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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 :)

Preferred Field Storage and Backup

J

John Logan

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Hey All,

I searched diligently for that "what kind of drives are people using/liking for their field storage" post, but nothing comes up.

So I'll field the question here:

What kind (and configuration) of drives are you guys liking for field storage/backup? Typically, how many TB is recommended for a day's shoot?

What is the most dependable incarnation of LTO for use with the latest mac operating system and technology?

Thanks ahead of time!

- Logan
 
My preferences and they are listed in order.

G-Tech (RAIDs work best, but the small, portable drives are great too)
Sonnet Fusion
OWC (love their small bus powered drives)

Avoid cheap drives. I do not like the Maxtor firewire drives, nor do I like Lacies. Seagate external firewire drives can be cranky, don't like to stay awake.

I'm sure there are other great options people are using.

In terms of LTO, I'd read through some of the threads. There are some that love the networked versions, others who love LTO-3, and others who like DLT. Backup software on mac side is probably not as abundant and/or stable as the PC. But again, this depends on the software package.
 
Do the OWC bus powered dolly chain well? Attaching one OWC to another? Does the power pass thru to the second drive?

I would love to dolly chain two bus powered FW800 OWC drives into the same Firewire port on a MacBook Pro.
 
Dukemovie said:
Do the OWC bus powered dolly chain well? Attaching one OWC to another? Does the power pass thru to the second drive?

I would love to dolly chain two bus powered FW800 OWC drives into the same Firewire port on a MacBook Pro.
Click to expand...

Absolutely recommend the OWC drives to you. I've got 11 of them and while all of them don't run all the time they daisy chain together quite well.

They have been VERY reliable for me so far, and they usually have a 5 year warranty of the drives inside the enclosure.

That's all I use now, I've had the LaCie's in the past and now have some that won't mount at all, even after only a years use. Warranty is not as good either.

Try them you'll iike the enclosures too.

I've only used them via Firewire 800 into the computer.

Best,
Frazier Nivens, Ocean Imaging
 
i would avoid more than 1 buspowered device on the firewire port. you risk to damage your firewireport and you loose speed with each firewireadapter... We even have sometimes problems mounting the RedDrive on buspower, and now use them always, when possible, with the external powersupply.
For copying on 'small discs i would not use firewire, as the firewire is needed for the RedDrive and/or the CF reader, but a esata adapter with for example a Sonnet F2 or 2x Plextor portable hdd and use a powersupply adapter for the drives.
We always make 2 copies on set and if you are on battery, you could make one copy on the internal disk of the macbookpro and one copy on an external disk, could be esata, usb/firewire buspowered -- the new macbookpro 15 only has 1 firewire800 port, that you would need for the cardreader/RedDrive
 
CalDigi ?

CalDigi ?

Some one has a comment or experience with the Cal Digit ?

I need disks for a tv series (shoot whit 2 Red One's) and I planning use this disks in the set and then send as copy of the .R3D also a Pro Res file to post area.
 
For copying RED CF cards this is a fast and bus powered solution:

Buy a Sonnet Pro Dual Card Reader and backup your files on the internal drive and a copy via FW 800 on a 2.5“ drive housed in an enclosure with FW800/esata ports.
If you can afford go for 2nd Generation SSD‘s available up to 250 GB, very soon up to 500 GB

http://www.sonnettech.com/product/produalcfadapterexpress34.html

http://www.onnto.com.tw/pro_secclas...osure&sec_desc=2.5-inch_SATAPro_HDD_enclosure

http://www.toshiba.co.jp/about/press/2008_12/pr1801.htm


If your further workflow is on a mac pro you can connect your external 2.5“ drive via esata or FW 800.
 
It seems that the new macbook pro requires some workarounds for on set workflow because of the lack of that extra firewire port.

Do people think that is true?

Has anyone got a great new macbook pro portable workflow that is solid?
 
davidtorres said:
Some one has a comment or experience with the Cal Digit ?

I need disks for a tv series (shoot whit 2 Red One's) and I planning use this disks in the set and then send as copy of the .R3D also a Pro Res file to post area.
Click to expand...

I've been testing the HDOne with the expresscard adaptor on a MacBook Pro and I have to say that it looks like a great option for keeping large amounts of data on a set.

It's nice because it's a RAID 5 and you can keep all of your footage on one drive and have access to it, instead of breaking it up into several drives and daisy chaining them.

Then when you're ready to transfer to a SAN for editing, all you need is a card installed into a Mac Pro to transfer the data over at 300-400MB/sec.

I think it's a great option for anyone needing several TB of redundant storage on set.

-Russ
 
Russ L said:
I've been testing the HDOne with the expresscard adaptor on a MacBook Pro and I have to say that it looks like a great option for keeping large amounts of data on a set.

It's nice because it's a RAID 5 and you can keep all of your footage on one drive and have access to it, instead of breaking it up into several drives and daisy chaining them.

Then when you're ready to transfer to a SAN for editing, all you need is a card installed into a Mac Pro to transfer the data over at 300-400MB/sec.

