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OWC RAID?
Posted by Adams
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Re: OWC RAID? January 01, 2011 05:52PM |
I'm using this unit. I'm not entirely happy with it (I had wanted a two-slot enclosure that could operate as JBOD, and OWC's sales guy gave me wrong information). For what you're describing, though, it should be fine. I've been using mine as a two-drive RAID0 with no redundancy.
Since you're working with DV footage, I would be led to assume your footage came from timecoded tapes? If so, you need to ask yourself and your post-production staff this question: Is it going to cost you more time and money to recapture the footage from tape if you lose the files?
Or is it going to cost you more money to buy the drives necessary to configure to RAID5, since with RAID5 you have to sacrifice some of the storage? Or, Option C, is it going to cost you more time and money to backup the footage?
5TB is absolutely mammoth for a DV project...13GB divided by 2TB gives us close to 400 hours of footage, correct? I'm assuming this is a documentary.
You definitely don't need the data transfer speed of RAID0 or RAID5 for DV. So the question is strictly a matter of data security.
The Qx2 only has four slots. That means if you use 1.5TB drive modules in a RAID5 configuration, you'll only get 4TB or so. (Pardon my math -- others should feel free to correct) If you use 2TB drives, you'll still only get 6TB because one of the drives is out of the action.
Frankly, in your case, I think you might be better off using drives in JBOD configuration -- which rules out the Qx2, because it can't be configured that way. Used that way, you can buy about 12TB of storage and all 12TB will be in service, with half of it going towards a backup.
A RAID5 is not a replacement for backups. In my view, RAIDs guard against short-term data loss (hours, days), while backups guard against long-term data loss (weeks, months, years). If you go the RAID5 route, it will be because you want to safeguard against short-term drive failure. A RAID5 allows you to get the system back up quickly, but you spend a lot more money because not all your drive storage is being used for storage, and you still need to back it up. A RAID5 is not a replacement for backups, because it's not impossible for all the drives in a RAID5 to die simultaneously, because they are connected to an active system all the time, over a long period of time (eg. power issues). Or a case where you get burglarized and somebody makes off with the entire enclosure.
One more element in the equation: A RAID5 becomes much, much more desireable if you generate a lot of non-expendable media.
If you're an editor only, and you're mainly changing/working on your FCP project file and nothing else, then a JBOD works just fine because all you have to do is backup your DV master footage in the beginning, and then implement a systematic, diligent backup/archive system of your FCP project file. In case of failure, you recopy the master footage from the backup, call up your project file from a clean archive, and you're ready to go.
A user such as a graphics artist should not be using a JBOD configuration, because new media files are being generated all the time, and the RAID guards against loss of those files. Even if you have the original After Effects project, for example, you'll still need to spend hours or even days re-rendering.
If you have the money, definitely go for both a RAID5 and a backup.
One last note about the Qx2: It has an absolutely maddening, horribly designed door with a lock. You can only leave the door unlocked if you leave the key in, and the key gets in your way all the time. My key actually snapped off in the lock less than a week after I received the unit. After that, I actually unscrewed the lock and took it apart, leaving the door without a lock. Anybody who wants to steal the thing will simply carry off the whole enclosure anyway.
www.derekmok.com
Since you're working with DV footage, I would be led to assume your footage came from timecoded tapes? If so, you need to ask yourself and your post-production staff this question: Is it going to cost you more time and money to recapture the footage from tape if you lose the files?
Or is it going to cost you more money to buy the drives necessary to configure to RAID5, since with RAID5 you have to sacrifice some of the storage? Or, Option C, is it going to cost you more time and money to backup the footage?
5TB is absolutely mammoth for a DV project...13GB divided by 2TB gives us close to 400 hours of footage, correct? I'm assuming this is a documentary.
You definitely don't need the data transfer speed of RAID0 or RAID5 for DV. So the question is strictly a matter of data security.
The Qx2 only has four slots. That means if you use 1.5TB drive modules in a RAID5 configuration, you'll only get 4TB or so. (Pardon my math -- others should feel free to correct) If you use 2TB drives, you'll still only get 6TB because one of the drives is out of the action.
