You are right. What would you suggest as for storage device for editing and storing DVCPRO HD material? Only RAID or can I use a big external hard drive with eSATA card connection?

If you want to keep the budget as low as possible then the inexpensive array described here is what I'd recommend for editing. Just keep in mind that if you also plan on doing HDV editing on this array it will slow down considerably as you use it.

For storage only you could use any drive/connection type you prefer since speed is not an issue when you're simply storing/archiving files.

Since we are talking about cheap RAID solutions, I built one using an empty PC case that cost me $90 for the case, $30 for the cables, $200 for the SATA Card and $1350 for the five 500GB hard drives (2.5TB total) for a 5 drive raid capable of 350MB/s for around $1670:

http://lfhd.blogspot.com/2006/12/dar...sata-raid.html

And the thing is QUIET...I mean, I don't know that the thing is even on.

But, it is VERY do-it-yourself and requires a bit of tech savvy...

If it wasn't for this, I'd be looking at the CalDigit enclosures...

Save some more money and use an inexpensive PC case, which can hold up to 8 harddrives.

Thats what I did. Simply run the Sata cables directly to the HD's inside the case.

Andrew

Ah Shane beat me to it...

DAT Optic
 

Im thinking of buying the SATA controller from DAT Optic, the eSATA-PCIX. Does anyone have any expierience with this one ? http://www.datoptic.com/cgi-bin/web....cix&detail=yes
I've been trying to look for reviews of this card but havne't been abble to find any, according to DAT Optic Macs are supported. It's either this or my other options are the Sonnet or CalDigit FASTA4x wich both are more expensive.

An alternative is the Addonics 5 drive enclosure with Port Multiplier.
You can get about 250MB/s R/W (with 5 drive RAID 0) and have access to over 20 drives if you have a four port card. It's a great way to also have a portable storage/editing array for a laptop with a eSATA PCIe or PCMCIA card that's PM aware.
Sure it's not HW RAID but still the possibility of portability makes location work much easier.

What about the G-Raid2 van G-technology? How do they compare to the e-Sata set up you suggest????


[QUOTE=Robert Lane][QUOTE=Barry Kay]Thanks for the info; I'm looking forward to upgrading Everything to HVX so when online window-browsing I saw this new RAID 500GB product from LaCie for only $399 (!). Their promo says:

" a compact 2-disk device, the LaCie Two Big eSATA & USB comes with the fastest interface - eSATA (SATA II 3Gbits) and Hi-Speed USB 2.0 for connecting to almost any computer."