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  • 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 :)

Best 128TB RAIDs?

Tom Lowe

Tom Lowe

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I need to buy about six 128TB RAIDs, to use for online 4K editing, as well as mass storage. I will be using PCs, not Macs.

This 128TB 16-bay Thunderbolt server from MAXX Digital looks pretty good: http://www.maxxdigital.com/evo-6g-16-bay-thunderbolt2.html

Here is another, from Accusys, along the same lines, but with two more TB ports (not sure we need them): http://www.accusys.com.tw/products/thunderbolt-storage/a16t2-share-new/spec.html

I don't have experience in dealing with large RAIDs of this type, so I was wondering if anyone might have advice about whether this is a good route to go. I don't really want larger 24-bay+ RAIDs that will be harder to move around and mirror.

Does anyone have any other recommendations for other 128TB RAID servers? I would rather not be using Thunderbolt, due to its lack of compatibility with Windows, but I am not sure what other connection options might work me? SAS?
 
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I would start with this Thinkmate storage server chassis and configure to taste. 16 x 8TB helium drives = 128TB. 10GBe can be used from the motherboard (if you choose that option). 100GB cards are available if you have a 100GB switch to play with (such as Mellanox).
 
Michael Tiemann said:
I would start with this Thinkmate storage server chassis and configure to taste. 16 x 8TB helium drives = 128TB. 10GBe can be used from the motherboard (if you choose that option). 100GB cards are available if you have a 100GB switch to play with (such as Mellanox).
Click to expand...

Does it seem like Thunderbolt might be easier? Will I run into bandwidth issues (bottlenecks) using Thunderbolt 2 with 16-bay RAIDs?
 
Tom Lowe said:
I need to buy about six 128TB RAIDs, to use for online 4K editing, as well as mass storage. I will be using PCs, not Macs.

This 128TB 16-bay Thunderbolt server from MAXX Digital looks pretty good: http://www.maxxdigital.com/evo-6g-16-bay-thunderbolt2.html

Here is another, from Accusys, along the same lines, but with two more TB ports (not sure we need them): http://www.accusys.com.tw/products/thunderbolt-storage/a16t2-share-new/spec.html



I don't have experience in dealing with large RAIDs of this type, so I was wondering if anyone might have advice about whether this is a good route to go. I don't really want larger 24-bay+ RAIDs that will be harder to move around and mirror.

Does anyone have any other recommendations for other 128TB RAID servers? I would rather not be using Thunderbolt, due to it's lack of compatibility with Windows, but I am not sure what other connection options might work me? SAS?
Click to expand...


Cineraid has their 24 Bay Thunderbolt 2 SAS unit which also has the SAS expander to chain SAS units as well. I would suggest starting there since they use Areca hardware.

http://www.cineraid.com/products/editpro_T2E_R24T2E12G.htm
 
The question for me is, who makes the QUIETEST version of this type of RAID device?
 
Martin Stevens said:
The question for me is, who makes the QUIETEST version of this type of RAID device?
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Once you get to the rack versions the quiet becomes an issue due to the PSU's they have to use for the redundant power. You can change the fans inside the racks though to quieter options but the PSU's will still generate a decent amount of noise. An iso-rack would be the best option if you get a 16 or 24 bay unit.
 
I'm using 2 MaxxDigital ThunderRAID 2 48TB units which give me 96TB. You can daisy chain them together. I'm also on Windows. Just add a Thunderbolt 2 PCIe card and you're good to go. I then backup all of the data to a slower server (148TB) everynight. So, I edit on the Thunderraid2 and backup to a server that looks like Thinkmate. I can assure you the Thinkmate won't have nearly the speeds that Thunderraid can provide. It's the reason I switched to Thuderraid2.

http://www.maxxdigital.com/thunderraid2.html
 
Hey Tom,

I have a couple Maxx Digital RAIDs myself. Give them a call and ask for Ryan Ackland. He is a great guy and helped me set up my shared storage system for an amazing price!
 
For the mass storage units you should consider a NAS that supports ZFS.
 
Don't know whats the best raid but of all things I tried I would recommend: http://www.tiger-technology.com

We used their fiber / san server with a mixture of PC's Mac's and Linux machines over time and the shit just works (like nothing else I tested) and when we mess things up completely because we do not know what we are doing, like installing some brand new OS versions that is not yet supported or such they got 24/7 support that gets us back on track within an hour or so.

I don't know what you are about to do, but I'm a bit curious, whats the reasoning behind having all the r3d´s / raw material on one server? Is it not easer to just edit proxies and then extract selected takes and do the online from those?

Regarding sound, I would make sure the raid and the rest of the machines get a seperate room. Simply Pull cables trough the wall or such. As working with even the most silent disks gets to you over time and the heat they spit out is nice to keep out of the work space.

If it in a hot area that room also needs a serious aircon to keep temperature at good levels for the drives., preferably with a backup system and a reliable UPS.
 
Björn Benckert said:
I don't know what you are about to do, but I'm a bit curious, whats the reasoning behind having all the r3d´s / raw material on one server? Is it not easer to just edit proxies and then extract selected takes and do the online from those? Regarding sound, I would make sure the raid and the rest of the machines get a seperate room. Simply Pull cables trough the wall or such. As working with even the most silent disks gets to you over time and the heat they spit out is nice to keep out of the work space. If it in a hot area that room also needs a serious aircon to keep temperature at good levels for the drives., preferably with a backup system and a reliable UPS.
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I think this is extremely good advice from Björn, and he said it better than I could.

The SansDigital Fibre Channel drives look pretty good on paper:

http://www.sansdigital.com/accuraid/index.php

I think anybody who's dealing with this amount of data has got to consider putting them in a separate ventilated room with its own UPS and filtered power. Don't subject your ears to the noise of this many drives screaming at one time. I don't think it's bad to have a couple of small drives just for local storage -- or even better, use SSDs -- but not 128TB.

Michael Cioni has talked about the need to use smaller drives in RAIDs instead of jumping on 4TB or 6TB drives, and he makes a good point as to why the access is faster.
 
You guys make a good point about the noise. I guess the limitation of Thunderbolt is the short cables?

What are the best alternatives to TB? In the 20gb range?

Right now we have a 16gb Faclilis server, but it's pretty expensive per TB.
 
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