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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 :)

How long does it take to empty a 64gb red ssd card?

Omar N

Omar N

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Hello everyone,

I am wondering if anyone who has experience can tell me how long it takes to empty a completely full 64GB SSD card to a computer via firewire 800 as this will help me determine how many RED SSD's I should buy.

Also, how about USB 2.0?

As always, your help is very appreciated.

Thank you,
~Omar
 
Here are the maximum theoretical speeds of the interfaces on the REDMAG reader when emptying a 64 GB SSD.

eSATA: 2 minutes, 51 seconds
FireWire 800: 10 minutes, 40 seconds
USB 2.0: 17 minutes, 47 seconds

The speed of the actual REDMAG SSD is around 260 MB/s. The fastest interface on the REDMAG reader is eSATA. eSATA = 3 Gbps = 375 MB/s (maximum theoretical). Meaning that eSATA is faster than the actual SSD. So, if your hard drive array in your computer is capable of transferring data at at least 260 MB/s (any two drive RAID 0 array should support that fine) than the fastest you could empty a 64 GB SSD over eSATA is 4 minutes, 7 seconds (maximum theoretical speed of the SSD). Your being limited slightly by the SSD (it's around 31% slower than eSATA). Since FireWire 800 and USB 2.0 are both slower than the speed of the SSD, the times above would be accurate.

If you're not using an array, but a single hard drive instead, then you're going to be limited by the speed of your drive. Single hard drives usually operate at between 120-150 MB/s. So, emptying the card would instead take around 8 minutes even if you're using eSATA.

Factoring in drive overhead, here are some more realistic speeds.

eSATA: 5 minutes
FireWire 800: 12 minutes
USB 2.0: 20 minutes

When you're transferring data from any memory card to your computer, there are a lot of points where the data can get slowed down. It's difficult to give a real-world estimate because it really all depends on your equipment.

Example:
Memory Card Bus (REDMAG SSD, CF card, etc.) ---- Memory Card Reader ---- Bus Interface ---- Computer Disk Speeds

Hope this helps! :)
 
Last edited:
Nice math! Gives a pretty accurate ballpark figure.

I'd be curious finding what are r/l results from RED owners?

Btw, Brian, weren't you 17 not so long ago? Happy BDay man. :)
 
Great post Brian. Very clearly explained.

Anyone know if a single 2.5" SSD would be as fast as a two drive raid? Also, if I used a SSD via the RED 2.5" reader using esata, would it transfer nice and fast even if my local C drive is a standard slow laptop drive?
 
Troy Bakewell said:
Great post Brian. Very clearly explained.

Anyone know if a single 2.5" SSD would be as fast as a two drive raid? Also, if I used a SSD via the RED 2.5" reader using esata, would it transfer nice and fast even if my local C drive is a standard slow laptop drive?
Click to expand...

Are you talking about a 2.5" REDMAG or a 2.5" SSD for computers?
 
Hello everyone,

Thanks for the fantastic response Brian! That answers the question perfectly.

One other question (sorry if this sounds dumb), do the RED stations require an AC outlet in order to work? I was under the impression that they worked like CF readers in that they did not need power outlets to function.
 
I was planning to dump the RedMag via the Red station reader to a standard Intel 2.5" SSD via the Red station 2.5" reader, connected to my laptop with a dual esata card.

Make sense?
 
you probably wont' get much faster than 100-150 mb/sec off a express card. the express slot is rated for 200 mb/sec, but I haven't seen a single expresscard to really get even close to that. even the claimed fastest sonnet esata pro card, though it's a bit faster than the generic cheap cards.
 
Troy Bakewell said:
I was planning to dump the RedMag via the Red station reader to a standard Intel 2.5" SSD via the Red station 2.5" reader, connected to my laptop with a dual esata card.

Make sense?
Click to expand...

