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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 :)

Large Thunderbolt RAID for Editing & Thunderbolt enclosure for REDROCKET

J

Joe Pontecorvo

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I will end up with an estimated 126 TB of data when my project is finished.
I am hoping to edit on the new iMac 27" when it delivers (or maybe new Mac Tower IF it happens).

I think I will be looking at 8 bay RAID (24TB with 3TB hard drives) system. OR should I consider more bays? What are the pros and cons of number of bays? (maybe 6 x24TB RAIDS - I think I would need to daisy chain 3 RAID systems per thunderbolt port.

I would like Thunderbolt, but it would be nice to have both thunderbolt and eSATA connections. I have used the Promis Pegasus Thunderbolt RAID and like it a lot, but only 16TB per tower.


RAID system:
FastMax FX8+ with Thunderbolt (I can't find it on their website yet). I haven't had any experience with Promax, but any feedback would be welcome... Jeff :)
http://www.promax.com

I am sure this has been covered, but with more thunderbolt RAID systems coming on the scene options are increasing.
 
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Try Maxx Digital, http://www.maxxdigital.com

You can contact Ron, He is a RU member, we use them for all of our needs.

427009_2561438035832_503771665_n.jpg
 
Nice set-up Ketch. I'm leaning towards Maxx Digital, need to call and find out when their FastMax Thunderbolt RAID will be available. How many bay enclosure is that, and what are you using for drives?
I assume your experience with Maxx Digital has been a positive one.

KETCH ROSSi said:
Try Maxx Digital, http://www.maxxdigital.com

You can contact Ron, He is a RU member, we use them for all of our needs.

427009_2561438035832_503771665_n.jpg
Click to expand...
 
Dimitri Boschma said:
Maybe this is an option for you:

http://www.areca.com.tw/products/thunderbolt.htm
Click to expand...

Do you have any experience with this company? I've not heard of these guys, but did a little research, speed tests look good.
I wonder how quiet it is. Anyway, thanks for lead.

UPDATE: I have a little info on the ARC-8050 RAID. It will be priced around 1,450.00 (without drives of course). It is estimated to ship in about three weeks. Having said that I still don;t know much about this company in terms of RAID / Storage.
 
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I have created a very shot list of Thunder bolt RAID systems - please add to this list:

Maxx Digital - shipping now
http://www.maxxdigital.com/thunderraid-380.html

Areca - estimated shipping 3 weeks
http://www.areca.com.tw/products/thunderbolt.htm

Promise - shipping
http://www.promise.com/storage/raid...b_m=sub_m_7&rsn1=40&rsn3=47&statistic=pegasus


Sonnet - shipping
http://www.sonnettech.com/product/fusiondx800raidthunderbolt.html

G-Technology - shipping (still a bit small for my needs)
http://www.g-technology.com/products/g-speed-es-pro.cfm
 
HARD DRIVES FOR RAID

HARD DRIVES FOR RAID

I don't want to start a new thread just for this, but what recommendations do you guys have for Internal Hard drives for Thunderbolt RAID system.
Do I really need Enterprise Drives? I haven't used them in the past due to expense and although I have had drives fail, nothing catastrophic since I was using RAID 5. But now I am talking about a massive amount of storage.

I am thinking 3TB. I have had pretty good success with Hitachi
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/758518-REG/Hitachi_0S03086_3TB_Deskstar_3_5_SATA.html

But these WD are a pretty good price and they say they are designed for RAID use, but not sure I understand the spin rate of IntelliPower- I assume it adjusts speeds based on access need- but not sure how that measures out in performance.
http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.aspx?id=810
 
Joe, The G-technology you list isn't a Thunderbolt enclosure...
But if you are going the route of an Sonnet / Magma or other Thunderbolt enclosure with an Atto R680 Card for example. You options for enclosures would expand a lot...
Then the list for 'good' ones would still consist G-tech / Sonnet / Maxxdigital in my eyes... it you would have some more options.

I have 2 enclosures from Sonnet (R400 and R800) And love them... that's all I can say. To answer your Question about Areca, no first hand experience, but from what I read they make some very good Raid Cards. Maybe Reduser hardware ubermeister 'Jeff' could elaborate on this.. ;)
 
FWIW, that TB RAID at MAXX Digital appears to a re-branded ARECA unit. I don't know if that means anything either way and all the ARECA host adapters I've used have been excellent. I would not hesitate to buy through MAXX Digital for the great customer service and support. It's got my interest as well... I may have to try one out soon. I'm thinking of ordering one of the new 27" iMacs, maybe...
 
Jeff Kilgroe said:
FWIW, that TB RAID at MAXX Digital appears to a re-branded ARECA unit. I don't know if that means anything either way and all the ARECA host adapters I've used have been excellent. I would not hesitate to buy through MAXX Digital for the great customer service and support. It's got my interest as well... I may have to try one out soon. I'm thinking of ordering one of the new 27" iMacs, maybe...
Click to expand...

Jeff, are you thinking it is a re-branded ARC-8050: http://www.areca.com.tw/products/thunderbolt.htm
Just wondering, because I found the ARC-8050 for about 1,500.00 - without drives of course: http://www.cineraid.com/products/FIT_CR8050.htm
I have heard that Maxx Digital has excellent customer service, but seems to be quite a bit of savings going this direction depending upon drives used I guess.

