Best Storage and Backup Solution

K

Kathariner

New member
Hello

I'm looking to upgrade my storage and backup solution. I'm running FCP7 on my iMac (3.1GHz Quad Core Intel Core i5) with 8GB of RAM. I currently edit to external hard drives, creating a separate back up set also, but this is proving time and space inefficient. I make documentaries, shoot a lot in HD, and projects often run to 3TB of footage so storage is an issue.

So, I'm thinking about a RAID array. Would anyone be able to recommend a good solution for my needs? I've been looking at the Promise Pegasus R6, GSpeed eS and Caldigit HD Element. Would be keen to hear any thoughts/comparisons on these or any others.

Thanks in advance
Katharine
 
Storage and backup are two different things.

A good raid 5 would work for safe editing.

IMO, lto5 is the best option for archiving.

I went with cache-a and cat-dv for my archiving needs.
 
ive played the "archiving game" several times over the years and i find for myself (a corporate, advertising, occasional longer form shooter) tape archival to be overly cumbersome in the event you get a re-edit request from the client. i generally just shelve the drive (duplicate it if its a valuable client/project)

in 15 years in the business. ive only had two drives fail and they were both lacies, identical models bought from the same place at the same time.

ive been using caldigit, promax (both direct from manufacturer) and mercury elites (from macsales.com) for most of the last decade and none of those drives have failed. i have had a couple extrernal power supplies fail and one internal supply go bad. but those were both drop in fixes. and like i say, all but two of the probably three-dozen or so drives ive been in contact with are still functional to this day.

these however are just my personal observations. your individual mileage may vary
 
The best and most simple solution ive heard to date has been from
Scott Bourne​


at http://photofocus.com/
He suggested a while ago the best was a Duel Drive case that you can Mirror Raid. Probably something with the flavor of at least FW800 or some newer USB 3 if you have the hardware to support it.
Anyhow, basically, you throw in 2 - 2TB drives - Mirrored. Then when its getting full, simply take out 1 of the drives and store that in some safe place. And add a new drive. Safe Effective, and very simple.
This was with regards to photos storage. But loads of video projects i've archived using this solution with as well.
I used Drobos 4 and 8 bays setup on FW800 or esata. But they are slow, and take time to setup and manage. The best and most cost effective solution was this simple duel bay/mirrored solution.

I found a G-Drive Duel Bay, 4 interface (USB, FW800/400, Esata) for about $140. It came with 2 - 1TB drives pre-installed... but the case is easy to open up and swap out drives. amazon referbed FTW! :D
 
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This was the backup solution that Scott Bourne ultimately went with. This particular one has the hard drives with it already, but one without the drives does exist too if you want to add your own.

I put in two Antec SATAports in my desktop and just mirror the drives manually. It can be a hassle at times, but until I can afford that WiebeTech unit, it will do. I use Western Digital Green Drives (2TB).

More important projects I also burn to Blu-ray discs (usually 2 DL and one single layer).
 
Yes, and no...
Yes, most recently he actually went with the Pegasus TB drives. Went as far as to buy like a 8 of these...
No, what I was suggesting was a much cheaper solution and also some drives around what he had previously, like 1 year ago. I can't be bothered to search now. But basically this G-drive I have now was about as simple as he was using before.
What I wanted to point out, was for most people, an esata drive or FW 800 should be enough to edit off and use for ex storage. Raid it, and you have that much more speed. So basically ANY cheap duel raid setup, internal or ext. should meet most needs.
Of course these 4 and 8 raids are more convent and possible faster...but also 3-4 times more pricey and won't be used to their full potential.
 
During a project I dump the cards on set on a USB3 drive.
At home I copy them to my internal RAIDs and work with them.
If the RAID fails, I still have the USB3 drive.

At the end of each day, I backup what has been made (inbetweens, animation, project files andwhatnot), just in case.

After all is said and done, I ask the client if he want the files or f I just should delete them.
Most of them want the files. So I buy a naked HDD (that I put on the bill of course), stick it into my USB3 HDD dock, dump the files and hand it to the client in a nice box. Done.

That´s the same workflow as with my personal projects.
I keep the naked HDDs the same way, I kept tapes back in those tape days.
If I need the material again, I stick it into my HDD docking station, copy the files to my work RAIDs and here we go.

For important or expensive material, I make a second copy and store it elsewhere.

Frank
 
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