Shared Hard Disk Space at DVinfo.net

Dan Konkel · May 23rd, 2007, 01:51 PM

What is the best way to go about doing video editing on multiple platforms and saving to a central storage device. For example: I have two Mac desktops and I wanted to have them both access the same hard disk space, like a RAID for something. Do you have any recommendations? Would a network drive be fast enough? I would also like to have them both read and write from the drive at the same time. Is this possible?

James Harring · May 23rd, 2007, 07:52 PM

too many questions, not enough facts... SD or HD video? Hub or switch? 10/100/1000 Mb ethernet backbone? Other traffic like VOIP, streaming video on the backbone?

Since I dont' have details, here's best guess...
SD I think most upper end consumer stuff would probably hold up. I occasionally pick a file off a server in my production and don't notice any ill effects. It's XP/Windows Server '03 w/ gig ethernet environment. HD may be too slow.

gigabit ethernet would be helpful, despite is is not that much faster net net than 100mbs. I've seen unmanaged 8 port gig switches for $50. Using jumbo frames helps a lot, but is esoteric..

Money to burn?, SAN dedicated storage area network, or infrant NAS or similar. If you want to be real cheap, take an old pc, put a gig enet card in it and http://www.freenas.org/ has a NAS that beats the pants off most conventional solutions out there.

David W. Jones · May 24th, 2007, 04:31 PM

Fiber channel.

Dan Konkel · May 25th, 2007, 09:15 AM

I have 2 G5's one a Quad-core the other a Dual. They both have Gig ethernet and are expandable to fiber channel. Right now I'm doing SD, but in the future may move to HD when it becomes more conventional for my clients. I would want to be able to work simultaneously on video as well.

Would any of your solutions allow the central storage to be cross platform accessible, ie., PC and Mac?

I'm willing to throw some money at it this goal if it can work seamlessly.

Thank you for your reply.

James Harring · May 26th, 2007, 12:39 PM

Yes, the mac and pc should be able to see the volume. Because implementation varies, I cannot be specific on implementation.

I would think your current situation should support SD video. I cannot speak for HD. If HDV (m2t) will probably fine, as files size is roughly the same and the performance issues really occur on the cpu, but uncompressed is a whole other matter.

May 23rd, 2007, 01:51 PM	#1
Dan Konkel Tourist Join Date: May 2007 Location: Houston, TX Posts: 3	Shared Hard Disk Space What is the best way to go about doing video editing on multiple platforms and saving to a central storage device. For example: I have two Mac desktops and I wanted to have them both access the same hard disk space, like a RAID for something. Do you have any recommendations? Would a network drive be fast enough? I would also like to have them both read and write from the drive at the same time. Is this possible?

May 23rd, 2007, 07:52 PM	#2
James Harring Major Player Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Tampa, FL Posts: 210	how much money you got? too many questions, not enough facts... SD or HD video? Hub or switch? 10/100/1000 Mb ethernet backbone? Other traffic like VOIP, streaming video on the backbone? Since I dont' have details, here's best guess... SD I think most upper end consumer stuff would probably hold up. I occasionally pick a file off a server in my production and don't notice any ill effects. It's XP/Windows Server '03 w/ gig ethernet environment. HD may be too slow. gigabit ethernet would be helpful, despite is is not that much faster net net than 100mbs. I've seen unmanaged 8 port gig switches for $50. Using jumbo frames helps a lot, but is esoteric.. Money to burn?, SAN dedicated storage area network, or infrant NAS or similar. If you want to be real cheap, take an old pc, put a gig enet card in it and http://www.freenas.org/ has a NAS that beats the pants off most conventional solutions out there.

May 26th, 2007, 12:39 PM	#5
James Harring Major Player Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Tampa, FL Posts: 210	fibre channel et.al. Yes, the mac and pc should be able to see the volume. Because implementation varies, I cannot be specific on implementation. I would think your current situation should support SD video. I cannot speak for HD. If HDV (m2t) will probably fine, as files size is roughly the same and the performance issues really occur on the cpu, but uncompressed is a whole other matter.

May 24th, 2007, 04:31 PM	#3
David W. Jones Trustee Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Little Rock Posts: 1,383	Fiber channel.

May 25th, 2007, 09:15 AM	#4
Dan Konkel Tourist Join Date: May 2007 Location: Houston, TX Posts: 3	I have 2 G5's one a Quad-core the other a Dual. They both have Gig ethernet and are expandable to fiber channel. Right now I'm doing SD, but in the future may move to HD when it becomes more conventional for my clients. I would want to be able to work simultaneously on video as well. Would any of your solutions allow the central storage to be cross platform accessible, ie., PC and Mac? I'm willing to throw some money at it this goal if it can work seamlessly. Thank you for your reply.