NAS/Shared Media Storage for CS5.5

mjmcneese

mjmcneese

Veteran
OK, so we have two workstations and one laptop for which we would have like to have a shared media station. All running Windows 7. We wanna be able to edit directly from the media on this shared drive, and have it be set up as a RAID 5 for security. All three of our machines are on the same network switch, and they're all within 18' of each other. What are my options? What's working for you guys out there right now?
 
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You're going to be limited by network speeds...your central server will most likely only have a 1Gbps network interface and this will be shared between the workstations. I guess it depends on what kind of footage (bit rate) you'll be editing.

Also, if you try to edit the same media from more than one workstation, I think you may run into file locking issues (not sure though, as I've never done this).
 
Premiere Pro at this time doesn't deal with networks as well as many would like. That's not to say you can't get things going, but my own recommendation would be to copy everything over to local storage before any editing begins.
 
I've got quotes from companies offering NAS stations that are "endorsed" by Adobe to work with CS5.5. They're not cheap - $8,000 for 4TB. But, looking at the specs, I don't know what's sets them apart from a Buffalo 8TB for $900.

Should I maybe look at a SAN?
 
The hardware has little to do with it...it's how the data will be accessed..will it be via NFS, SMB, iSCSI, Fiber Channel?

Which solution are they recommending for $8k?
 
Studio Network Solutions EVO is the product endorsed by Adobe.

I guess I dont know how we would access the NAS, or whatever it might be. We don't have an IT dept to help or set the thing up either. I mean, if there were a drive with three USB 2.0 ports that we could all look at at the same time, I'd buy it.
 
Some input.

I use a Drobo FS system with 5 2TB drives in RAID5 config, all under $1K. Have a small shop. 2 PCs, one for audio, one for video. All on a 1Gbps network.

Its more expedient to transfer the files and work in PC.
At the end of the day, copy the whole project back to the Drobo in temp folders as backup for safety.

These are win7 Pro PCs and they see the drobo FS as a network drive and are easily mapped so they show under "My Computer" as any other drive.
 
Thanks for the replies, all!

Maybe I'm asking for something that doesn't exist - but seems so simple. We already have a secure shared drive. It's moderately speedy, but no where near the throughput we need to edit directly from. It's a handy place to keep project files, PSDs, and AE elements. We are archiving to BluRay. The only thing missing is a way that we can work from the same media on different workstations. Obviously, we aren't looking to damage the files on the shared drive. Nor are we asking to share render data that way. Just wanted to have the footage we are working on all in one location.

Basically, we are working on a magazine-style show that has all sorts of elements and packages being edited by the three of us. We are all using the same media, and we are constantly sharing project files.
 
Mike McNeese said:
Studio Network Solutions EVO is the product endorsed by Adobe.

I guess I dont know how we would access the NAS, or whatever it might be. We don't have an IT dept to help or set the thing up either. I mean, if there were a drive with three USB 2.0 ports that we could all look at at the same time, I'd buy it.
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You'd buy it, and then 30 minutes later you would throw it in the garbage...

Here's what you need:

-A central server to store your media. This server should focus on two things: disk size and redundancy. These days you can build a box for cheap. With 2TB drives and a proper RAID controller, you'll be set. Use RAID 6 instead of RAID 5. If a single drive fails in a RAID 5 array, you'll be ok, but if a second drive fails while the array is rebuilding, you're dead. RAID is NOT a backup solution -- it provides safely against drive failure ONLY.

-Offline backup. You will want a not-always-on backup...this can be another set of hard drives, or some sort of tape library. If your original idea was to buy a SAN, then you can afford a tape library robot (around $5-$10K and some LTO 4/5 tapes).

You will not be editing the footage from the same networked location on multiple machines..it just doesn't work that way and, even if you COULD do it, the cost would not be worth it. You will want to copy whatever footage you need for the project from the server to your local workstation, work on it, then save the project files.

There are other lower end solutions such as Drobos but at the end of the day it depends on your budget. You said you wanted to buy a SAN, yet at the same time you were concerned about spending $8k on 4TB of storage....a proper SAN will cost more than a car.
 
I understand.

Shared media storage seems like it will offer no benefits to us. We have a RAID array that we've been capturing media to, and switching cables to access it to our different machines. Dont really see the advantage of dumping $20k to save us from swapping cables.
 
My solution is to edit everything localy on a raid0 volume with 4 discs. It is fast. Every night when shutting down the computer a backup app automaticly syncs everything to a 4-bay Synology nas server in raid 10 configuration.

When upgrading the nas with new discs it leaves me with four discs I can archive individual projects to.
 
Another question: If we have a 4-bay NAS it is NOT going to be fast enough to edit from via shared storage...correct? Well, what if I use it as a central location to store media, but when working we download the media to our local workstations. And then what if I connect my computer directly to the NAS via eSATA or USB? Would I then be using the NAS like an external RAID? And would it then be fast enough to edit directly from?
 
Mike McNeese said:
Another question: If we have a 4-bay NAS it is NOT going to be fast enough to edit from via shared storage...correct? Well, what if I use it as a central location to store media, but when working we download the media to our local workstations. And then what if I connect my computer directly to the NAS via eSATA or USB? Would I then be using the NAS like an external RAID? And would it then be fast enough to edit directly from?
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via eSATA, yes...via USB, not really.

I don't know of any external RAID arrays which would allow an eSATA connection to see the array.
 
Phil1076 said:
via eSATA, yes...via USB, not really.

I don't know of any external RAID arrays which would allow an eSATA connection to see the array.
Click to expand...

Ah! Good point. I'm looking at a Synology DS411 that has eSATA...never thought that it might be an input-only port. Something to check on, I guess.
 
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