Is anyone familiar with these?

I need 2 TB storage, plus another 2 TB to back these up to.

I'm considering 4 x 1TB G-Raid drives, but there is a 2TB G-Raid available, so I could go 2x2.

Am I right in thinking that 1TB drives might be more robust than 2TB drives?  Maybe because of less intensive use of 1 platter?

Also, are these drives noisy from the fan?  Would 1 x 2 TB be less noisy (1 fan) compared to 2 x 1TB (2 fans)?  Or is the fan more powerful on the 2TB?

Any thoughts most appreciated!

G-Tech drives are the best there are. (Dulce is good too and AVID has it's own but they are so overpriced its funny)

Getting two enclosures is ALWAYS noisier than one unless you go fanless and I dont think those bigger Gtech drives are fanless.

Getting 2, 2tb G-Raids is the way to go here BUT since you are looking at this much storage you mioght consider GSPEED ES for an actual RAID enclosure. (G-RAID is more of a name than a true RAID... I am simplifying here but it should convey the point)

Thanks for the response - are you familiar with these units as I might have a couple more questions if you are...?

GSPEED eS is the pefect choice for you. You get several advantages over a Graid.

The G-Tech G-Speed is a top-notch storage solution for video editing – especially if you are going to be editing HD footage. G-Speed eS gives you all the throughput you need for the most demanding SD or HD video work, including complex long-format projects. Even more importantly the flexible RAID configuration allows you to select a RAID5 configuration for redundancy.

G-Speed eS is a complete storage solution. It consists of an external drive array, special eSata controller card and Browser-Based RAID Configuration and Management. This winning combination of technology gives you a screaming fast storage solution with flexible configurations to meet even the most demanding video editing needs. The best part is that it doesn't require you to buy an expensive and difficult to configure SCSI or FibreChannel controller card. The PCIe card is a snap to install on a Mac or Windows machine, and you can purchase additional storage units that can be daisy chained as needed.

Gary
Videoguys.com GSpeed eS page

Thanks Gary.

What's the unit like noise-wise?  I've had experience of several SCSI Raids and they all blow like a hairdrier most of the day.  Even the Lacie Bigger Disk 1TB has a noisy fan.

Also it's slightly more complicated because I'm sending the drives up to a shoot where they're digitising on a hired-in  Avid, so they won't have the right eSata card.

Out of interest, how do the drives come configured out of the box?

Much quieter then those drives.I'd call it a dull humm.

We have one set up as part of our DIY6 system. We've been playing with MC 3.0 for the past week and it's so damn responsive!!

Gary

Gary have you tried it with multiple streams of HD and Nitris DX?  (both storage and IO on the eSata)

 Since we are on the topic of Raid and so on. The G-Speed eS drive, yes it comes with an eSATA card but what controls the Raid? is it a Hardware controlled raid? I looked at the card and it looks like the CPU will be doing all the work

creativethinker:

yes it comes with an eSATA card but what controls the Raid? is it a Hardware controlled raid? I looked at the card and it looks like the CPU will be doing all the work

Cards from boxes like these are usually low cost RAID. They are not like high-end RAID controllers found in servers and such. These don't have memory buffers and still allocate a huge portion of the traffic processing to the CPU. That being said, at this price you should not expect it to be a true hardware based RAID controller. A good true RAID 5 controller is not cheap.

As regarding speed, 4 drives will get you around 200 MB/s. Maybe a bit more. At 30 MB/s with DNxHD 220, that is about 7 streams.

Dom Q. Silverio:

Cards from boxes like these are usually low cost RAID. They are not like high-end RAID controllers found in servers and such. These don't have memory buffers and still allocate a huge portion of the traffic processing to the CPU. That being said, at this price you should not expect it to be a true hardware based RAID controller. A good true RAID 5 controller is not cheap.

 Right, thats what I thought. I went onto G Techs website to take a closer look. I love the Case the drivers are in but man look there prices. they realy over price it!! the eSATA card is priced at $350.00 . for that price you can pick up a nice Hard Ware raid card with 333Mb of ram and a 800Mhz Cpu.  The the prices for the hard drives are way over pricesd. I think its safer to build your own Raid setup for half the cost. There are plenty of sites where you can buy the Case, PSU etc for the build. Ill look some up and post lata.

 GSPEED is not over priced at all in my opinion. Look at AVID prices to see over priced. G-tech equipment is the best, quietest and has lowest failure rates. YOu need a raid card to do this. Its more of a "committment" than a FW drive. And as far as talking about raids in servers, I am not sure how that is relevant.

Guywithcat:

 GSPEED is not over priced at all in my opinion. Look at AVID prices to see over priced. G-tech equipment is the best, quietest and has lowest failure rates. YOu need a raid card to do this. Its more of a "committment" than a FW drive. And as far as talking about raids in servers, I am not sure how that is relevant.

What I mean by Over Priced is if you go on to G-techs website and look at what you are being charged for by part. You will see that you are being Over Charged!

For exampale on G-Techs web site a 250GB hard drive is selling for $129.00 and 750GB hard Drive is selling for $329.00   Now lets find these hard drives online. at newegg.com a Western Digital 250GB Hard Drive with 16mb Cach is selling for $59.99 and a 750GB Western Digital Hard Drive is selling for $129.00 Do you not see the OVER PRICING

Lets take it a step farther, the controler card is selling for 329.00 for a software only solution. Thats just crazy. You can buy a Areca Hard Ware controller card with 256Mb of ram and a dedicated CPu to procces Hard Drive tasks for $289.00 

and as for as Avids prices on hard drives.. well Avid never got Hardware pricing right so there is nothing to say about that.

 server raid?.. im not sure if that was for me but I never said anything about that.