Fibre Channel Setups
 

Anyone that uses Fibre Channel, can you post the specs of your setup, such as:
(Tim Kolb, can you please answer as much of this as possible - THANKS!)

1. Fibre Channel Cards:
A) FC cards on workstation and server - Brand/Model (Apple, Atto, LSI... I am looking at Atto)
B) 4Gb or 8Gb
C) # of FC ports on each card
D) are they bonded to improve throughput

2. Specs of the server:
A) brand/model/Operating System
B) # of drives, drive models/size
C) Do the drives need to be F-C drives or can you use Sata/SAS?
D) Raid controller(s), Raid # used (eg 3, 5, 6, 10)
E) my most important question - what software is used to create LUNs/targets?

3. Specs of the switch
A) Brand/Model
B) 4Gb or 8Gb, # of ports
C) does it support bonding

4. What NLE have you used with FC? Issues/problems?

5. Any issues/problems with FC and/or the FC server?

6. Personal preference: do you prefer video stored on a FC server or on a local raid enclosure - and why?

If you have any pertinent information, please provide it.

I am looking for this info so I can determine what I would need to go from local Raid to FC Raid storage. I also hope to make this an informative thread for others looking into FC.

THANKS!!!!!

Steve,

That's a huge list of questions, more than can be adequately covered on a forum.

What you need is one-to-one advice - even telephonically. Contact Kenny Martin @ DVServe, tell him I sent you. He's one of the few RAID/Fibre/SAS/Server for video specialists I've ever known and much of what I know of that I learned from him.

One tidbit: ATTO makes the best Fiber cards, hands down, for both PC and Mac. The 44ES or 42ES should be exactly what you need.

Get in touch with Kenny; he's your best source for everything you need to know.

Hi Steve,

Coincidentally i haven't been on the forums much because I've been in Chicago...(western suburbs)

I have a drawer full of LSi's...(I think they're little guys...2Gb maybe? I need to check) I can't find drivers for them any more...I'll sell 'em cheap for someone who could actually use them...I think I have 2 or 3...

I use a ATTO. You can find them for sale used if you take your time.

I just have two ports. Two channels. 4Gb

I'm actually something of an IT idiot I'm afraid...I don't even know what "bonded" is, honestly.

I've got an ADTX enclosure (no server...it's local), which I need to bring back online with Windows 7 on my machine from my recent upgrade, but I don't believe they (ADTX) exist anymore...I can't seem to find a company website anyway.

I have Hitachi 250s in it...I think it has 15 drives...2 groups of 7 and a hot spare...I had it set up in RAID 5...

I like local storage if you can keep it cool and quiet. Having this particular enclosure in the room adds to the noise floor for sure. For me, I'm one guy in an edit bay...a server seems a bit much to me. Not to mention, more stuff for an IT idiot to learn to maintain it.

Sorry I'm not more helpful. I also lean on others for guidance in the areas of configuring storage systems...

ATTO
Four ports - 4Gbps
No server. It connects to RAID storage. (RAID 5)
FCP working 1920x1080p. No issues.

On preferences: it depends.
For independent projects this direct storage is fine; for collaborative projects I also work through Apple XSAN wich allows access to media for different users/stations/applications. Fundamental in this workflow: well defined conventions across all users to facilitate media management.

Tim, FYI, I live in the western suburbs (A-town) and work in Cicero (just south of Chicago). 'Bonded' means taking 2 or more ports and making them act as a single port and adding the bandwidth of each port together. So, with 2 4Gb ports, you can have a single connection with 8Gb of bandwidth. The other main use of 'Bonding' is providing 1) bandwidth negotiation to help with multiple connections coming in and going out and 2) mirroring/failover in case a port dies.

Robert, thanks for the tip; however, I am looking to set this up on my own. I have seen the cost of turnkey systems, and HOLY $HIT they are expensive.

Romuald, thanks for the info.