Mac Mini HTPC - Wich RAID enclosure ?

[nemrod]

Hi,

I'm looking for a RAID enclosure to store my movies, enclosure that will be directly connected to my HTPC, a 2010 Mac Mini.

I am wondering if USB is transfert rate is enough for 1080p movies or do i need FW ?

Does one of you have tried Icy Docks models :
http://www.icydock.com/goods_cat.php?id=73

Indeed, they look well, but it i didn't fin any test related to the noise.

Thanks

 

[ThinIce]

USB may be sufficient but FW 800 will be much better for larger files. I am thinking about doing the esata upgrade on the iMac for even faster speeds. I purchased one of these http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other World Computing/MEQX2KIT0GB/
to store my blu ray MKV rips and it works great. I loaded it with 4 1TB WD caviar black drives and connected it to my iMac using the FW 800 port. I rip blu rays and DVD's on the iMac, store them on the external OWC HD, and play back the blu ray MKV files on two mini's and a MPB located in different rooms using PLEX. All Mac's are connected via high speed ethernet with the exception of the MPB with uses airport. Everything plays back without issue.

 

[nemrod]

Thanks.

The point is, what about the noise ? Indeed, it's more expensive than the one i'm thinking & it will be next to my TV so noise is an important point to me, in medium room.

 

[ThinIce]

The enclosure does have a fan but it hardly ever turns on. I can hear the HD's working if I pay close attention but it is difficult to hear them over the sound coming from the TV or sound system. I don't consider it to be noisy or a detraction.

 

[nemrod]

Ok, thanks.

I'll try to find real reviews of the Icy Dock fisrt, it's my budget.

 

[philipma1957]

First question is simple why a raid. A 2 bay raid0 or a 2 bay raid1 are not needed for movies. Also usb2 is tooo slow. I have used 10 or 12 different raid boxes including the qx2 from max sales. Remember the old days when vcr tapes were used for movies.

lets you pop the hdd's in and out is fanless so it is pretty quiet. Has all major connections. have yourself a few hdds store them in this.

put a label on the hdd with tv shows from nov 2010 to dec 2010 this is low cost and efficient. use superduper to clone your priceless ones

basic plan is free. timed backups deluxe is 28 bucks

http://www.shirt-pocket.com/SuperDuper/SuperDuperDescription.html

 

[Transporteur]

Also usb2 is tooo slow.

How do you figure that USB2 is too slow for streaming movies?

Even a non compressed 1080p BluRay movie with 50GB does hardly reach 8MB/s. Keep in mind that USB2 is good for about 35MB/s. Plenty fast for streaming!

use superduper to clone your priceless ones

basic plan is free. timed backups deluxe is 28 bucks

http://www.shirt-pocket.com/SuperDuper/SuperDuperDescription.html

Instead of buying SuperDuper for $28, simply use CarbonCopyCloner. It has all the features of SuperDuper but for free!
I've been using it for 5 years now on multiple machines and never had any problems with it whatsoever. Great piece of software.

 

[philipma1957]

How do you figure that USB2 is too slow for streaming movies?

Even a non compressed 1080p BluRay movie with 50GB does hardly reach 8MB/s. Keep in mind that USB2 is good for about 35MB/s. Plenty fast for streaming!



Instead of buying SuperDuper for $28, simply use CarbonCopyCloner. It has all the features of SuperDuper but for free!
I've been using it for 5 years now on multiple machines and never had any problems with it whatsoever. Great piece of software.

Better yet get superduper the free version and ccc. I used superduper for 4 years and never needed to deluxe version. since I GOT THE MAC PRO I grabbed the better version of superduper. I feel ccc copies slower then duperduper. Since the OP wants extra hdds I assume he was recording them not streaming them. usb2 at 35mb/s is optimistic but doable more like 28mb/s. fw800 is 50 to 75 mb/s. my enclosure also will allow esata and since it will boot on fw800. it will run a MM with a slow 5400rpm drive faster then using the slow internal. usb2 will boot but be a slow boot drive. I am not anti usb2 i use these usb2 machine all the time thermaltake blackx http://www.thermaltakestore.com/blacx-n0020028.html

 

[tbayrgs]

Hi,

I'm looking for a RAID enclosure to store my movies, enclosure that will be directly connected to my HTPC, a 2010 Mac Mini.

I am wondering if USB is transfert rate is enough for 1080p movies or do i need FW ?

