When this adapter was mentioned, it made me think of the Pro Drive from Trans Intl.
(Perhaps the result of English being a second language)? 
I'd only seen it on Trans International's site, and only recall seeing Pro Drive mentioned, not stardom. I shouldn't be surprised though.
PM chips have a max throughput of 250MB/s, so you want to keep that in mind. Especially if you were intending to use SSD's in all of them. Mechanical drives, not as much of an issue, as 125MB/s for each drive isn't too bad for SATA. (Avg, or even max STR, but very likely not Burst). SAS could be another issue, particularly if you went with some of the faster models, though most of them would be 3.5", and unable to work as you'd like. I'd have to go back and check on the Saavio 2.5" (10K) drives though. I can't recall their STR ATM.Nanofrog,
The 2 bay internal drive
http://www.neweggmall.com/Product/2005460620/product.html
The 12 bay CineRAID
http://www.timelinedigitalinc.com/product_info.php?products_id=613
I can careless about data protection, speed is my major concern at this point.
I was thinking to use a product called i/o studio with a PCI-e SSD.
It will take 3 PCI-e SSD at over 1GB/s however, the capacity is small.
If you want to stick with the use of SSD's, you need to use One drive per bay, so a second enclosure would also be needed.All the drive ports are SATA in the '09's. Just get a 5.25" - 3.5" drive adapter, attach the drive, and install it. Hook up the cable. Done. Easy.
Thanks nanofrog! I hope it will work with no performance problems. Cheers!!All the drive ports are SATA in the '09's. Just get a 5.25" - 3.5" drive adapter, attach the drive, and install it. Hook up the cable. Done. Easy.
There won't be any performance difference than if it were installed in one of the sleds, as it should all be the same chip. Lower cost that way.
If my first 4 drives are 4x1TB Raid 0, I'm assuming it won't matter what speed or size the 5th is?There won't be any performance difference than if it were installed in one of the sleds, as it should all be the same chip. Lower cost that way.
Assuming it won't be part of the array and is a SATA drive, it should work just wonderfully.
It's theoretically possible from a hardware solution, but there aren't many cards that can actually boot both Windows and OS X. Then the use of SSD's complicates matters even further.
What model MP do you have? And what are the details of the drive configuration?You would not believe the headaches I've been having with this. Finally spoke with the "enterprise" section of Apple support*. Bootcamp can not (apparently) be installed on my drive (even if I keep it separate from RAID) as the RAID card will still be connected in some way to it and will be detected as such. I can't disconnect the first 4 Raided drives and install OSX on the 5th and then bootcamp that and reconnect the drives. He said I might want to look at VM Ware, so now I'll look at that...
* This was after being pretty rudely spoken to by the 1st level person you talk to at apple support. Out right refused to transfer my call to "enterprise" (even though I had spoken with them before) because I did not have an XServe. As it turns out, Enterprise will talk to me if I have the RAID card.
This is what I'm wondering about, but would like more information.
Hey, you're dealing with the dense right here!The AHCI drivers are available, and have been installed successfully, so it can't be too hard.
The 5th drive installation should work, and boot camp isn't needed, as it's an entirely separate drive.Hey, you're dealing with the dense right here!
It's a 2009 Mac Pro Quad. First 4 drives are Raid 0 using a Raid Card.
5th drive is connected where the 2nd superdrive would normally be. This is the drive for windows. It doesn't have to have bootcamp (if it means holding down a button at start up to over-ride OSX start up to choose the Windows drive, that's fine).
I was told VMWare Fusion wouldn't have any performance drops. I was going to write to them and ask about that. I may just try the trial version - I might just start a whole new thread if it comes to that!
Yes, this is the problem. Which angers me no end, as before buying this very expensive thing, I was told by one at "enterprise", 3 product specialists and 4 first level contact people all at apple support, that it was not a problem with the raid card. I only asked so many times, as it was written there saying it couldn't be done. I was told as long as it was not part of the raid set up, then all would be gravy. Now, all of a sudden, it's mud.
Forgive me, but I'm a little confused. Did you try the AHCI drivers and installation method I described, and it wouldn't work? Or something else happened?
Again, it shouldn't be a problem...
Seriously, it's software that's been known to function on Macs rather well, so you should be good.My experience with VMWare was rather limited on a Mac, as I sent it back in the return period. But IIRC, you can specify where to put it (windows).
Too hard to say for me really. I've no idea of what you're doing, or how you plan to allocate resources.
Without details, it's sort of a wild guess, but you'd want to look into #3, or even consider going for RAID 10 (1+0). 10 is a little safer (additional redundancy), but is a little slower, and only offeres you half the capacity of the drives used. But with any RAID or even single HDD, you do need a backup. For me, the need is stressed even more when RAID is involved, as the data is too important to lose.
no, I've been away from the computer a few days and will maybe give this a go when I get back and if i can get a few hours to myself. Will update when I can. Cheers again Nanofrog!