RAID Setup for Mac Pro and Video Editing

[Nate Martin]

Hello everyone!

I'm new to the forum and have a question I could really use some help answering. So here goes...

I recently acquired a Mac Pro from a friend to use as my primary video editing computer (I produce commercials and wedding videos). Now, I'm totally new to the mysterious world of RAID and only have a limited understanding so you'll have to pardon my ignorance at times.

The Mac Pro has 3 1TB SATA drives as well as a 120GB SSD drive.

I also recently purchased a 4TB G-Tech G-RAID drive that I was originally using when I was doing my video editing off of my Macbook Pro.

Now here's what I theoretically would like to do or know if this even makes sense to do.

I want the speed and capacity of a striped RAID array within the Mac Pro, but that's not the most secure if a drive goes bad. So I got to thinking...

What if I had my three 1TB internal hard drives in my Mac Pro setup as a striped RAID and then setup a mirrored RAID array to that striped RAID with my 4TB G-RAID drive?

1. Is that possible? Has anyone done it?
2. Does that even make sense to do?

I appreciate your help and guidance!

 

[AidenShaw]

Hello everyone!

I'm new to the forum and have a question I could really use some help answering. So here goes...

I recently acquired a Mac Pro from a friend to use as my primary video editing computer (I produce commercials and wedding videos). Now, I'm totally new to the mysterious world of RAID and only have a limited understanding so you'll have to pardon my ignorance at times.

The Mac Pro has 3 1TB SATA drives as well as a 120GB SSD drive.

I also recently purchased a 4TB G-Tech G-RAID drive that I was originally using when I was doing my video editing off of my Macbook Pro.

Now here's what I theoretically would like to do or know if this even makes sense to do.

I want the speed and capacity of a striped RAID array within the Mac Pro, but that's not the most secure if a drive goes bad. So I got to thinking...

What if I had my three 1TB internal hard drives in my Mac Pro setup as a striped RAID and then setup a mirrored RAID array to that striped RAID with my 4TB G-RAID drive?

1. Is that possible? Has anyone done it?
2. Does that even make sense to do?

I appreciate your help and guidance!

In general, it would be a bad idea to mirror (or RAID-5) between enclosures - one cable slip and you've lost the mirror.

Consider manually cloning the internal RAID to the external - that would be safe, and you could snapshot projects at significant points. This gives added protection against user or system error - with a mirror an error could destroy both copies simultaneously, whereas with a clone the second copy would survive.

 

[chfilm]

sell everything, get a promise pegasus. that's what I did You will not find any solution that will make you more happy for video editing at groundbreaking speeds plus security and good nights of happy sleep

 

[AidenShaw]

sell everything, get a promise pegasus. that's what I did You will not find any solution that will make you more happy for video editing at groundbreaking speeds plus security and good nights of happy sleep

But his MP doesn't have T-Bolt....

 

[avemestr]

Always remember: RAID (no matter the config) is NOT a backup solution.

What I'd suggest: Stripe the internal disks (RAID-1). Use SuperDuper or similar to schedule backup onto the external drives.

 

[chfilm]

But his MP doesn't have T-Bolt....

Oh sorry, didnt get that They should really open up a separate nMP forum

 

[Nate Martin]

In general, it would be a bad idea to mirror (or RAID-5) between enclosures - one cable slip and you've lost the mirror.

Consider manually cloning the internal RAID to the external - that would be safe, and you could snapshot projects at significant points. This gives added protection against user or system error - with a mirror an error could destroy both copies simultaneously, whereas with a clone the second copy would survive.

Thanks for the input! So, what if I would setup a striped RAID internally on the Mac Pro and use Super Duper Drive to create a clone of those drives on the G-RAID external drive?

Should I only clone the SATA drives or the SSD (where apps are stored) as well?

----------

Always remember: RAID (no matter the config) is NOT a backup solution.

What I'd suggest: Stripe the internal disks (RAID-1). Use SuperDuper or similar to schedule backup onto the external drives.

Thanks so much for the suggestion. I think I'm leaning towards doing that.

----------

sell everything, get a promise pegasus. that's what I did You will not find any solution that will make you more happy for video editing at groundbreaking speeds plus security and good nights of happy sleep

I've always had those and Drobo systems on the back of my mind. But since it's just me and another editor at the moment I can't justify spending the money until I have a studio with multiple editing suites.

 

[m4v3r1ck]

Always remember: RAID (no matter the config) is NOT a backup solution.

What I'd suggest: Stripe the internal disks (RAID-1). Use SuperDuper or similar to schedule backup onto the external drives.

RAID-1 = MIRROR!

Backing up any RAID = +1