That's my second question: Do I really need to use Enterprise class drives? What about simply using Hitachi Deskstar 3TB drives:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=&sku=758518&is=REG&A=details&Q=
 
From what I know some enclosures are a bit 'picky' about compatible drives... especially the larger ones... 2TB+. And for optimal performance, and using in Raid, enterprise class drives are optimized for that. Don't know the specifics.
 
You definitely want "enterprise" class drives or drives that are optimized for RAID use. The Hitachi DeskStar units are NOT the drives you are looking for. When it comes to the right drives, it's not that the hardware is really any different, it's the way the drives are designed to be used. Enterprise or RAID drives have different cacheing parameters and they have much faster initiation and transaction time-out sequences. With something like the DeskStar units, you may end up having your RAID hang up momentarily at times because you're waiting for a drive to complete a transaction when an enterprise drive would have already completed or timed out to move on.

For RAID use, I don't trust desktop or consumer class hard drives, they never work as I'd like. Sure, they work, but that's about it... Yes, they are cheaper and you save money up front, but I find that you never really gain anything for your bit of savings. So, for RAIDs, or drives in any critical workstations, I only use the WD RE series, Seagate Constellation (not Barracuda), and Hitachi UltraStar drives. For the 3TB drives, these units are about a $100 premium over the desktop counterparts. The 4TB WD RE drives are a $70 premium over the desktop units, but you're still looking at $480/drive and they're pretty new and unproven, so critical RAID use is not recommended by me. ...yet.

For the above ARECA RAID unit, assuming they even make it themselves, there are several of those Thunderbolt units out there being sold by numerous companies. It looks like ARECA is the manufacturer of origin, but I can't say for sure.... Anyway, if we can buy that unit bare for about $1500. Then we can add 8 x 3TB Hitachi UltraStar drives for $300 each or a total of $2400, making it a $3900 24TB RAID. That is $500 cheaper than buying through MAXX Digital. I don't know about you, but I'd call MAXX Digital and buy through them, then you get one that is tuned and tested and backed by a good warranty and real support. And, as someone who buys hundreds of hard drives in a year, I can tell you this, the support and warranty are golden. Even with enterprise class drives, the warranty process and hassle through the manufacturers is a pain and often not worth the effort and down-time just to get a refurbished unit for replacement, which is almost always what they send.
 
Jeff Kilgroe said:
You definitely want "enterprise" class drives or drives that are optimized for RAID use. The Hitachi DeskStar units are NOT the drives you are looking for. When it comes to the right drives, it's not that the hardware is really any different, it's the way the drives are designed to be used. Enterprise or RAID drives have different cacheing parameters and they have much faster initiation and transaction time-out sequences. With something like the DeskStar units, you may end up having your RAID hang up momentarily at times because you're waiting for a drive to complete a transaction when an enterprise drive would have already completed or timed out to move on.

For RAID use, I don't trust desktop or consumer class hard drives, they never work as I'd like. Sure, they work, but that's about it... Yes, they are cheaper and you save money up front, but I find that you never really gain anything for your bit of savings. So, for RAIDs, or drives in any critical workstations, I only use the WD RE series, Seagate Constellation (not Barracuda), and Hitachi UltraStar drives. For the 3TB drives, these units are about a $100 premium over the desktop counterparts. The 4TB WD RE drives are a $70 premium over the desktop units, but you're still looking at $480/drive and they're pretty new and unproven, so critical RAID use is not recommended by me. ...yet.

For the above ARECA RAID unit, assuming they even make it themselves, there are several of those Thunderbolt units out there being sold by numerous companies. It looks like ARECA is the manufacturer of origin, but I can't say for sure.... Anyway, if we can buy that unit bare for about $1500. Then we can add 8 x 3TB Hitachi UltraStar drives for $300 each or a total of $2400, making it a $3900 24TB RAID. That is $500 cheaper than buying through MAXX Digital. I don't know about you, but I'd call MAXX Digital and buy through them, then you get one that is tuned and tested and backed by a good warranty and real support. And, as someone who buys hundreds of hard drives in a year, I can tell you this, the support and warranty are golden. Even with enterprise class drives, the warranty process and hassle through the manufacturers is a pain and often not worth the effort and down-time just to get a refurbished unit for replacement, which is almost always what they send.
Click to expand...

Thank you Jeff, as usual your knowledge and advice is invaluable. I have heard really good things about MAXX Digital from a customer service stand point, so they may be the best option for that particular unit.
 
Drobo's are terribly slow and inefficient. They're easy to use but if you want performance, you're not going to get it. I would like to say that Drobo units are reliable, however my own experiences have proven otherwise. I doubt I'll use any of their products again anytime soon and I can't recommend them to others. If you want a second opinion, ask Jarred. Last I checked, I don't think he had any love for Drobo either. ;)
 
Another Thunderbolt question... I have noticed the end of the thunderbolt cable gets quite hot after using it for some time. I have also noticed my MacBook Pro case gets very warm around the connectors.
I am just wondering if this will be an issue on the new iMac when daisy chaining multiple RAID systems together and running them over a long period of time.
I don't know a whole lot about Thunderbolt technology so my concerns are not grounded in any technical knowledge.
 
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