Does one of you have tried Icy Docks models :
http://www.icydock.com/goods_cat.php?id=73

Indeed, they look well, but it i didn't fin any test related to the noise.

Thanks

I have the USB/FW/eSATA version of that dock and it's worked perfectly for the year and a half that I've owned it. I have mine directly connected to my Mac Mini HTPC using FW800. The fan is manually adjustable and very quiet--I can't hear mine over the ambient noise of the room and the hum of other electronics (DVR, plasma TV) so I wouldn't worry about it.

I initially had mine set up in RAID 1 but switched over to RAID 0 after I quickly ran out of space converting my library and realized no benefit to RAID 1 as you still need to regularly backup these HDD as well.

 

[nemrod]

First question is simple why a raid. A 2 bay raid0 or a 2 bay raid1 are not needed for movies. Also usb2 is tooo slow. I have used 10 or 12 different raid boxes including the qx2 from max sales. Remember the old days when vcr tapes were used for movies. this unit

lets you pop the hdd's in and out is fanless so it is pretty quiet. Has all major connections. have yourself a few hdds store them in this.

put a label on the hdd with tv shows from nov 2010 to dec 2010 this is low cost and efficient. use superduper to clone your priceless ones

basic plan is free. timed backups deluxe is 28 bucks

I already have a fan less enclosure but i'm looking for a double bay enclosure and it will be in my lounge so design is important.

 

[philipma1957]

okay design has value in many cases. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817198032

your pick above is 126 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817198031

this is 180 both have jbod that is a big feature. allows for extra hdds to be used pretty easy. raid1 and raid0 are not as big a deal as you may think for your use. i would push for the 180 one due to the fw800 connection. that is a big feature if you have a slow internal hdd in your mini.

 

[davids8477]

USB may be sufficient but FW 800 will be much better for larger files. I am thinking about doing the esata upgrade on the iMac for even faster speeds. I purchased one of these http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other World Computing/MEQX2KIT0GB/
to store my blu ray MKV rips and it works great. I loaded it with 4 1TB WD caviar black drives and connected it to my iMac using the FW 800 port. I rip blu rays and DVD's on the iMac, store them on the external OWC HD, and play back the blu ray MKV files on two mini's and a MPB located in different rooms using PLEX. All Mac's are connected via high speed ethernet with the exception of the MPB with uses airport. Everything plays back without issue.

I also have 2 of these and they work great. In normal use the are very quiet. Occasionally the fans will rev up - but nothing bad.

 

[nemrod]

okay design has value in many cases.
this is 180 both have jbod that is a big feature. allows for extra hdds to be used pretty easy. raid1 and raid0 are not as big a deal as you may think for your use. i would push for the 180 one due to the fw800 connection. that is a big feature if you have a slow internal hdd in your mini.

I know those one, this is not my point. They're a bit expensive so i am looking for review to confirm ando/or another products.

 

[nemrod]

I also have 2 of these and they work great. In normal use the are very quiet. Occasionally the fans will rev up - but nothing bad.

Not exactly my budget and i'm not in the US ...

 

[Stan Mikulenka]

Hi everybody,
philipma, you do a lot of talking & showing some adds instead showing what YOU have set-up as your externals.
Here is my set-up:

 

[philipma1957]

Stan :
I will show you my mac pro setup and its raid as I have transferred. most of my raid gear to my pro . shot shows the mac pro raid0 which in in the mac pro shot shows the 4 copies of it and the TM of it. on copy is on the oem wd caviar black 1tb it is called a Macintosh HD it is in a NexStar toaster/dock type it attaches via esata. then the next copy is on the sans digital towerstor2 it uses fw800 then two copies of it are on the OWC qx2 it uses fw800 I also have a TM on the Owc Qx2. here is a shot of the mac pro with the towerstor and the nexStar.

the black box below is that of a 8 bay sans digital. it holds 4 2tb hdds and 4 copies of the 4 hdds. movies tv shows. the Owc qx2 is in the garage below attached via a long fw800 cable. here is a shot of the cables under the mac pro leading to the top of the Owc qx2 in the garage under the pro. so I have 4 copies of the mac pros osx and a TM. I use 3 external pieces of gear to back it up.

I have a copy in my bank's safety deposit box. when I finish my rebuild of my mac mini esata post I will post a lot of photo of that maybe by the end of the week. I am still waiting on some parts for that. Regards Phil