ESATA drive or FW??

[Aramis]

Just for the fun of it , consider the third box in this link .

http://www.ximeta.com/web/products/index.php

This is a network drive , notice the speed ?

I wonder .....

-)

Aramis

Hello.

I need to buy a eSATA drive, a case for the drive (preferably that
holds 2 HDs), and a PCI card for my PPC G5 dual.
This disk will be for streaming samples heavily (Ivory, EWQLSO, etc)

1.- Could you please recommend me great products for each of these 3
components, please?

2.- So, how important would it be for it to have 32 MB of cache?
2a.- Should I get one that has more that 32 MB cache?

3.- Do you know of a case that can hold 2 HDs? If so, will they share
the SAME bus, or would they have independent ones?

4.- And lastly, if I get a case that has eSATA and Firewire 800,
could I get away by using the FW connection instead of the eSATA, so
I don't have to buy the PCI card for the Mac?

5.- I know eSATA is faster than FW 800, but would it run fine if I
choose the latter connection?

If you have links, and if you advise me regarding these 3 components
I need, I will really appreciate it.

Thanks in advance.

[Frodo]

I don't know....

Is it really that much data you shuffle that you need the throughput of SATA ?

If you talking about Ivory and EWQLSO (or VSL), then yes: the throughput of SATA/eSATA comes highly recommended.

I really think it's seektime that is the the big problem..
Something you can't solve with SATA.

Maybe not, but each step of the process must be considered: seek time, transfer rate, bandwidth, and bus speed.

And eSATA performance is not so far over the top that it's anywhere near overkill for the larger VIs.

If I'd design a system for sample-playback, I would:
Maximize the number of posible current reads = more drives (and spread out the data, depending on what library you use the most)
SATA, FW800,SCSI320 or if I can afford it FC (iSCSI is a possibillity, but I haven't tried it. IF I test it, it would be on it's own 1GBit ethernet segment to minimize latency)
Use JBOD or RAID (the big thing is.. no synchronized read/write heads)

This is a good approach. I run EWQLSO from two drives on each of two computers and performance has been free of pops and clicks ever since.

One thing that really interests me right now are the new Flash drives with ATA or SATA or SCSI320 interfaces.
One drive (read), c:a 140 GB, throughput 40 to 60 MB /s.
Seektime an order of magnitude LOWER than the current fastest harddrives ! ! ! !
The write speed is much, much slower, but if I'm only doing sample playback (=reads) who cares..
/B

Reads are fine. For those who are tracking live instruments it may still be a problem.

But there has been much buzz with cost-effective storage with no moving parts. Chip-based memory that works with the speed of RAM with its non random pitfalls is in development, but grotesquely expensive. (I'll try to find the link that talks about this...)

[dtiger]

I also have "G-SATA" drives from G-Tech. They come with 2 disks that you can use together in a raid or format for separate use. I use one with a raid setup and a PCI card from Seritek with a G5. The other I just got, it now comes with the PCI card included and I'm using as 2 separate external hard drives with a mac pro. So far they have been great, and I like the fact that they have their own fans.

[kgdrum]

hey all : I have had a real good experience with:
http://eshop.macsales.com/search/firmtek
these are very well made ,they have cards for all sorts of mac configurations,
my setup has a pci>esata card going to 2 enclosures each holding 2 sata drives(hot swapable)
I recently called them to see if I could update and use this rig in a macintel and they said yes all you need to do is get a new pci express card.
my fw drives are now used for backups .
KG

[Aramis]

Very recently , I was lurking at this product ....

http://www.micronet.com/General/prodDis ... ProdID=538

240 MB/s

Sounds good to me ....

Aramis

Hello.

I need to buy a eSATA drive, a case for the drive (preferably that
holds 2 HDs), and a PCI card for my PPC G5 dual.
This disk will be for streaming samples heavily (Ivory, EWQLSO, etc)

1.- Could you please recommend me great products for each of these 3
components, please?

2.- So, how important would it be for it to have 32 MB of cache?
2a.- Should I get one that has more that 32 MB cache?

3.- Do you know of a case that can hold 2 HDs? If so, will they share
the SAME bus, or would they have independent ones?

4.- And lastly, if I get a case that has eSATA and Firewire 800,
could I get away by using the FW connection instead of the eSATA, so
I don't have to buy the PCI card for the Mac?

5.- I know eSATA is faster than FW 800, but would it run fine if I
choose the latter connection?

If you have links, and if you advise me regarding these 3 components
I need, I will really appreciate it.

Thanks in advance.

[Shooshie]

Here's a fanless, fast SATA drive and an SATA card. Just for your consideration.

Acomdata SATA Drive

The card will work in G5's with regular PCI or PCIx, but I don't see mention of a PCIe card for Intel machines.

