Disk Arrays for Edit

notsane

Gawd
Joined
May 23, 2007
Messages
583
Hi,

We have two disk arrays for our MacPro 12 core edit systems. We are using highpoint 2332 cards with infiband connections to proavio 8 bay external enclosures. We are currently running 8 WD 640GB AAKS drives per enclosure and are looking to upgrade to 2TB per drive. I am looking at the WD RE4 7200RPM and WD Black 7200RPM drives. Are there any other drives to consider or issues we could run into?
 
WD black drives are not rated for RAID arrays; i forget if those had TLER and other RAID functions specifically disabled, or just WD wont support them for that use, but people have had headaches in the past using them for that.

the RE4's are their RAID-specific drives, which they charge more for. they are probably the exact same as lesser-priced models and just binned higher. you shouldnt have a problem with the RE4's, but look into the blacks some more before you decide to make sure they will work for you.
 
Thanks!

The only reason that I was thinking blacks may be fine is because we have been running the non-enterprise 640s (AAKS) without issue for 2 years in the same enclosures. I do want to get the right thing though, so please keep the opinions coming.
 
Yeah you may have issues with the Black Editions and a hardware RAID controller. You may also want to look at the Hitachi Ultrastar 7K3000s, they seem to be a pretty reliable manufacturer and you could probably get 16 of them cheaper than the RE4s.
 
Yeah I would avoid the Black drives altogether unless you get multiple confirmation of them working well with your specific controller.

Try looking at Samsung drives as well. Been hearing that they're working rather well with RAID controllers. But if you can afford it, go for the RE4s or the Ultrastar drives.
 
Thanks Danny! We will likely go with RE4 or ultrastar drives.

I bought four 1 TB spinpoints on your rec for my home machine. Are the 2TB spinpoints just as good as the 1TB drives?
 
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