Welcome to our community

Be a part of something great, join today!

Log in
  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

Compatible eSata Card for Redstation on PC

Carelton Holt

Carelton Holt

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 11, 2011
Messages
144
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Location
Kennesaw, GA
Website
www.gdifilms.com
We are looking for an eSata card that is compatible with our PC and Redstation. The manual states that it will only connect with Silicon Image and Highpoint. Our Redsatation is definitely not communicating to our PC through the eSata connection and we could really use the higher transfer speed. Can anyone suggest a specific model number that has worked for them on a PC? Thanks and sorry if this has been discussed, I looked but couldn't find anything specific on the topic.
Cheers,
 
Just want to be sure, but are you looking for a PCIe card? Also, do you need a certain number of ports (e.g. 2, 4, etc.), or is that irrelevant?

When you say that the REDSTATION is currently not communicating with your PC through the eSATA connection, are you referring to an eSATA port that's on the PC's motherboard?
 
Hey Brian,
Yes, we are looking for a PCIe card, probably from HighPoint as it is listed by RED as compatible and they seem more readily available on places like NewEgg. I think the two cards below are the right ones, but just want to make sure before we spend the time of installing, etc. Our current PC configuration has a couple of eSATA connections... one in a handy case mounted multi eSATA, USB, Firewire and audio "hub" and another couple in the rear of the case, but all are connected directly to the motherboard. The RedStation is not recognized on any of the ports as the eSATA is obviously a different brand (the motherboard). We have plenty of room for another PCIe card, so just looking for something compatible.. we have two RedStations so two or four ports would be fine as we have the other ports from the motherboard to use for our external RAID drives, etc. The links below are to HighPoint products on NewEgg. Let me know if you have a definitive feeling. Thanks!!!!


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816115035

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816115078
 
Carelton Holt said:
Hey Brian,
Yes, we are looking for a PCIe card, probably from HighPoint as it is listed by RED as compatible and they seem more readily available on places like NewEgg. I think the two cards below are the right ones, but just want to make sure before we spend the time of installing, etc. Our current PC configuration has a couple of eSATA connections... one in a handy case mounted multi eSATA, USB, Firewire and audio "hub" and another couple in the rear of the case, but all are connected directly to the motherboard. The RedStation is not recognized on any of the ports as the eSATA is obviously a different brand (the motherboard). We have plenty of room for another PCIe card, so just looking for something compatible.. we have two RedStations so two or four ports would be fine as we have the other ports from the motherboard to use for our external RAID drives, etc. The links below are to HighPoint products on NewEgg. Let me know if you have a definitive feeling. Thanks!!!!


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816115035

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816115078
Click to expand...

If you want a card from HighPoint, I'd go with the second one (the 644). To be honest, though, I personally would avoid HighPoint's eSATA cards. (if you look at a few of the reviews, you'll see what I mean.)

If you wanted to, you could try a card from Sonnet, LSI, SANS Digital or ATTO, and if it doesn't work out, then go with the HighPoint one. I must say, however, that eSATA cards, from whichever brand, will always have compatibility issues with certain systems. That's why most eSATA PCIe cards, even ones that I would describe as 'good' have some 1-star reviews. I know it sounds like I'm contradicting what I wrote in my third sentence, but that's just a thought. :)

But anyway, I personally would avoid HighPoint, Rosewill and Lacie cards.
 
Brian,
Thanks for taking time to share your thoughts, but I am trying to find a a case where a PC user is having definite success. A number eSATA cards are reported throughout the forum as giving trouble, so I was hoping for a more proven solution. We are a commercial production company and really try to limit "trial and error" processes as much as possible. I know there are better cards out there than the HighPoint, but it is listed as compatible in the RedStation Users Manual ( only not by any specific model).

Brian Iannone said:
If you want a card from HighPoint, I'd go with the second one (the 644). To be honest, though, I personally would avoid HighPoint's eSATA cards. (if you look at a few of the reviews, you'll see what I mean.)

If you wanted to, you could try a card from Sonnet, LSI, SANS Digital or ATTO, and if it doesn't work out, then go with the HighPoint one. I must say, however, that eSATA cards, from whichever brand, will always have compatibility issues with certain systems. That's why most eSATA PCIe cards, even ones that I would describe as 'good' have some 1-star reviews. I know it sounds like I'm contradicting what I wrote in my third sentence, but that's just a thought. :)

But anyway, I personally would avoid HighPoint, Rosewill and Lacie cards.
Click to expand...
 
Looked pretty hard there and posted a question on what seemed to be a relative thread, but most of the conversation surrounds Mac and MBP and not PC. With the large volume of new Scarlet Users, I thought this would be a topic a number of users might benefit from. It appears from the post just before yours, that even some of the recommended cards have issues as well... just sayin'

Trevor Meeks said:
Hardware section of the forum...... it exists for a reason! Just sayin'
Click to expand...
 
Hey Tony, Thanks for the recommendation! The speed seems a little slow compared to some stuff I have read in the hardware section of the forum, do you think it is a measure of the card or the media? I am having a little trouble locating performance specs on this particular card.
TonySegreto said:
I'm a PC =)
Click to expand...
 
