Mac pro 8 recording question

[dexterwheeler]

Hi guys I have mac pro 8 core and I have 4 hard drives inside. I compose music on my computer and need to add more drives to my system for samples. I don't wanna go firewire or usb because its not fast enough. And a Esata extender cable for the mac pro is a lot of work to install.

My question is how can I add more drives to my system and still get fast speed as with my 4 internal drives? Is their a PCI card I can buy to add more drives? If so any recommendations?

 

[Tallest Skil]

If you don't mind getting a 24" SATA cable or don't have two optical drives...

Here.

Why did you post twice?

 

[CJRhoades]

There are PCI cards that you can hook a hdd to but why not go with firewire? What will you be doing that 800Mb/s isn't fast enough?

 

[zimv20]

I don't wanna go firewire [...] because its not fast enough.

really? even f/w 800? what are you streaming across it?

you can get external SATA drives and a SATA card or two.

 

[CanadaRAM]

Hi guys I have mac pro 8 core ...
My question is how can I add more drives to my system and still get fast speed as with my 4 internal drives? Is their a PCI card I can buy to add more drives? If so any recommendations?

You can get a PCI-e card with eSATA ports. Firmtek and Sonnet are two brands that specialize in Macs

 

[dexterwheeler]

sory new to the forum and didnt know if I posted in the right section. I need more than 800/mbs for the sofware I will be using. I plan on using EWQL platinum orchestra. From the user I;ve talked to who use the software told me I need to seperate each section of the orchestra on 4 seperate fast drives. And I need the 4 internal drives bays for sequencer software and other plugins.

so whats better the Pci-e card or sata card. Sorry for the lack of knowledge. Also how many external drives can I install and still get the same speed as internal drives?

 

[zimv20]

sorry for the confusion -- it's the same card. it plugs into the PCIe slot of your mac and offers SATA drive connections externally.

 

[trainguy77]

Firewire will get the same performance as internal.

 

[fernmeister]

What sample libraries are you running? Four internal 1TB drives afford you space for some serious collections. The Vienna super package is 746 GB and that's a seriously maxxed out collection.

Also, what are you doing for backup? I would move the backups externally before the libraries.

Beyond that the eSATA is the best solution and probably easier than rigging up an extra internal.

 

[CanadaRAM]

Firewire will get the same performance as internal.

Don't think so. Besides the overhead of the Firewire protocol and the bridge card in the enclosure, the OP is almost certainly using a Firewire digital audio interface, and the in/out audio stream will have to contend with the data stream on the same Firewire controller.

 

[dexterwheeler]

thanks guys for all the help. I will be using EWQl choirs,platinum orchestra/RA/Colossus/MOR and vocies of passion. I will alsp be using the vienna stuff and a few other vst's. So esata is the best way than. Problem is the estata extender cable seems like a lot of internal work to install.

 

[AviationFan]

Problem is the estata extender cable seems like a lot of internal work to install.

Well, that's why should take a look again at Firmtek and Sonnet (see links provided above by CanadaRAM). Putting in a PCIe into your Mac is very straighforward and quick. No need to worry about installing the extender cable then, even though that would be a cheaper solution.

- Martin

 

[dexterwheeler]

Well, that's why should take a look again at Firmtek and Sonnet (see links provided above by CanadaRAM). Putting in a PCIe into your Mac is very straighforward and quick. No need to worry about installing the extender cable then, even though that would be a cheaper solution.

- Martin

Thanks for the links. If I get the sonnet sata E4P can I install 4 of the external sata drives into another computer case instead of buying seperate enclosures for the drives?