eSata storage solutions for MBP

[Artur Vill]

I'v got older MBP with FW400 so I've decided to get eSata express card to connect external HDD for faster transfers.

I'm pretty new to eSata and RAID questions so I'm hoping to get some suggestions.

I've got 8 hours of HD video to edit. I've ordered Apiotek express card:
http://www.apiotek.com/Global/Produc...d/EC-0003D.htm

What would be the best solution for external staorage?

Should I get 2 separate eSata enclosures and connect through 2 eSata cables so that 1 drive is for video storage and the other for working?

or dual harddrive eSata enclosure with single eSata port?
(http://www.meritline.com/3-5-sata-ra...d-35-dual.html)

also this card supports RAID and some enclosures have also listed RAID in their specifications but I'm not familiar with this system. If anyone thinks that this is a third solution worth of investigation then I'll do so:)

Thanks

[Dino Leone]

Originally Posted by Artur Vill

Should I get 2 separate eSata enclosures and connect through 2 eSata cables so that 1 drive is for video storage and the other for working?

or dual harddrive eSata enclosure with single eSata port?
(http://www.meritline.com/3-5-sata-ra...d-35-dual.html)

Well, for the MBP, I personally would go for individual drives for more flexibility. People usually use raid on desktop machines. I'm not sure how much benefit the raid will give you on the MBP.
I've been looking at similar cards for my MBP but stayed away so far - the mostly negative reports have scared me. See: www.xlr8yourmac.com and go to database -> drive compatibility. Anyway, so far I keep using firewire800 on mine (2nd gen. MBP).
Regards,
Dino

[David Sholle]

I have been happy with WiebeTech enclosures

http://www.wiebetech.com/home2.php?home=2

The RTX series are trayless. I don't own them, but if you have a lot of bare SATA drives, it looks like a great solution.

The ToughTech series is easy to move around and has no fan so is quiet. I have a ToughTech XE connected via FW400 to my older MBP as my general external drive. If I want faster performance or want to keep the FW bus free for video I/O, I connect the XE via eSATA with an ExpressCard adapter. I keep a partition on the XE with a SuperDuper clone of my MBP internal drive, and it can be booted from FW400 should my internal drive crash. (I don't think you can boot from an external eSATA drive.)

Although they have discontinued the single version of the Traydock model (I think the RTX series replaced it), the dual bay Traydock is not shown at their general site but is still available at a great price:

http://www.wiebetech.com/products/traydockesata.php

Two independent eSATA ports, built in power supply and fan and built like a tank. I own two of them and it is very easy to change drives out of the trays, so I never bought extra trays, and I'm not even sure if extra trays are still available.

I have owned many different WiebeTech products going back to PATA drives connected by FW, and I have never had a problem with any of them. I have a large collection of PATA drives but I am now switch over to SATA drive. I am transferring my large collection of tapes shot in DV format over to the old PATA drives, both as a backup to the tapes and to make them available for use. Now that I am using HDV, I decided to migrate over to SATA.