Anyone using an NAS File Server?

[hanz221]

Not sure if this is in the right area but we are interested in getting some network storage as we are growing and have more people working in post-production. A few weeks ago we tested our theory of being able to edit on FCP from an NAS file server....sort of. All the source footage and all project files were housed on a networked (hardwired) Mac Pro that I was using. The editor edited for several hours on a macbook pro that was hardwired into the network as well At the same time, I used several different programs from FCP to After Effects and a few others pulling footage/files that was on the same hard drive. The only side effect we ran into was a bit of lag on the other editor's computer at some point but I think he changed back his playback settings and all was well. We have a basic Linksys Wireless-N router with the editing computers hardwired.

We'd like to try getting an independent NAS file server like this one and use this as our central storage with Raid 5. We're hoping that by spanning 2 drives, we will pick up some speed if we have multiple users (2-4) accessing the storage at the same time. Does anyone have any experience doing this or currently using this setup? Any feedback?

Thank you!

 

[Grunf]

Hi!

I do. You cannot "span" two NAS boxes attached as network share. You can only span two iSCSI volumes but it's considered a bad idea.

I recommend using Netgear NVX filled with four 2TB drives. It gives you 6TB storage space with RAID5 and 70MB/sec troughtput, more than enough for editing. Enabling jumbo frames will raise the throughput somewhat, so will disabling the journaling. Use real 1Gbit/sec switch and Cat-5e cables to hardwire the stuff. Routers aren't really meant to act as switches and cannot usually sustain full speed.

Good luck.

 

[hanz221]

We ended up buying a Thecus N4200. We also bought 4 WD Black Caviar 1 TB hard drives and put them into a Raid 5 configuration. By "spanning" I was referring to a Raid 5 setup where files are spanned across two hard drives instead of one. Not using to two boxes. WE are using Cat-5e cables and bought a GB switch. It works pretty well. We have noticed a little bit of lag at times but for the most part it works well. We have three users on it. Thanks for you input.