what to look for in external raids for video

videoed · Aug 2, 2010

Hi,

just looking for some opinions on how to pick the right external raid for video.

currently edit on dv now but will be looking to upconvert via ki pro sometime soon for one of the smaller pro res codecs.

we typically edit 2 hour shows at a time with roughly 4-5 hours of footage to work with.

i was looking at drobo's but after reading a large handful of reviews, i'm not so sure.

thanks

mBox · Aug 2, 2010

videoed said:
Hi,

just looking for some opinions on how to pick the right external raid for video.

currently edit on dv now but will be looking to upconvert via ki pro sometime soon for one of the smaller pro res codecs.

we typically edit 2 hour shows at a time with roughly 4-5 hours of footage to work with.

i was looking at drobo's but after reading a large handful of reviews, i'm not so sure.

thanks

We use G-Technology G-Speed F (Fibre) XL series for RAID. Might be overkill for DV. Not sure about ProRes, we use it mostly for XDCAM and Avid DNxHD220 format. They have cheaper products that we use with FCP and works great!

Erendiox · Aug 2, 2010

Drobos are great for data redundancy, but not so great for editing. I would recommend G-Tech's offerings, especially their G-RAID drives. Another step up from G-RAID is Caldigit. You'd want something like the Caldigit VR. Both these companies test their drives specifically for performance and reliability in video/audio editing. That's something you want to look for in an editing drive.

thejoshhoward · Aug 2, 2010

Here's my go-to. Love it. Have experienced great performance and had good luck with pretty much any OWC drive. Saves a bit of money, too.

http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/hard-drives/RAID/Desktop/

CaptainChunk · Aug 2, 2010

+1 on the OWC drives. They even sell their enclosures without drives so you can add your own if you want. They're very comparable in performance/reliability to G-Tech and CalDigit and usually cost less.

advres · Aug 2, 2010

thejoshhoward said:
Here's my go-to. Love it. Have experienced great performance and had good luck with pretty much any OWC drive. Saves a bit of money, too.

http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/hard-drives/RAID/Desktop/

CaptainChunk said:
+1 on the OWC drives. They even sell their enclosures without drives so you can add your own if you want. They're very comparable in performance/reliability to G-Tech and CalDigit and usually cost less.

I run a one bay post-production suite and the 8TB Qx2 is what I use.

videoed · Aug 3, 2010

thanks all for the response, very helpful.

some followup questions:

what is the difference between the two classes of Qx2 products (regular and enterprise) ?

anyone have a preference in going with Qx2 packages vs buying HDD separate?

thanks

thejoshhoward · Aug 3, 2010

videoed said:
thanks all for the response, very helpful.

some followup questions:

what is the difference between the two classes of Qx2 products (regular and enterprise) ?

anyone have a preference in going with Qx2 packages vs buying HDD separate?

thanks

As far as I know, the difference is in the drives they place in the enclosure. Because of the better drives, the warranty is for five years instead of three.

Standard uses these drives while enterprise uses these.

I haven't checked prices recently, but the package deal with OWC used to be more cost effective than adding your own drives. Especially when considering the warranty.

advres · Aug 4, 2010

What you are paying for with the Qx2 built with drives is complimentary level 1(?) data recovery if something fails, they will rush ship a new drive to you if it fails prior to you sending the drive back, etc. It is more about customer service and warranty. The woman at OWC explained it entirely but I don't remember all of it. Give them a call and they will be happy to go through it with you.

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what to look for in external raids for video

videoed

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mBox

macrumors 68020

Erendiox

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thejoshhoward

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CaptainChunk