CalDigit VR2 Benefits

I'm in the market to upgrade some of my drives, both for archiving purposes and for editing. I'm looking at the VR2 and I'm curious what the benefits of a 2-disc enclosure like that are versus a traditional external RAID drive, like a G RAID or a Mercury Elite Pro.

There's a pretty large price difference once you start swapping out drives, since the replacement modules are about $200 for 1TB and a 2x1TB Mercury Elite Pro RAID is $289. I have a feeling that this might be a dumb question, but I'm just making sure that I'm not missing anything as far as benefits of having a VR2. Any insight?

My 2 cents...

Benefits of the CalDigit VR2 = stability / confidence / dependability / ease of drive swapping / repairability (fan replacement easy) / cost efficiency

I bought the VR2 (6TB unit) - running it in RAID "0" so I have 3TB of FAST mirrored protected dependable storage. I am still running an old VR (2 TB) unit that has been rock solid for years. I bought a 6TB RAID from OWC...all kinds of electrical / port problems after 9 months (Warranty Return / replace - would not refund so I am stuck with it). I will DEFINITELY stick with CalDigit products (until they are bought out by LaCie or G-Technology )

When life gives you dilemmas...make dilemmanade.

Can't say enough good things about CalDigit - rock solid drives, support...

have a few of the VR Minis - they are are more expensive but well worth it for speed (if you have a sata cable that works with a macbook they are lightning fast...but even without very speedy - and bus powered)

Had a directory crash with a lot of hard to replace time consuming material on a drive - their tech support guy talked me through recovering the drive (took a half hour on the phone) and was patient and helpful.

They cost more - but worth every penny


(on the other hand - had poorly built Western Digital Drives given to us by a client - every one of them had a problem - crash - corruption - just stopped working -- wouldn't give them business again.)

I'm in the market for a hardware RAID card and the first I looked at years ago was CalDigit's. Has anyone had experience with this card governing an internal Mac Pro RAID as well as eSata boxes? I don't want to rely on software RAID for long.

I have simple RAID 0 occupying bays 3 and 4. Love the ability to slide different clients' RAID pairs in and out, thanks to additional drive sleds from OWC! But this activity begs for a hardware card, methinks.

- Loren

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A couple of years back I bought the Caldigit card to setup an internal RAID in my Mac Pro. Unfortunately the way my system, a 2009 4.1, is configured the Sata ports on the drives were unavailable to the Caldigit card. To use it that way I would have had to get sleds that mounted the drives connector side out, and wired power and data with new cables.

I have installed that card, along with the HD element arrays, on a couple of client systems, and it is a good, fast reliable card. Just call their tech support line to be sure it will work with the internal drives on your tower if that is your reason to purchase one.

-Vance

I do not invest in MacPros anymore as the technology is looking like support is waning. I have been working full time from the latest MBP since my old Quad blew up a few years ago...and never looked back. External (thunderbolt) portability is the future. Breakout thunderbolt chassis are the new speedy solutions. Hardware RAIDs are dead around here as well - have not used one of those since my Sledgehammer card back in 2002. My 6TB VR RAID "0" on eSATA is superfast (1080p / ProRes 422 / HQ / 4444 all day easily).

When life gives you dilemmas...make dilemmanade.

Vance -

We have the same 4,1 tower, so your information was highly relevant! Thank you. Caldigit says next to nothing about this issue on their website, last I visited.

Joey -

I hear you, but I don't get into laptop editing unless it's a requirement-- then I bring my fullsize keyboard and wireless mouse...


- Loren

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I disagree that hardware raids are dead. I use them at work all the time, as the projects I work on can't tolerate downtime due to single drive failure.



www.strypesinpost.com

Loren,

The laptop is one screen. I have a 27" Cinema Display on the other side. The last thing it feels like is "laptop editing". And wherever I go to work I find a secondary screen to confiscate (bag full of adapters)

G -

Read what I said again...I said "around here" meaning around ME. Also "single drive failure" does not come into play ever with me as I am always working in RAID "0" on one VR with another VR2 is at the ready. There is no "downtime" (what is that? ).

When life gives you dilemmas...make dilemmanade.

Thanks for the input, guys...very much appreciated!

[The laptop is one screen. I have a 27" Cinema Display on the other side. The last thing it feels like is "laptop editing". And wherever I go to work I find a secondary screen to confiscate (bag full of adapters) ]

It is pretty flexible. I'm just a diehard.

- Loren

Today's FCP 7 keytip:
Advance to next/previous keyframes in a clip with Shift/Option-K !

Your Final Cut Studio KeyGuide? Power Pack
with FCP7 KeyGuide --
now available at KeyGuide Central.
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>"single drive failure" does not come into play ever with me as I am always working
>in RAID "0" on one VR with another VR2 is at the ready

So what happens to the data on the RAID if one drive fails? How long does it take to get your projects up and going?



www.strypesinpost.com

My bad. They are both MIRRORED RAID "1". All I have to do is plug in a replacement drive and it rebuilts the RAID automatically = no downtime.

When life gives you dilemmas...make dilemmanade.

Yea, that's good. Btw, do you use Caldigit supplied drives for the VR or are they buy-your-own-drives?



www.strypesinpost.com

I am under warranty with the VR2 so it's CalDigit sleds. I have not had to change out my original VR sleds yet (knocking wood...NOW) as they have been rock solid for years. I wouldn't use anything else at this point. Kicks a$$.

When life gives you dilemmas...make dilemmanade.

Thanks, Joey. Reason I'm asking is because Caldigit has been known to use drives that are matrixed with customized firmware, at least on the HD One, so it isnt adviseable to swap it out with a store bought drive like you would with most other RAID systems. Wasn't sure if that applied to the VR2s.



www.strypesinpost.com