Your opinion about Drobo 2

[jhero]

Hi there,

I was interested in getting a Drobo 2 with FW800 (and 2 7200 2TB drives) for video editing in FCP avchd files. I'm using an 08 mac pro. Does anyone else use this setup for editing and if it is a viable option as a performer while scrubbing?

I'm mostly interested in having a redundant storage solution that has great performance at a good price.

Thanks

 

[LethalWolfe]

I haven't used a Drobo first hand, but IIRC from what I've read the Drobo 1 and 2 aren't good for active storage because they are slow, but they are fine for backing up data. Since your source is AVCHD footage you'll need to convert that to ProRes which will definitely be too much for a regular Drobo. I'd look at the Drobo S connected via eSATA as being the bare minimum to use for active storage for editing.

If you are looking for great performance at a good price Drobo probably isn't the best bet as you'll pay more for a Drobo than you would for a 'regular' RAID of similar size and the Drobo probably will be slower. But that's the trade off you get for all the unique things that Drobo offers. Even if you buy a Drobo though you'll still want to keep other copies of your files on another set of drives because everything dies eventually.


Lethal

 

[CaptainChunk]

I wouldn't recommend using a Drobo system for editing. They really don't have the raw throughput a traditional two-disk RAID-0 enclosure would give you.

If I were you, I would get a good two-disk RAID-0 enclosure like this one and add your own bare drives to it. In most cases, it's cheaper and you'll get better performance.

 

[jhero]

I wouldn't recommend using a Drobo system for editing. They really don't have the raw throughput a traditional two-disk RAID-0 enclosure would give you.

If I were you, I would get a good two-disk RAID-0 enclosure like this one and add your own bare drives to it. In most cases, it's cheaper and you'll get better performance.

How about getting 2 of those enclosures and running 1 in RAID-0 through esata while the other is running RAID-1 via esata/fw800 for just backups?

Would that be a good option?

EDIT: On second thought, why not use this for now with 4 HD's http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other World Computing/MEQX2KIT0GB/ in RAID 5?

 

[CaptainChunk]

How about getting 2 of those enclosures and running 1 in RAID-0 through esata while the other is running RAID-1 via esata/fw800 for just backups?

Would that be a good option?

EDIT: On second thought, why not use this for now with 4 HD's http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other World Computing/MEQX2KIT0GB/ in RAID 5?

You could use that, too - if you really think you need a RAID-5. If you do end up running a RAID-5 through that OWC enclosure, I'd strongly recommend using enterprise-grade hard drives, though (WD RE3/RE4, Seagate ES2/ES3, Hitachi A7K series, etc.). They contain additional sensors to further prevent the heads from crashing on the platters in environments with lots of disk access, like RAID setups.

 

[jhero]

Ah perfect! You've been a great help, thanks!

 

[mister880]

Hi there,

I was interested in getting a Drobo 2 with FW800 (and 2 7200 2TB drives) for video editing in FCP avchd files. I'm using an 08 mac pro. Does anyone else use this setup for editing and if it is a viable option as a performer while scrubbing?

I'm mostly interested in having a redundant storage solution that has great performance at a good price.

Thanks

I bought first gen Drobo used it for about a year. It failed and I lost everything. Customer service is horrible. I wouldn't buy another Drobo under any circumstances.

Even if you do decide on Drobo they aren't fast enough to keep up with video even on wide open bus!

Just my 2 cents

Kevin L
Mister880