> When considering storage, I weigh in several factors, and it usually turns
> into a balance of performance, data safety, and price. The Sonnet Technologies
> F2 drive uses, as you wrote, two 320 GB drives. The unit can be formatted Raid
> 0 (striped RAID) or Raid 1 (redundant/mirrored RAID). RAID 0 has the two
> drives working in tandem, with half the data handled by each drive. A
> "two-horse carriage," so to speak.  Two is faster and stronger, but you need
> both to run, or neither of them does.

> Those of us with limited pockets can't have everything, so when considering
> performance in this type of array, RAID 0 is the way to go. In doing so, we
> sacrifice data safety. One drive dies, everything is lost.

> The other formatting choice for the Sonnet F2 is RAID 1. The unit is formatted
> so that each drive has the exact same data as the other, or redundant storage.
> RAID 1 configurations are slower, but if one drive dies, you still have all
> your data on the other drive and readily accessible. You can get to your files
> and copy them to another storage system. Then you have options as to
> repair/replace the bad F2 drive, rather than being SOL. More importantly, you
> can continue to work on finishing your project.  I have actually finished a
> project shortly after one LaCie FW800 drive died as part of a pair. I just
> continued the edit session until I was done, knowing that there was no time to
> move or copy anything: finish or bust. I "drove" for several more miles than
> recommended on that spare tire. I was lucky though.

> These RAID options, by the way, are available to you should you decide to go
> firewire, by simply using Apple's Disk Utility (Apple calls it "mirrored
> RAID"). I learned early on that when doing so, you should select 256k for the
> RAID block size setting under the OPTIONS button.  It helps the RAID 1
> performance.  At our facility we have many LaCie FW800 drives as redundant
> (RAID 1) drive pairs. It slows them down, but the bulk of our work is SD, so
> no sweat and tears for speed demons needed. For the most part we prefer data
> safety. I have noticed, however, that drive life expectancy hovers around 18
> months in RAID 1 with LaCie.  One member of the drive pair just dies right
> around that time frame, for some reason.  When we consider what they give us
> and the income we derive from their use, however, it's been worth it.  When
> working in HD (720p) we have been using LaCie FW800 independent drives with no
> problems, but this will change. Our next system configuration will be eSATA
> arrays with hot swappable drives. The data throughput is simply better and
> faster, and will allow us to post 1080i as well as future 1080p capability for
> mastering on Bluray.

> In summary, if you're working in SD, from DV, Prores 422HQ and on up to
> uncompressed, FW800 reduntant drives (RAID 1) work great. This has been my
> experience with a G5 tower running two 2.5GHz processors.  When working in HD
> 720p Prores422 HD with our Mac Pro Intel Dual Core 3.0 GHz and an IOHD, a
> single FW800 drive, or a FW800 RAID 0 drive pair, will work without problems
> but without a safety net. Again, that will change to eSATA in the near future
> so we can have better performance and data safety. When using a single drive
> or striped drive pairs, you're "driving" without a spare tire.

> There are, of course, other RAID configurations that give you both,
> performance AND data safety. Those systems cost more, and require more
> advanced storage hardware and software. If you need more information on RAID
> "levels," here's a good entry in Wikipedia:

> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAID

> René Borroto
> Senior Editor
> Multivision Video & Film
> 305-662-6011
> r...@multivisionvideo.com
> www.multivisionvideo.com

> This message (including any attachments) is intended only for the use of the
> individual or entity to which it is addressed and may contain information that
> is non-public, proprietary, privileged, confidential, and exempt from
> disclosure under applicable law or may constitute as attorney work product. If
> you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any use,
> dissemination, distribution, or copying of this communication is strictly
> prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, notify us
> immediately by telephone and (i) destroy this message if a facsimile or (ii)
> delete this message immediately if this is an electronic communication.

> Thank you.