Frankly, in your case, I think you might be better off using drives in JBOD configuration -- which rules out the Qx2, because it can't be configured that way. Used that way, you can buy about 12TB of storage and all 12TB will be in service, with half of it going towards a backup.
A RAID5 is not a replacement for backups. In my view, RAIDs guard against short-term data loss (hours, days), while backups guard against long-term data loss (weeks, months, years). If you go the RAID5 route, it will be because you want to safeguard against short-term drive failure. A RAID5 allows you to get the system back up quickly, but you spend a lot more money because not all your drive storage is being used for storage, and you still need to back it up. A RAID5 is not a replacement for backups, because it's not impossible for all the drives in a RAID5 to die simultaneously, because they are connected to an active system all the time, over a long period of time (eg. power issues). Or a case where you get burglarized and somebody makes off with the entire enclosure.
One more element in the equation: A RAID5 becomes much, much more desireable if you generate a lot of non-expendable media.
If you're an editor only, and you're mainly changing/working on your FCP project file and nothing else, then a JBOD works just fine because all you have to do is backup your DV master footage in the beginning, and then implement a systematic, diligent backup/archive system of your FCP project file. In case of failure, you recopy the master footage from the backup, call up your project file from a clean archive, and you're ready to go.
A user such as a graphics artist should not be using a JBOD configuration, because new media files are being generated all the time, and the RAID guards against loss of those files. Even if you have the original After Effects project, for example, you'll still need to spend hours or even days re-rendering.
If you have the money, definitely go for both a RAID5 and a backup.
One last note about the Qx2: It has an absolutely maddening, horribly designed door with a lock. You can only leave the door unlocked if you leave the key in, and the key gets in your way all the time. My key actually snapped off in the lock less than a week after I received the unit. After that, I actually unscrewed the lock and took it apart, leaving the door without a lock. Anybody who wants to steal the thing will simply carry off the whole enclosure anyway.
www.derekmok.com
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Re: OWC RAID? January 02, 2011 04:47PM |
> I had been planning to use the RAID 5 as an interim step for a period of months
A few months with 5TB of media without a backup? Noooo. Buy some inexpensive JBOD drives and do the backups overnight. Unless you're willing to recapture 400 hours of DV footage. If you wait until you trim the project, if something goes wrong with the trim process (Media Manager) or during editing, you're screwed.
> Our next project is HD and tapeless, so I've been hoping to get a unit that will work well for that
> as well.
In that case, yes, get a RAID5. A JBOD configuration will not work well for HD material. But believe when I tell you just the RAID protection alone is not sufficient. Sounds to me like you should get at least 10TB of storage RAIDed for active service, plus whatever backup storage space needed to back up each project completely. Remember, with tapeless media, you don't just need double the storage space, as with timecoded tape captures; you need something closer to four, five times the storage space -- because you have to have the unconverted camera masters (raw media files), plus the converted QuickTime files for editing.
www.derekmok.com
A few months with 5TB of media without a backup? Noooo. Buy some inexpensive JBOD drives and do the backups overnight. Unless you're willing to recapture 400 hours of DV footage. If you wait until you trim the project, if something goes wrong with the trim process (Media Manager) or during editing, you're screwed.
> Our next project is HD and tapeless, so I've been hoping to get a unit that will work well for that
> as well.
In that case, yes, get a RAID5. A JBOD configuration will not work well for HD material. But believe when I tell you just the RAID protection alone is not sufficient. Sounds to me like you should get at least 10TB of storage RAIDed for active service, plus whatever backup storage space needed to back up each project completely. Remember, with tapeless media, you don't just need double the storage space, as with timecoded tape captures; you need something closer to four, five times the storage space -- because you have to have the unconverted camera masters (raw media files), plus the converted QuickTime files for editing.
www.derekmok.com
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Re: OWC RAID? January 02, 2011 08:10PM |
And you should try to keep three copies, where possible, if the cards are being reused which they almost always are. That means one working copy and two backups, as one is really acting as the 'tape' backup that you would normally have in a tape based workflow.
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