XServe RAID and catalyst

[samsc]

I know you folks have planty to but do you have the time/"wanto" too
test raid 5? to see any performance drops/or rices?

Can u change stripe sizes on an Xserv Raid?


Regards,

Jan O

No change in performance with raid5 - the demo unit arrived as RAID 5- i got reagan to reformat at raid0 - no difference noted.
Only tested at standard definition.
raid setup doesnt matter that much when you arent trying to get 200MB/s out of the XServe RAID.

i think you can change stripe size - it takes days to reinitialise - so we didnt change too much.


Playback at hi-def is processor limited at the moment - ( but might not be if apple released quad computers )

[marty@cwp.net]

Richard,

I spoke with Hugh yesterday. We were talking about another issue, but this is extremely interesting to me. Please keep me informed on this, as I have an immediate need for this. I am looking to do something along this line in Mid May. IF this works, this could be the answer.

Regards,

Marty

[samsc]

Im trying to get one on a big show right now- i have a show with lots of servers that can saturate this thing-

i can check out performance under real conditions.

Ill keep you informed of developments.

[tylerr]

sounds like a great solution for an install. But for road machines I like to keep the unit self contained in its case. The only wires that come out are for power, monitors, keyboard, and video out. The thought of a crew member, LD, or Catalyst Op accidently stomping on a fiber lead scares me.

But I am a chicken!

Tyler

[samsc]

sounds like a great solution for an install. But for road machines I like to keep the unit self contained in its case. The only wires that come out are for power, monitors, keyboard, and video out. The thought of a crew member, LD, or Catalyst Op accidently stomping on a fiber lead scares me.

But I am a chicken!

Tyler

its not fibre - its copper.

its seems a lot easier to configure than scsi.

[samsc]

Fibre channel cables:
http://www.cselex.com/fibre-channel-cables.htm

Some fibre channel info.

http://www.seagate.com/support/kb/di...e_channel.html

Fibre Channel key features include...

Hot-pluggability ? Fibre Channel drives can be installed or removed while the host system is operational, which is crucial in high-end and heavy-use server systems where there is little or no downtime.

ANSI standard compliance for serial port interface ? Fibre Channel does not require special adapters, which can be expensive.

Speed ? In its intended environment, Fibre Channel is the fastest option available.

Cost effectiveness ? Relative to other high-end solutions, Fibre Channel is inexpensive because it does not require special adapters.

Loop resiliency ? Fibre channel provides high data integrity in multiple-drive systems, including Fibre Channel RAID.

Longer cable lengths ? Relative to LVD, Fibre Channel can maintain data integrity through significantly longer cables. This makes configuring multiple devices easier.

fc switches:
http://www.storagesearch.com/fcswitches.html

[samsc]

Apple xserve cables:
http://www.cselex.com/apple-xserve-cables.htm

You can use fibre optical cables with these devices for long distances - but you dont have to,
the SFP plugs can take optical transceivers.

http://www.apple.com/xserve/raid/fibre_channel.html

For connecting over longer distances Apple?s card accepts long and short haul SFP (Small Form Factor Pluggable) optical transceivers for use with fiber-optic cables that can extend over 500 meters. This is particularly useful for organizations using Xserve RAID to back up or archive critical data.

[tharding]

How does this all relate to the transactions/second argument?

I am looking for disk solution at the moment beyond my single Raptor content drives and am a little confused now as to what is best. I have gone back through the forums and looked at your drive/codec comparison tables as well as the previous discussions about SATA v. SCSI. This fibre channel discovery seems to conflict with that.

Do I spend the money on internal SCSI drives for my 2 machines or am I better off investing more in something expandable such as xRAID?

I would like to have the ability to play back Hi Def but the maximum number of layers is also important.

Cheers

Toby

[samsc]

i have a couple of people testing xserve raids.
and going through the issues.

they are quite good, because they are expandable, but the cost is a bit higher.

i hope to get one on a tour this month.

[tharding]

Okay,

Given that the xserve raid is probably a little out of my price range at the moment I am considering 2 choices that will cost about the same.

Option 1 - a SATA array using the new rackmount enclosure from Macgurus and putting the 8 channel SATA card in each of my G5's. This gives me the option to run a 4 drive raid for each machine or an 8 drive array for one machine. I would use raptors as the drives.

Option 2 - Buy a the Atto scsi card for each machine and put an Atlas V 146 gig drive in each. This option giving me the chance to buy a Huge systems array further down the track.

Please let me know what you think is the best option.

Cheers

Toby