whats the best raid for on set work that is super mobile? 1pelican 1510 set up ideal

[Brian Merlen]

so if I have a pelican 1510, and a fully kitted retina macbook pro, what are the best drive options that can fit easily in the case along with the laptop (and ideally room to one day add a rocket x enclosure in the case as well)?

The goal being I do a lot of NYC work and I don't want to drive in with a tower for lower end jobs. So I'd like to have 1 Pelican 1510 that is ready to go for light weight gigs on metro north, so i'm kind of fighting the processing power, and storage capacities by being strict about the form factor of mobility and keeping mobility/quick set ups as my highest concern in this particular kit (while still being able to get at least some work done relatively fast).

I wanted a raid 5 solution, but i can't seem to find any that will even fit in this set up. So my next option is looking at Raid 1s. (but please advise me if you know of any raid 5s that may fit)

I was looking at the Promise J4 because it has 4 2.5 inch bays and can do raid 1. I want raid 1 on every drive I get, period, but this one will have 2 drives pushing that raid 1 set at least. its not bus powered, but the higher capacity, and my theory of double the throughput since it hosts double the drives as my next option below makes me think its not a bad little enclosure http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Promise Technology/PRJ4USOB/


then the other options I was looking at are 1 bus powered raid 1 from owc, i want this for when I have no power
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/firewire/EliteALmini/RAID/eSATA_FW800_FW400_USB

I am open to HDD suggestions as well for the above enclosures. I was considering going for the 1TB hybrid drives, unless someone has a better choice for speed that isn't entirely SSD based since i can't really justify those prices per gb
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Seagate/ST1000LM014/

then for larger gigs where the 1tb bus powered drive, or 2tb J4 won't cover me I was going to grab this with prob 6tb
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/Thunderbolt/External-Drive/OWC/Elite-Dual-RAID


So the only thing that worries me about my choices is since none are TB2 based its going to kill my rocket x throughput if i put my card in a TB2 enclosure (i don't anticipate getting my card any time soon, but its an important piece for a mobile kit if i need encodes via laptop). am i better off waiting until after NAB for stuff like what i showed in my examples, but TB2 based? or is the fact its all raid 1s going to make it so slow it won't matter that my enclosure will run at TB1 speeds for my future rocket x? maybe since optimization isn't done on the rocket x, I should wait to be safe for TB2 enclosures? just looking for advice.

the bus powered drive doesn't have TB at all, so I could always grab that now along with the retina and wait for my TB2 solutions to arrive? like I said I am in no rush since my card isn't on the way yet anyway, but i want to buy the right preliminary items if possible since I have no time frame for the rocket x

 

[Nick Pasquariello]

I don't have too much to add, except that the Pegasus R4 is juuuuuuust too big to fit into a 1510. I know it's not what you're looking at, but figured I'd add the info here.

Beyond that, I'm curious to know what you end up with/what others are using.

 

[Brian Merlen]

yea i really wanted it in the kit, but on my own research found that it, along with every other raid 5 i can seem to find, won't work for my strict size constraints of the single pelican case. does make me worry about throughput though, i mean 2 out of 3 of my above solutions are spinning at one drive speed only essentially..maybe i'm being too strict about the pelican only premise? Just grab a decent back pack for a Promise R4 (TB2 version) and throw the laptop in the 1510 and call it a day? i mean at least the drives would be fast then, and no power situations i can still grab a couple of those bus powered raids... also by adding a back pack to the mix leaves more room in the pelican for when the rocket x enclosure is ready...


as a side note anyone have any good backpack suggestions if i wanted to throw the R4 in one? Hell I could even fit a R6 maybe? but the latter might start to defeat the purpose of my mobility standards... assuming i can even safely find a way to stow a raid 5 in a back pack to begin with...

 

[Nick Pasquariello]

The R4 is pretty heavy. It would suck in a backpack.

There's also this option from OWC that should fit in a Pelican 1510: http://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/TBIVKIT0GB/

Though, really, it depends on your workflow. All the commercials that I DIT around here, none require me to use a RAID on set. I've done a few dual Epic shoots (usually no transcodes, and even if there are transcodes, no Rocket), checksumming to 2 destinations, with not much issue and not an inordinate amount of overtime. I have a Pelican 1510 that I always take to set that has a bunch of cables and tools in it; drive dock, Aja 4x1 distro, HDLink, and a bunch of other things that I almost never need. I take that, a messenger bag with my MBP, and a small consumer power backup. Recently added a Flanders Scientific 17" to that. I travel small and light, and I've never been harmed by not having a RAID. In fact, typically my clients don't like the idea of me having a copy of the data after the shoot, so for me it's been, really, the only option . . .

The exception is a feature that I worked on. That's where I used the R4 extensively. But the needs and mentality of commercials is so vastly different than feature/series work that in the former, having a RAID would be a detriment, and in the latter, it's a necessity. And also lives on the camera truck, so size isn't as much of an issue.

 

[Shiblon Wixom]

Sonnet and Magma have raid options built into their TB chassis, but it's x4 or x8 2.5" drives.

 

[Brian Merlen]

Sonnet and Magma have raid options built into their TB chassis, but it's x4 or x8 2.5" drives.

wow, didn't even notice that! there is no problems having it in the same device and on the same bus throughput wise? that was another thing i was wondering about, like running storage on USB3 and keeping only a rocket x on TB2 as to separate one port for data and one for processing? not sure if it would speed things up or not... i'd like to fine tune my system as much as possible within the small foot print as to take advantage of it best i can, other then having all my media live on ssds which just isn't going to be cost effective for some time still


now I'm checking out the new sonnet stuff, maybe your right and i can throw the storage and rocket x all in one TB2 box...

can't seem to find if the new TB2 models at Sonnent have them...been looking through the specs on their desktop model

 

[Elliott Balsley]

If I had to put RAID 5 into a small case like that, I'd be looking into more custom options. External components are bulky, for both protection and aesthetics.
For example the SuperMicro M28SAB-OEM gives you 8x 2.5" bays with mini-SAS connection in a very small package. Put that together with a RAID card in a a Magma 3T, for example. You'll probably want to cut a hole in the Pelican to mount a fan and grille. In fact, it would also be cool to cut another hole to surface-mount the drive cage, then it will be hot-swappable from the outside.

 

[Björn Benckert]

We tested quite a few, but to be portable and able to fly I like this the best. (even though I need to make it dragon compatible one of these days)

A pelli case with velcro foam insert and a power connector in the side. All DIT stuff is secured in side the case and hooked up to a power strip. So all thats needed is to give it power and hook the laptop to the TB cable and then it's all set.

 

[Tom Hanmer]

What about this http://www.maxxdigital.com/thunderraid-mini.html very compact, fast, raid 5, inbuilt controller. Really impressed with it so far. Can measure it if any one wants. Space in my peli 1560 to put a second, am thinking of doing so.