Shooshie

[HCMarkus]

One thing that really interests me right now are the new Flash drives with ATA or SATA or SCSI320 interfaces.
One drive (read), c:a 140 GB, throughput 40 to 60 MB /s.
Seektime an order of magnitude LOWER than the current fastest harddrives ! ! ! !
The write speed is much, much slower, but if I'm only doing sample playback (=reads) who cares...

Sounds interesting... what's the cost?

I'm running my VIs from eSATA Raptors with excellent success via a HiPoint card. OWC just dropped the price on the dual eSATA enclosure Frodo mentions to $60, so if budget is an issue, it may be a good solution.

[bjornln]

Reads are fine. For those who are tracking live instruments it may still be a problem.

But there has been much buzz with cost-effective storage with no moving parts. Chip-based memory that works with the speed of RAM with its non random pitfalls is in development, but grotesquely expensive. (I'll try to find the link that talks about this...)

Well, I said only for sample playback.... Then you have your regular drives for DAW recording and playback.

SAN disk has just got these drives into the OEM-channel. It'll take a year, and then the price will come down.


/B

[bjornln]

Sounds interesting... what's the cost?

At this time... Prohibitively expensive. But the price will come down.


/B

[FMiguelez]

.

Wow! Great info here. I wish I had studied all those links BEFORE buying my case...
Well, actualy I wanted eSATAII, but I was in a hurry and just bought one that has USB 2, FW800 AND eSATA connections. So I'll try some of my sample libraries using the FW800. If performance is not good, then I would need to buy a PCI card and use the eSATA. Let's see how that goes.

Oh, and let me guess.... If I need that PCI card for my current computer, it will NOT work with the new Mac Pro I want to buy in a few months...

[Frodo]

.
Oh, and let me guess.... If I need that PCI card for my current computer, it will NOT work with the new Mac Pro I want to buy in a few months...

The bad news-- no, it won't. For the G5 you will need a PCIx card-- although some companies state that certain cards they make are both PCIx and PCI compatible.

The good news-- getting a PCIe card for a MacPro is among the least costly and most effective investments you can make. Prices are inching downwards, and making such hardware upgrades is becoming more affordable and more commonplace.

[kgdrum]

the firmtek bundle I use (pci card >2 enclosures each w/ 2 drives ) I use with a PPC . I was told,all I have to do is get a new card when I go
pci express with a macintel
the process seems pretty easy for the future.....................if I am reading correctly about $100 to upgrade
http://eshop.macsales.com/search/firmtek
Firmtek is very well made,I have used it almost 2 years no problems.

KG

[Aramis]

Interested !
I have odered the 4-bay-raid-enclosure and hte Norco pci/pcix eSata controler for my G5 .
I am planning buy 4 x 500gigs Sata seagate drives to get a
2 Tera box for my G5 ....

I will put this box at test with Quickbench and Zonebench ...


Aramis

The box
http://www.satasite.com/4-bay-raid-enclosure.htm

The card
http://www.satasite.com/esata-sata-ii-4-port-raid.htm

and any good eSata drives ....


Aramis

Hello.

I need to buy a eSATA drive, a case for the drive (preferably that
holds 2 HDs), and a PCI card for my PPC G5 dual.
This disk will be for streaming samples heavily (Ivory, EWQLSO, etc)

1.- Could you please recommend me great products for each of these 3
components, please?

2.- So, how important would it be for it to have 32 MB of cache?
2a.- Should I get one that has more that 32 MB cache?

3.- Do you know of a case that can hold 2 HDs? If so, will they share
the SAME bus, or would they have independent ones?

4.- And lastly, if I get a case that has eSATA and Firewire 800,
could I get away by using the FW connection instead of the eSATA, so
I don't have to buy the PCI card for the Mac?

5.- I know eSATA is faster than FW 800, but would it run fine if I
choose the latter connection?

If you have links, and if you advise me regarding these 3 components
I need, I will really appreciate it.

Thanks in advance.

[bone.china]

the firmtek bundle I use (pci card >2 enclosures each w/ 2 drives ) I use with a PPC . I was told,all I have to do is get a new card when I go
pci express with a macintel
the process seems pretty easy for the future.....................if I am reading correctly about $100 to upgrade
http://eshop.macsales.com/search/firmtek
Firmtek is very well made,I have used it almost 2 years no problems.

KG

I'm considering the same bundle, kdrum. I looked into this just the other day. Seems like a great way to go especially for those of us who are still pumping out tracks on G4s. Good to know that you've been pleased with the Firmtek bundle for over an extended period of time. Thanks for posting!

[chunkdz]

bjornin wrote:

One thing that really interests me right now are the new Flash drives with ATA or SATA or SCSI320 interfaces.
One drive (read), c:a 140 GB, throughput 40 to 60 MB /s.
Seektime an order of magnitude LOWER than the current fastest harddrives ! ! ! !
The write speed is much, much slower, but if I'm only doing sample playback (=reads) who cares...

Yeah, I'm curious about these too. The solid state drives are SCREAMING fast, but right now it's about $2000 for 32 gigs.

Anybody got one yet?