Setting up a high speed network for a company. Help.

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Hello everyone!

I have been reading this site for years but I have never registered as a user until now, so hello to everyone!

The reason I started this thread was because I would like to acquire everyones opinion on how I should properly setup a network for media company. The company deals with HD footage, RAW files, 3D Motion graphics, and web development.

We currently have two machines (27" iMac and a 15" MBP). We also have a 4TB G-RAID (raid 0) for speed increases while working with video footage. We are just about to buy a G-SPEED Q (raid 5) to back up both computers and the g-raid drive and I am also about to also invest in a airport extreme to replace an old router.

What is the best way to setup a network that i can share all files and back up all computers and drives. I would also like the MBP to be able to plug in a ethernet cable and over the network use the g-raids striping drive speed advantage, if it is even possible.

Thanks!

 

[nissan.gtp]

All those are Firewire 800, correct ?

The drive-stiping speed isn't going to help much if you're accessing it over a network, should go direct-attach.

Put the drives local to the iMac for best speed, and then direct connect the two systems with an ethernet cable. That way the MBP can get to the files, and do backups to the array. If you have more than two macs (or have other hard-wired networking requirements), you'll need a switch (Airport Extreme has 3 ports).

 

[Hellhammer]

A bit more info would be helpful. Is the RAID 0 box connected to the iMac? What interface does it use? Will the RAID 5 box be NAS or connected to a computer?

The ideal setup would of course be wired Gigabit Ethernet for all computers. I think the RAID 5 should be connected to the network (i.e. NAS) because then it's not dependent on the iMac and you can access the files even when the iMac is turned off.