Carelton Holt said:
Hey Tony, Thanks for the recommendation! The speed seems a little slow compared to some stuff I have read in the hardware section of the forum, do you think it is a measure of the card or the media? I am having a little trouble locating performance specs on this particular card.
Click to expand...

Hrmm the other posts you may have been reading were probably transferring to a solid state drive or a RAID. I have 7200rpm internal drives, so they're maxing out at around 100MB/s, so its the drives that are slowing down my transfers. I can't say how fast it would transfer to a SSD or RAID. Hopefully I can tell you in a couple weeks haha. This card still outperforms my USB2 and USB3 connection dramatically. (around 30mbs and 60mbs)

My next buy will be http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148443 for my OS/ programs. I'll let you know how it goes.
 
Last edited:
Hey thanks Tony!!! I appreciate the feedback, I think I'll give that card a try. I'm just looking to ingest the footage from the RedStation faster than the USB2, so it doesn't have to be the fastest solution, just better than what we have now.

BTW, We are on two SATA drives in RAID (0) for both our OS and data drives and it really picked up the overall speed of our system a ton. I've been thinking about a couple of SSDs in RAID (O) for the OS & programs. I saw a really cool video a while back where some tech guys set up about 10 or so (can't remember the number exactly) SSD drives in RAID 0 and opened about 50 applications in a matter of seconds... it was a pretty awesome video. Even a single SSD should really pick up the performance of your box. Good luck and let me know how it goes!!! Thanks again for the post.
Cheers,
 
Carelton Holt said:
I've been thinking about a couple of SSDs in RAID (O) for the OS & programs. I saw a really cool video a while back where some tech guys set up about 10 or so (can't remember the number exactly) SSD drives in RAID 0 and opened about 50 applications in a matter of seconds... it was a pretty awesome video. Even a single SSD should really pick up the performance of your box.
Click to expand...

I just saw your post. One thing to know about striping multiple SSDs (RAID 0)... If you configure two or more SSDs in RAID 0 and use that volume for your OS and software, it will almost always be slower than a single SSD. Operating systems and programs/software access very tiny files and don't benefit from the speed that multiple striped disks offer. If fact, due to the overhead that RAID 0 produces (and the quality of your RAID controller), striping SSDs for your boot volume will indeed be slower.
 
Also, based on your budget, here are the SSDs I'd recommend for a boot volume. 120GB should be enough for a standard Windows 7 install and plenty of additional software, but 256GB of each SSDs below are available if you need more space. Keep in mind that you shouldn't have any unnecessary data (footage) other than just your OS and software on the boot volume.

Fastest
$400 - 120GB OCZ RevoDrive 3 PCIe SSD

Faster
$250 - 120GB OWC Mercury EXTREME Pro 6G SSD

Fast
$170 - 120GB OCZ Vertex 3 SSD

For SSDs to be used as boot volumes, pay attention to IOPS. :-)
 
I might have to go with "au contraire" on your reply. Perhaps RAID 0 is not correct, but have a look at the video link below and you can see the potential of SSD in RAID. It is pretty amazing... these guys put 24 SSD drives together for 2GB per second throughput! Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96dWOEa4Djs

Brian Iannone said:
I just saw your post. One thing to know about striping multiple SSDs (RAID 0)... If you configure two or more SSDs in RAID 0 and use that volume for your OS and software, it will almost always be slower than a single SSD. Operating systems and programs/software access very tiny files and don't benefit from the speed that multiple striped disks offer. If fact, due to the overhead that RAID 0 produces (and the quality of your RAID controller), striping SSDs for your boot volume will indeed be slower.
Click to expand...
 
Carelton Holt said:
I might have to go with "au contraire" on your reply. Perhaps RAID 0 is not correct, but have a look at the video link below and you can see the potential of SSD in RAID. It is pretty amazing... these guys put 24 SSD drives together for 2GB per second throughput! Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96dWOEa4Djs
Click to expand...

For data transfer speeds, striping multiple SSDs together in RAID 0 is excellent. But not for a boot volume. The files that make up your operating system and software packages are in the 100KB-10MB range. Not in the gigabyte range. Your not going to be transferring multiple gigabytes of of data back and forth from your boot volume to other locations (at least, you shouldn't be). Your boot volume should only be used for your OS and software. Nothing else.

Don't believe me? Get the info on your current boot volume and divide the total amount of data your using now by the total number of files in the volume. I assure you it will be a small number in the kilobyte to megabyte range. The system I'm working on as I type this post now has an average file size of 271.64KB on the boot volume. That's an OS X 10.7 install along with with CS5.5 Master Collection, C4D, Squeeze and a plethora of 87 other programs (literally, 87).

For your boot volume, you want the single fastest SSD you can get. For your data, you want both both the fastest and largest drives striped in either RAID 0, 5 or 6. I personally prefer 0, but if you don't plan on having a mirrored copy, then 5 or 6 would be a better choice. But, that's a different topic...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top