I think it's a great option for anyone needing several TB of redundant storage on set.

-Russ
Click to expand...

Just make sure the person transporting that one drive doesn't get hit by a bus. I think the RAIDs are a great option, due to the redundancy in one unit. But the problem comes in the one unit. If that were to be damaged, lost, dropped off a cliff, the project would be lost. Although I always keep this as a potential option for a certain level of project, I find I am more comfortable with the idea of a minimum of 2 sets of drives, and often times I go to a third. That way, one drive can go to post, one drive can go somewhere else to be archived, and the third drive can either stay with me or to a designated third party. Of course this all depends on time and budget.

Now, the reality is that in 99% of cases, no one is going to lose the RAID, and probably won't cause any damage to it either. But that 1% could really bite you.

I do like the speed!
 
davidtorres said:
Some one has a comment or experience with the Cal Digit ?

I need disks for a tv series (shoot whit 2 Red One's) and I planning use this disks in the set and then send as copy of the .R3D also a Pro Res file to post area.
Click to expand...


We use CalDigits. They are a no-compromise company in terms of quality hardware components and their warranty support is fantastic. Bit pricey, but worth every penny.
 
There are two problems with RAID.

One is the one unit thing - any physical damage is likely to destroy both drives in the set.
The second is storage. I like the idea of take one copy of the data and storing it at a physically separate location for the duration of the production. RAID sets, while they can often do this, are not designed to - with one of the pair of drives missing the set is operating in a 'damaged' condition, and weirdness can result. Also if any changes happen to one of the pair, there can be problems or unexpected data loss when they are reunited.

Our approach with SolidStore (which is still in development and will still become a viable product in the reasonably near future) we've chosen to make two copies to completely independent disks that can then be handled, transported and used separately.
 
Dylan Reeve said:
There are two problems with RAID.

One is the one unit thing - any physical damage is likely to destroy both drives in the set.
The second is storage. I like the idea of take one copy of the data and storing it at a physically separate location for the duration of the production. RAID sets, while they can often do this, are not designed to - with one of the pair of drives missing the set is operating in a 'damaged' condition, and weirdness can result. Also if any changes happen to one of the pair, there can be problems or unexpected data loss when they are reunited.

Our approach with SolidStore (which is still in development and will still become a viable product in the reasonably near future) we've chosen to make two copies to completely independent disks that can then be handled, transported and used separately.
Click to expand...

Getting close with SolidStore? Looking forward to this. NAB 2009 perhaps?
 
stevesherrick said:
Getting close with SolidStore? Looking forward to this. NAB 2009 perhaps?
Click to expand...

That would be nice. Not sure if the corporate budget stretches to an NAB visit, but who knows. Our final prototype should be together and testing in early '09. Then we lock off design and get final production costings. Fingers crossed.
 
stevesherrick said:
Just make sure the person transporting that one drive doesn't get hit by a bus. I think the RAIDs are a great option, due to the redundancy in one unit. But the problem comes in the one unit. If that were to be damaged, lost, dropped off a cliff, the project would be lost. Although I always keep this as a potential option for a certain level of project, I find I am more comfortable with the idea of a minimum of 2 sets of drives, and often times I go to a third. That way, one drive can go to post, one drive can go somewhere else to be archived, and the third drive can either stay with me or to a designated third party. Of course this all depends on time and budget.

Now, the reality is that in 99% of cases, no one is going to lose the RAID, and probably won't cause any damage to it either. But that 1% could really bite you.

I do like the speed!
Click to expand...

As Steve says, don't rely on just the RAID. Still make another copy to a drive or LTO that you can take off set.

-Russ
 
I must be the only Sonnet Fusion F2 owner to have had a bad experience - my drive has been totally unreliable and caused me serious hassle

I've just spent 2 whole days troubleshooting it, entirely erasing both drives with zeroes, reformatting, partitioning, repairing, restriping only for it to miswrite all over
again - I'm sending it back and have bought a G-Tech FW800 raid instead

I so wanted a completely portable system and it was so fast when it first worked but reliability is everything!

I might well get a replacement F2 but what with the vulnerability of the express 34 card as well, I'm keeping a G-Tech in the kit
 
I suggest the RTX100H-Q from wiebetech.com. I have 4 500GB Drives in my kit with 2 of these enclosures connected to two esata ports on my macbook pro in the field for offloading. Either recycle the hard drives between shoots, or buy more if needed. Makes the cost of drives cheap in the end.
 
I would send it straight back to Sonnet, with a serious letter of complaint. Have used about 20 of these drives over the last six months without any problems. From -30C in Alaska to +45C 95% humidity in South America. One got dropped onto a cement floor in Nicaragua... kept on going. It is their size and speed that makes them so fantastic to use. Also no fans when you are doing late night backups. I fit ten of them into a small Storm case to carry as hand luggage. Must say I have had zero hassles with the SATA express card. I do carry a back-up though.
 
Thanks for your answer and share your experience.
I'm in a pre prod for the first Mexican Tv series full shoot in Red, we start the first week of march whit 2 red ones a some days 3.
 
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