are lacie 5big thunderbolt 2 reliable for small video company?

[fandangoguy]

hi there. After using single Lacie D2 quadra firewire 800 drives for several year, I have decided to upgrade to a RAID system for redundancy and a bit more speed. So far I have been ok using FW800 since I only do HD 1080p usually with the internal coded of the XF300 (same codec as the C300- MPEG-2 50Mbps and the Canon C100 MP4 transcoded to Apple pro res LT. I have been able to do a 3 stream multicam with these codecs with few hiccups but I think it's time to get something faster and also redundancy.
I have a late 2013 27" i7 imac with 32GB Ram and 4 GG GPU- the internal drive is a 3TB fusion strictly for applications.
I have been eyeing an entry level RAID- the Lacie 5big TB2- the 10TB version- also looked at the G-Speed Studio (12TB vers). The pegasus is out of my budget. After getting a RAID I would set it up as a RAID5 system and I will use the Lacie D2 drives to back up some/most of the RAID. I'm trying to establish better work practices! But after reading a bit (here and other websites) it seems that many people feel that the Lacie 5big TB2 is not reliable due to using "cheap consumer grade" Seagate HD and this has discouraged me from getting one. I found a 10TB for a good price (from a friend of a friend!) but i would hate to see the drives fail too quickly. I know they will fail at some point (and I intent to have a spare one ready) but it would be great to have a reliable raid for a couple of years or so. Is anyone here using it for video editing that could share their first hand experience with it? or am I better off continuing to use single disks until I really need the speed bump?
thanks for the input

Erick

 

[ColdCase]

They are as reliable as the drives, and you can replace them when the time comes. I have two LaCie Big 5s (TB), one loaded with 10TB, they other 20TB that I've had for about 3 years now without issue. I got a good deal on them at the time. They get pretty heavy use. I won't use RAID 5 with larger drives because of rebuild times and maintenance, its just no benefit to me. I use RAID0 where I need performance or large volumes and then back the volume up. Should the main volume fail, I'll use the backup volume and buy new drives of my choice based on whats available at the time to reconfigure the main volume (often bigger).

For best real time editing performance, I put the source files on 1TB SSDs installed in OWC enclosures. The rotational drive spin up and seek times, even in RAID0, can be annoying for those of us liking instant gratification.

You may be better of with a OWD 4 bay enclosure (non HW RAID) and select your own NAS or Enterprise drives or SSDs. You'd have more drive choice flexibility and perhaps save some cash over the long run. But then you'd also have more decisions to make

 

[fandangoguy]

thanks ColdCase...trying to establish a more "professional" post-production flow is a bit more complicated than i thought...! aye caramba!
I recently got a more recent imac to replace a 2009 imac, a lacie USB3 drive for time machine, a new UPS cyberpower 1500VA, and now the storage/redundancy is next on my list. A friend of a friend is selling his 5big 10TB 2 for a good price-under $700US -1 year old and I trust that, but some reviews focussed on the "unreliability" of the Seagate drives.

I guess i have been lucky with my Lacie D2 FW drives as they havent't failed in 4 years. RAID 0 is such a taboo in the editing world! the end of life as we know it! and it can be if there's no back up...but I also read that it can take several hours to rebuild a RAID 5 after replacing a faild drive and sometimes the rebuilds fail! aye! so back up of the RAID is also mandatory. Somehow I have become obsessed with a RAID 5 set up. Maybe I read too much.

I could benefit from the speed bump (even if my imac late 2013 is only thunderbolt 1)- my lacie drives only give me
60-65mBs-which is mostly enough for the codecs I use-no 4K yet or uncompressed HD.
I just thought that using RAID5 would make life easier, but maybe not!

the OWC 12TB ThunderBay 4 RAID 5 edition for under $1,000 US at B&H looks good. I hope they use more reliable Hard drives- Hitachi I hear are good. SoftRAID 5 is included but i read that this is a trial version and that must be purchased after?? but OWC is an option to the more expensive ones.

I wish I could be more certain about the 1 year old RAID (with warranty left) that I came across. A new one would be too much and the G-speed studio are substantially more.But then again, you get what you pay more.
thanks for the insight Coldcase..
Erick

 

[barbu]

I did some research on this but for a different purpose... we needed highly reliable storage for mission-critical calibration data. I went with the Areca 5026 (thunderbolt) based on its reputation for reliable rebuilds. I use 4x4TB drives in RAID 1+0. This is a lot more money than your LaCie rig though, that used set up your friend is offering sounds like a decent deal. The 5026 with Hitachi drives was over $3500 CAD

 

[matreya]

I have a G-Speed Studio R (12TB) and it is excellent. I also have Thunderbay IV running SoftRAID in RAID5 and it works well also. Both units have HGST drives in them.

The G-Speed Studio R comes with HGST Ultrastar drives, which are the best enterprise drives on the market. They will outlast the 2nd-hand LaCie by several years.

 

[fandangoguy]

awesome feedback barbu and matreya. Thanks. I think the make of the hard drives is the key to the RAID's longer term reliability.I really want to spend my money wisely and if possible do it right the first time.