> On May 3, 2008, at 6:04 PM, Stan Blair wrote:

>>  René,
>>  We should put your post in the ³post hall of fame².  It is a beautiful and
>> concise but thorough overview of what we all need to know if we are about to
>> upgrade.  I believe the sweet little Sonnet Fusion F2 eSATA drive is a raid;
>> two 320 gig drives connected together as a 640 gig raid.  Can you expound a
>> bit on what difference it would make for us to use a raid setup for our
>> external media drives?  For instance, I believe that the Sonnet Fusion F2 is
>> two 5400 rpm drives together as a raid (not sure I¹m wording that correctly
>> but I bet you know what I mean).  What will be the noticeable difference as I
>> work in that arrangement and using a single 7200 rpm drive via FirewWire?
>>  Stan Blair
>>  Co-director SoFlaFCPUG
>>  954-614-2996

>>  On 5/3/08 5:07 PM, "René Borroto" <r...@multivisionvideo.com> wrote:

>>>  Aylon:

>>>  If you were using a G4 powerbook, you're several generations behind the
>>> latest, and a G5 is not the step-up you need. The powerbook G4 was a laptop,
>>> so are you looking at laptops or desktops? The fastest desktop is an 8-core
>>> Intel Mac Pro tower. The newest laptops are Macbook Pros with Intel Dual
>>> Core processors, with a few options in storage and CPU that vary its price.

>>>  I like eSATA external storage. It's cheap, fast, and great for HD work. I
>>> also love the AJA IoHD. Sonnet Technologies makes a dual eSATA Express/34
>>> card for Macbook Pros, and an amazing little eSATA portable drive to go with
>>> it. The drive is particularly handy because it gets its power from the
>>> Macbook's firewire port. This little point is extremely important if you
>>> want to use the IOHD, because the IOHD takes over the firewire bus with
>>> heavy data. The drive does not interfere with it at all, because its
>>> connection to firewire is strictly for power purposes, not data.

>>>  Regardless of the computer you get, buy the most RAM you can afford for it,
>>> and the max it will accept if you have the money. I do not recommend that
>>> you edit in the HDV format. You should try to capture the footage and
>>> convert it to Prores422. The IOHD does that in real time, and does it very
>>> well.  Prores422 an easier format to work with, particularly because of the
>>> drain on the CPU with HDV.

>>>  With a desktop you can get a firewire 800 card for external firewire
>>> drives, if that's the flavor or storage you like or already own. This FW
>>> card would be necessary only if you plan on getting an IOHD, for the reasons
>>> mentioned above.

>>>  A great portable setup:

>>>  15" or 17" Macbook Pro
>>>  AJA IOHD
>>>  Sonnet Tempo Sata Expresscard/34
>>>  Sonnet Fusion F2 eSATA drive

>>>  and of course, your HDV camcorder.

>>>  I hope this helps somewhat.

>>>   
>>>  René Borroto
>>>  Senior Editor
>>>  Multivision Video & Film
>>>  305-662-6011
>>>  r...@multivisionvideo.com
>>>  www.multivisionvideo.com <http://www.multivisionvideo.com>

>>>  This message (including any attachments) is intended only for the use of
>>> the individual or entity to which it is addressed and may contain
>>> information that is non-public, proprietary, privileged, confidential, and
>>> exempt from disclosure under applicable law or may constitute as attorney
>>> work product. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby
>>> notified that any use, dissemination, distribution, or copying of
>>> this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received
>>> this communication in error, notify us immediately by telephone and (i)
>>> destroy this message if a facsimile or (ii) delete this message immediately
>>> if this is an electronic communication.

>>>  Thank you.

>>>  <image.gif>
>>>   

>>>  On May 3, 2008, at 3:57 PM, haprojector wrote:

>>>>  Hi guys,

>>>>  I've been reading the posts for a long time now and always appreciate
>>>>  learning something new from you guys.

>>>>  I'm about to buy a new system and I wanted to ask your opinions before
>>>>  I go and spend the money. I tried buying a system before but put it
>>>>  off because it seemed like a complicated endeavor.

>>>>  My name is Aylon Ben-Ami. I produce, direct, shoot, and edit video and
>>>>  I've been carrying along a PowerBook G4 for too many years. I'm ready
>>>>  to buy a G5, but I can't estimate my needs. I figured that I'd like to
>>>>  buy the important things now, and maybe add things like memory and
>>>>  harddrive space later?

>>>>  But how much RAM should I get today?  They have many video cards, how
>>>>  much ram does visuals card need? What about a Raid system?  One part
>>>>  seems to beg for another, and pretty quickly I can run a really high
>>>>  price.  I think I'm looking to spend about $6,000, possibly $7,000.

>>>>  What would be essential for me to edit HD and HDV footage at workable
>>>>  speeds?

>>>>  Thanks for the help,

>>>>  Aylon
>>>>  954.756.0352
>>>>  www.aylonbenami.com <http://www.aylonbenami.com>

>>>>