Best External HD for Imacs with FCP

ripupthehwy

ripupthehwy

Well-known member
Hi, I will be getting FCP on an Imac (2.9ghz i7core).
As far as attaching an external hard drive for media storage, I wondered what others have had the best success with as far as types/brands.
I want to do something with raid redundancy I think so that I know my valuable media won't get lost. Since Imacs do not have eSata ports I'm stuck with firewire. I hope thats fast enough for HD footage. Are the GRaid drives good. What about Iomega?? I'm looking at this one:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/687703-REG/Iomega_34497_4TB_UltraMax_Plus_External.html

Has anyone had any dealings with it?

Thanks for advice on a good external array.
 
Macsales.com - OWC external drive products are consistently rated high and run fast, have multiple interface options, FW800 would be your best choice.
 
I would go with solutions from:

iStoragePro
Caldigit
G-Tech

iomega isn't bad, but not a proven video HDD provider.

Macsales is a good solution.
 
photonashville said:
Macsales.com - OWC external drive products are consistently rated high and run fast, have multiple interface options, FW800 would be your best choice.
Click to expand...


Yeah. OWC are great BUT, if you order, make sure they actually have them in stock or you could end up waiting weeks for them to "procure parts".

.
 
Macsales.com - OWC external drive products are consistently rated high and run fast, have multiple interface options, FW800 would be your best choice.
Click to expand...

What brand of drives do they use in their enclosures?
I know you're not gonna tell me they make their own.
 
ripupthehwy said:
What brand of drives do they use in their enclosures?
I know you're not gonna tell me they make their own.
Click to expand...


OWC_WD.jpg


.
 
You can always buy the OWC enclosures empty and add drives of your choice. Internal SATA drives carry 3-5 year warranties. Most external complete packages carry far less warranty periods.
 
mcgeedigital said:
This.

I would stay away from G-tech personally, their QC has dropped significantly, imo.
Click to expand...

That's funny - I'm a G-tech and Drobo user. No problems here. I should say though, a friend of mine had a G-tech GRAID fail on him about 3 weeks after purchase. Maybe there is a pattern emerging, mcgee.


Jason
 
I'm running a G-raid 2TB raid 0 drive with my older imac on firewire 400. Sometimes it's noticeably slower than the mac HD, which I would probably attribute to the fact that it can't use firewire 800 with my setup. It's worth though, I have so much more storage now.
 
mcgeedigital said:
This.

I would stay away from G-tech personally, their QC has dropped significantly, imo.
Click to expand...


I recommended a G-TECH drive to a friend editing some shorts shot on DV a few years ago and she had issues with it. She had to call their tech support and I believe had to exchange the drive. Not impressed.

.
 
AwakenedFilms said:
That's funny - I'm a G-tech and Drobo user. No problems here. I should say though, a friend of mine had a G-tech GRAID fail on him about 3 weeks after purchase. Maybe there is a pattern emerging, mcgee.


Jason
Click to expand...

When I first started using Graids they were pretty solid.


Recently (over the last 2 years) I have had myself and others experience catastrophic failures with them.
 
What good enclosures/drives are out there that can handle uncompressed 1080p footage?
Anything? (im sure it would be a raid)
 
Rippie said:
What good enclosures/drives are out there that can handle uncompressed 1080p footage?
Anything? (im sure it would be a raid)
Click to expand...

Typically your looking at around 200 MB/s depending on which format. My company (Richter Video Equipment) sells 4 disk raids that can handle this speed. They use WD drives (not generic brands). The Drives have a 5 year warranty and the whole external raid has a 1 year warranty with free shipping to and from for any warranty issues. They can support raid 0,1,5,10 and connect primarily by esata, but can be accessed by firewire or usb (slower for usb or firewire.) Send me a PM if your interested.
 
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