Has anyone had any success in connecting a laptop running Media Composer (specifically, I'm using a MacBook Pro) to a Unity?  My (limited) understanding of the situation is that you need to have a fiber connection in order to be able to connect to most Unity systems.  Unfortunately, fiber ExpressCards seem to be somewhat lacking.

Would something like this product work to convert my gigabit copper port to a fiber connection?

If anyone has any information about doing this I'd greatly appreciate it.  Thanks!

I've got two HP XW workstations with MC and SN connected to Unity Lanshare over Fibre, but I use the Ethernet port to connect a regular MacBook. I don't really use it for Avid, it's more for flexibility and networking, but I have actually used it running MC Soft, with footage playing from the Lanshare. My VAR installed a Mac client on this MacBook for me. Also, I needed to use the "alldrives" console command to make the drives visible for the MacBook Avid.

Not sure what type of Unity you are looking at, not sure if the same things apply.

Thanks for that info.  I think I'm actually thinking about a different system here though.  Basically, I have Media Composer on my laptop, and as I go from job to job I'm wondering if there's a way to intergrate that system into a Unity environment that requires fiber to connect to it.  I'm not too up on what the various Unity systems past and present are, to tell the truth, so all I know is that the times I've asked if it were possible, I was told that the Unity would only work with fiber (in fact, I was told that only Lanshare would work with copper), so unless I had a fiber connection on my laptop I was outta luck.

I guess what I'm really wondering is if there is a configuration--if not a supported one, at least one that will work--to connect a laptop to a Unity over fiber.

I don't know of any way.  You might want to post this question on the Avid Unity forum if you haven't already.  I can tell you that we have a Lanshare EX at the office and we connect the workstations via fibre and my laptop running MC via ethernet and it all works very well.

To connect a laptop to Unity/LANshare via fiber, you'd need a fiber adapter.  Avid is very particular about these cards and drivers, so you'd need to use a "qualified" card.  None of which will work in a laptop.  If there is a Docking Station available for the MBP that has a PCI slot ... ?

The other problem, is that there are many versions of Unity and Unity hardware, e.g., 1GB, 2GB, 4GB, each with their own requirements and fiber cards.  It is unlikely you will find a solution that will work "everywhere".

It IS possible to connect a laptop via Ethernet.  if you're on Unity 4.x you need a Portserver Pro which is a fibre client that shares the workspaces via Ethernet.  you Unity also needs to have a dongle updater to support said ethernet clients.

If you're on Unity 5.x or LANShare, all you need is the ethernet licences and perhaps an Alachritech Ethernet card, and of course a qualified Ethenet Switch. 

having a setup like this is also beneficial for having Graphics stations connect to Unity and drop movies, or having a compression station crunch Quicktime References for web, or DVD or what-have-you