Intel's 2.5" SSD's range from 200 MB/s to 750 MB/s. So, it really depends on which model you're using. Most likely, the Intel SSD and eSATA (375 MB/s) are going to be the fastest links while the REDMAG (260 MB/s) is going to be the slowest link.

However, there is one possible issue with your setup. You say that you're going to have a dual-eSATA card connected to your notebook? How are you going to be connecting it? (i.e. Thunderbolt, ExpressCard/34, ExpressCard/54, etc.?)
 
Its possible to use bus power when needed...

Omar N said:
Hello everyone,

Thanks for the fantastic response Brian! That answers the question perfectly.

One other question (sorry if this sounds dumb), do the RED stations require an AC outlet in order to work? I was under the impression that they worked like CF readers in that they did not need power outlets to function.
Click to expand...
 
Brian Iannone said:
Intel's 2.5" SSD's range from 200 MB/s to 750 MB/s. So, it really depends on which model you're using. Most likely, the Intel SSD and eSATA (375 MB/s) are going to be the fastest links while the REDMAG (260 MB/s) is going to be the slowest link.

However, there is one possible issue with your setup. You say that you're going to have a dual-eSATA card connected to your notebook? How are you going to be connecting it? (i.e. Thunderbolt, ExpressCard/34, ExpressCard/54, etc.?)
Click to expand...



express 34
 
Ah, great. Is there any downfall to using bus power? I wonder if the transfer speed is slower?
 
Omar N said:
Ah, great. Is there any downfall to using bus power? I wonder if the transfer speed is slower?
Click to expand...

Transfer speeds won't decrease. However, I believe the REDMAG station only supports bus power when you're using USB 2.0. I don't think bus power over FireWire 800 or eSATA is supported. I've never tested that before so I'm not sure...
 
Brian


Thanks for all your help.

My current laptop is a lenovo t61p I haven't purchased a card yet but I was leaning toward a Lacie model. Does the card make a big difference?
 
Troy Bakewell said:
Brian


Thanks for all your help.

My current laptop is a lenovo t61p I haven't purchased a card yet but I was leaning toward a Lacie model. Does the card make a big difference?
Click to expand...

The card does indeed make a big difference. If you're referring to LaCie's SATA II ExpressCard/34 card, I've never tried it, but I've heard it works well. I've never heard of anyone receiving the 300 MB/s speeds that LaCie states the product supports on the product page, but you should get between 125-200 MB/s out of it. Another good choice is Sonnet's Tempo SATA ExpressCard/34. I personally would go with Sonnet's card as LaCie products tend to have a high failure rate.
 
Brian Iannone said:
I personally would go with Sonnet's card as LaCie products tend to have a high failure rate.
Click to expand...
Hi Brian,

Where did you get that from, please ?
As far as I know, LaCie is a company with a very good reputation and high prices.
 
Brian Iannone said:
So, if your hard drive array in your computer is capable of transferring data at at least 260 MB/s (any two drive RAID 0 array should support that fine) than the fastest you could empty a 64 GB SSD over eSATA is 4 minutes, 7 seconds (maximum theoretical speed of the SSD). Your being limited slightly by the SSD (it's around 31% slower than eSATA). Since FireWire 800 and USB 2.0 are both slower than the speed of the SSD, the times above would be accurate.

If you're not using an array, but a single hard drive instead, then you're going to be limited by the speed of your drive. Single hard drives usually operate at between 120-150 MB/s. So, emptying the card would instead take around 8 minutes even if you're using eSATA.
Click to expand...

Just to make shure people dont get a unrealistic point of view..
MOST harddrives dont have a transferrate around 120-150 MB/s. Good 7200 ones have around 80 MB/s in reality.. 120 MB/s i havn't seen yet on a single drive (especially if it is filled above 10%)
To get 260 MB/s with raid 0, you need at least 4 drives to have sustained rate throughout the whole storage space.

There is a big difference getting a few MB's on an empty disk and copying SSD after SSD on set..

I would account for not less than 15min for an SSD to a single drive
 
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