700 Dollar Raid Solution at DVinfo.net

James Palanza · November 26th, 2009, 11:26 AM

So I can't really afford one of those 3,000 dollar storage solutions. So I decided to just make my own. All came to around 700 bucks and lives inside my computer. 1 Raid Controller card, 4 HD's.

Raid 10

http://img689.imageshack.us/img689/161/raid10.jpg

Raid 0
http://img510.imageshack.us/img510/8082/raid0.jpg

O.O works for me.

John Akin · February 12th, 2010, 01:03 PM

I've never been a fan of Raids..
I'd check out "Drobo's" for when you're starting to need more space. They're very flexible and amazing if you ask me.

Shawn McCalip · February 12th, 2010, 02:06 PM

Unless they've changed, I've heard that Drobos are only meant for long term storage. I thought about getting one about a year ago. While researching, I saw a lot of complaints about how slow they were. Sometimes it would several days to complete a build, and if you ever have to swap out a drive, don't plan on adding anything to it until it finishes rebuilding the array.

If I had to buy one right now to edit from, I'd just go with one of those cool G-Raid boxes from Videoguys. Their prices seem decent, and I don't have to spend as much time puttering around with mounting drives and frustrating power supplies.

Still, that's some nice throughput you have there, James.

Bob Krieger · February 22nd, 2010, 10:56 AM

The DroboPro's have various interface options, one of which is iSCSI. That's very fast throughput! I still wouldn't use it for HD editing, but if a drive fails you can just swap it out with a new one without ANY downtime! I have a DroboPro at work and a regular Drobo at home. I use both the same way. I have a 3TB RAID 0 array connected via SATA on my editing machines which gives me more than enough space and speed to edit my projects. Once I am done with a project, I'll completely archive it off the RAID onto the Drobo for archiving. I'll also do an initial copy of all fotage and project files to the Drobo, just in case. When connected via iSCSI at work the process is very quick. At home, connected via USB 2.0, it's obviously slower but very manageable as I'll do my backup in the evening and have a cuppa while waiting. If things go kablooie, I might loose some things, but not all. All in all, this type of setup works best for me.

My recommendation, simple RAID 0 for editing, nothing extravagant, and secure backup media.

Paul Hudson · February 22nd, 2010, 09:05 PM

Thanks for the information.

Paul Hudson
LizardlandVideo.com
Phoenix Video Production

James Palanza · March 6th, 2010, 01:42 PM

If anyone would like specifics on what hardware I used (if your trying to build one yourself) I'll gladly explain.

Sanjin Svajger · March 7th, 2010, 04:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by James Palanza

If anyone would like specifics on what hardware I used (if your trying to build one yourself) I'll gladly explain.

Yes. Please do... I was thinking of doing something similar my self. But what about a scratch disk - working partition. I know that makes up for a lot of drives, but, wouldn't you need one?

November 26th, 2009, 11:26 AM	#1
James Palanza Major Player Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Pennsylvania Posts: 310	700 Dollar Raid Solution So I can't really afford one of those 3,000 dollar storage solutions. So I decided to just make my own. All came to around 700 bucks and lives inside my computer. 1 Raid Controller card, 4 HD's. Raid 10 http://img689.imageshack.us/img689/161/raid10.jpg Raid 0 http://img510.imageshack.us/img510/8082/raid0.jpg O.O works for me.

February 12th, 2010, 01:03 PM	#2
John Akin New Boot Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Omak Washington US Posts: 8	I've never been a fan of Raids.. I'd check out "Drobo's" for when you're starting to need more space. They're very flexible and amazing if you ask me.

February 12th, 2010, 02:06 PM	#3
Shawn McCalip Major Player Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Anchorage, AK Posts: 315	Unless they've changed, I've heard that Drobos are only meant for long term storage. I thought about getting one about a year ago. While researching, I saw a lot of complaints about how slow they were. Sometimes it would several days to complete a build, and if you ever have to swap out a drive, don't plan on adding anything to it until it finishes rebuilding the array. If I had to buy one right now to edit from, I'd just go with one of those cool G-Raid boxes from Videoguys. Their prices seem decent, and I don't have to spend as much time puttering around with mounting drives and frustrating power supplies. Still, that's some nice throughput you have there, James.

February 22nd, 2010, 10:56 AM	#4
Bob Krieger Major Player Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Abita Springs, LA Posts: 245	The DroboPro's have various interface options, one of which is iSCSI. That's very fast throughput! I still wouldn't use it for HD editing, but if a drive fails you can just swap it out with a new one without ANY downtime! I have a DroboPro at work and a regular Drobo at home. I use both the same way. I have a 3TB RAID 0 array connected via SATA on my editing machines which gives me more than enough space and speed to edit my projects. Once I am done with a project, I'll completely archive it off the RAID onto the Drobo for archiving. I'll also do an initial copy of all fotage and project files to the Drobo, just in case. When connected via iSCSI at work the process is very quick. At home, connected via USB 2.0, it's obviously slower but very manageable as I'll do my backup in the evening and have a cuppa while waiting. If things go kablooie, I might loose some things, but not all. All in all, this type of setup works best for me. My recommendation, simple RAID 0 for editing, nothing extravagant, and secure backup media.

February 22nd, 2010, 09:05 PM	#5
Paul Hudson Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Phoenix, AZ Posts: 37	Thanks for the information. Paul Hudson LizardlandVideo.com Phoenix Video Production

March 6th, 2010, 01:42 PM	#6
James Palanza Major Player Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Pennsylvania Posts: 310	If anyone would like specifics on what hardware I used (if your trying to build one yourself) I'll gladly explain.