps.
    ODS or GP can't see the whole filesystem when you run it just by double-clicking; it only sees files that you have permission to read. To see everything, you have to run it as root.
    Back up all data now.
    If you have more than one user account, make sure you're logged in as an administrator. The administrator account is the one that was created automatically when you first set up the computer.
    Install the app you downloaded in the Applications folder as usual. Quit it if it's running.
    Triple-click anywhere in the corresponding line of text below on this page to select it, then copy the selected text to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C:
    sudo /Applications/OmniDiskSweeper.app/Contents/MacOS/OmniDiskSweeper
    sudo /Applications/GrandPerspective.app/Contents/MacOS/GrandPerspective
    Launch the built-in Terminal application in any of the following ways:
    ☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)
    ☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.
    ☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Terminal in the icon grid.
    Paste into the Terminal window by pressing command-V. You'll be prompted for your login password, which won't be displayed when you type it. Type carefully and then press return. You may get a one-time warning to be careful. If you see a message that your username "is not in the sudoers file," then you're not logged in as an administrator. Ignore any other messages that appear in the Terminal window.
    The application window will open, eventually showing all files in all folders, sorted by size. It may take a few minutes for the app to finish scanning.
    I don't recommend that you make a habit of doing this. Don't delete anything as root. If something needs to be deleted, make sure you know what it is and how it got there, and then delete it by other, safer, means. When in doubt, leave it alone or ask for guidance.
    When you're done with the app, quit it and also quit Terminal.

  • What external hard drive should I get?

    First off, I hope I'm asking this in the right place; apologies otherwise.
    So, I need a new external hard drive for my machine, but there are some constraints that are making it difficult for me.
    - I'm on a G5 mac (power PC)
    - I'm using OS X 10.4.11
    - I'd like a firewire connection (800 preferably).
    I've been all over town shopping and all over the net, and everything is either USB, or requires OS 10.5+. Does anyone have any good suggestions? Thanks!

    On some issues such as chipset incompatibility it is a given that a problem will occur.  On others such as the power source with LaCie, it's a matter of chance.  I have a LaCie backup drive.  Read the reviews from other owners and they are about 5/10.  Personally I never had a problem with it in 5 years of using it.  I took the WD drive out of it about a year ago and put it into my computer and it runs fine.  With some it's a matter of chance and you can get a winner or lemon with any brand.
    Another thing is, drive ratings change a lot. As I said before, Seagate used to be tops.  I have several seagate drives >10 years old.  2 years ago I went shopping for new drives and people were warning against seagate at all costs. I'm not talking their enclosures but the drives themselves.  Complete reversal.
    Best thing to do is, spot a few models that interest you, then check online reviews from other owners.  Read them to get a feel for the issues. All drives can have problems so don't let one or two lemon reviews sway you, nor people giving bad ratings because the vendor is not so great (go to a different vendor with good ratings).  What are the issues?  A drive may be rated as slow but if you aren't using it to boot then that's not an issue for you, especially if it is an archive drive (one you unplug and don't use for weeks at a time).
    Post on the hardware forum too.  Some knowledgeable people frequent there who never go to an OS forum.  I bought my WDs based largely upon initial recommendations I read on the PowerMac forum and then substantiated with reading reviews on big online vendors (but bought from OWC in the end).

  • Main mac: 10.3.9 Secondary mac: 10.4.2. What version of DC should i get?

    Hi folks
    What version should i get? the last?
    Have i to install DC also at secondary mac?

    The only version that will work with a Mac OS X 10.4 system is ARD 2.2, which is the most recent version. 2.2 will work with 10.3 systems as well, so that's the one you need as of today.

  • On my iPhone 4 i have almost 2GB of "other" on my phone.  What is this and can I get rid of it??

    In my itunes library i have almost 2gb of "other" on my phone.  What is this and can I remove it??

    Just to be clear, are you saying that your music is no longer found in iTunes? Regarding whatsapp, from what I have read in the forum, it is temporarily not available at this time.

  • What version of iPhoto should I get for OS 10.6.8

    Hi What version of iPhoto should I purchase to go wih OS 10.6.8?
    Dan Page

    Hi Neil:
    Thanks for the rapid come back.  I just tried that, but when I attempted to download the program, the message came back that I needed OS 10.7.  So it would not download.
    Dan

Maybe you are looking for