It seems that If I need something now and on the "cheap" then the Lacie might be ok but not for long term (3 years or so)- Something longer term could be the G-Speed studio 12 TB for $1.700US (about $2,500 CDN plus tax!)
and well..that's what it is...!

OWC 12 TB Thunderbay 4 with Raid 5 looks good at $969US (about $1,394 CDN) no shipping charge and it appears no import duty either at B&H but it doesn't list what hard drives they are using...perhaps the same drives the Lacie 5big uses...!
Those HGST Ultrastar get high ratings. A 3TB HGST HUS724030ALE640 UltraStar 7K4000 HDD would cost me $344 plus tax CDN ($240 US) so I understand why the G-speed are pricey....in comparison the Seagate Barracuda SATA Drives are $159 CDN each. Big difference.

Your feedback has put things in perspective! I may have to save a lot more money before buying a RAID. The lacie looks good etc and is a good price but I don't get the feeling that it will stay reliable for long.
thanks
E
[doublepost=1452803834][/doublepost]I just checked OWC and they use the following hard drives in their 12TB thunderbay: 4 x 3.0TB* Toshiba DT01ACAxx Series Hard Disk Drives**- are these any good? Certainly no HGST ultrastar i bet.
thanks
E

 

[matreya]

The Toshiba's are a solid drive, they come from a former HGST factory (HGST had to sell some assets to comply with Govt conditions on the merger of HGST with WD). They're certainly not Ultrastars, but they are a solid drive, superior to Seagate barracudas.

 

[fandangoguy]

thank you matreya...I did some investigating and discovered that I can buy OWC ThunderBay IV - ThunderBolt Raid Enclosure with SoftRAID RAID 5 locally here in Toronto and then buy the drives separately. I found some TOSHIBA SATA Drives - 7200 RPM for sale-3 TB for a reasonable price with a 64mb cache and a 2 year warranty. The seller has the following note below the Toshiba drives: "NOTE - Toshiba bought the Hitachi consumer drive division, so these are the same "old" Hitachi Deskstar drives.". I guess these ones are better than the Seagate Barracuda then.

Larry Jordan's review of the OWC thunderbay 4 with softraid is positive.The software seems to be good. Maybe even better than hardware raid.
I'm zeroing on this system...which may come up to $1,200 CDN plus tax including softraid software (alone it costs $170US I think!) and 4 Toshiba drives x 3TB each. This set up would be better than the Lacie 5big 10TB with Seagate drives it seems if I understood all the feedback provided to me here. Right?
thanks for all your patience...
Erick

 

[matreya]

Yes, I think the Thunderbay 4 with RAID5 using SoftRAID will serve you better than the 2nd-hand LaCie (or even a new one). Bear in mind though that RAID is for redundancy and you still should have a backup drive for all your data.

 

[fandangoguy]

thanks! I will use some of my current Lacie D2 to back up the RAID. I also have a UPS and Time Machine for the internal HD. I'm getting used to a more semi pro work flow. Now, time to count my pennies (and loonies and twonies as we call our 1 dollar and 2 dollar coins!)
E

 

[fandangoguy]

update: I checked my funds and I just couldn't afford a OWC system...so I looked on the local kijiji and found a G-Raid Studio 8TB for $700CDN (about $500US) -lightly used by a local filmmaker. I checked it out and decided to go for it.
I installed the Gtech configurator and i get 300mB/s on RAID 0 (on a late imac i7 late 2013-thunderbolt 1) which is 6 times faster than my current Lacie drives. I already see an improvement in the couple of multicam apple pro res LT projects that I have on the go...so...I couldn't afford a RAID 5 OWC this time but I got a fast and reliable (HGST drives inside) drive(s).
I daisy chained 3 of my lacie drives to the Gtech via adaptor and they work fine and as fast as before. Pls don't tell me how foolish it is to use Raid 0-I intend to use the 3TB lacies to back up the Raid 0.

Most likely, I will save my original files (from Canon XF300 50mbps and Canon C100 mk2 mp4) on one of the lacie drives and then all conversions to Prores LT(if any) will be stored on the Gtech and I will edit on the Gtech.
Some projects are from paying clients so maybe i should just back up those projects. Now, how do I back up the raid?
is it a matter of just copying the folder I want from the Gtech to the lacies? along with the premiere CS6 or FCP 7 project? I don't think a complete back up is needed.
Just learning the ropes here.
thanks for the help if you can.
erick

 

[matreya]

Well, for a start I wouldn't be trusting the Lacies as backup drives because (as I've said before) Lacie use the cheapest Seagate hard drives which are not well regarded. Anyway, since you cannot afford to do any better at the moment, I suggest you use something like Carbon Copy Cloner to backup important folders.

 

[fandangoguy]

right..I will get a better single drive to use as back up...and I will get Carbon Copy cloner. I will make some money this Summer and then I will get an OWC raid 5...then the GRaid will become the back up...small steps in the right direction.
thanks!
E

 

[Ifti]

Ive been using my Lacie 5Big ThunderBolt 2 drive, which is the 20TB version, for the past 2 years or so now with no problems whatsoever. Its a great drive and has always performed remarkably well.
Nevertheless, the time has come where I will soon be selling the drive and upgrading to a QNAP TVS-871T instead.....