Hackintosh for Resolve

[David Kellermann]

Hi,

i was looking for possibilities to speed up Colorista 2 in Premiere Pro CS5 or After Affects CS5 to realtime but there doesn't seem to be a solution (http://reduser.net/forum/showthread.php?t=53145)

Jake Blakestone recommended to use rather an Hackintosh with Resolve than Colorista, so I did some research on Hackintoshs.

It would be great if Hackintosh users could share some of their experiences on this thread and point me and other editors looking for a good colorgrading suite on a budget in the right direction. Would a system like the following one enable a realtime workflow on ProRes Files and R3D files, even while using keyer and power masks?

ASUS P6T7 WS SuperComputer, X58
Intel Core i7-950, 4x 3.06GHz (maybe OCed)
24GB DDR3 RAM
GTX 480
Red Rocket
DeckLink HD Extreme 3D
SSD (system disc)
RAID (8x 1TB RAID0 ARC-1880-i) (all data is save on a NAS and backups)

Also has someone tried using a GTX 570 or 580?

Sorry for the many questions. I would be more than happy if someone could answer one or more of them.

David

***UPDATE***

I ordered today the following setup. I'll update this thread with news on the hackintosh DaVinci performance and some links to files and guides you will need to build your own one.

ASUS P6T7 WS SuperComputer, X58
Intel Core i7-950, 4x 3.06GHz (maybe OCed)
24GB 1600 DDR3 RAM
3x GTX 480 (with watercooling blocks to fit them in a single slot)
DeckLink HD Extreme 3D+
8x 1TB Spinpoint F3
Arceca ARC-1880-i
Enermax Revolution85+ 1250W ATX 2.3
Mac OS X 10.6.3

***UPDATE 2***

Thanks to Luigi, I was able to set up my Hackintosh. Everything is working flawlessly!

The components:

ASUS P6T7 WS SuperComputer, X58
Intel Core i7-950, 4x 3.06GHz
24GB DDR3 1600 RAM
3x GTX 480 watercooled (Aquacomputer connected via Twinconnect)
DeckLink HD Extreme 3D+
RAID (8x 1TB RAID0 ARC-1880-i)

My configuration:

1 - empty
2 - empty (HMDI output)
3 - GTX480
4 - Blackmagic Decklink 3D+
5 - GTX480
6 - Areca 1880i
7 - GTX480

I partitioned the RAID0. Booting from it works perfectly (I'll set up a dual boot with Windows 7).

The read/write speeds are awesome. Aja disk test (system cache disabled) 3500MB/s read / 2000MB/s write

See this thread for further informations:
http://reduser.net/forum/showthread.php?t=54430

[Charles Angus]

It's my understanding that you need two graphics cards for realtime in Resolve.

[Alex Carr]

I have P6T7, nice board. Runs osx well, has x7 Pci-e Lanes.

[Ben Brainerd]

The thing to remember about a hackintosh is the it is *NOT SUPPORTED*

By anyone. Problems with OS X? Apple won't help you. Problems with your graphics card? Nvidia/ATI won't help. Problems with Resolve? You *might* be able to get someone to help you, but more likely you'll get "Sorry, unsupported system, can't help you." I could go on and on like this, but you get the picture, I hope.

[David Kellermann]

Sure, but since the system is only used only for Resolve, there shouldn't be to many problems. Even if, there are other systems as backups.

I'll wait until the new Intel CPU / mainboards are released since they support EFI. If MacOSX wont work with those, I'll try a configuration like above and post the results on this thread.

[Jesse Korosi]

It's my understanding that you need two graphics cards for realtime in Resolve.

I am sure I have not pushed the Divinci I am running on my MacPro as hard as I could. But for playback, primary corrections and even window tracking just using the NVIDIA Quadro FX 4800 card it seems to be working in Realtime. It is amazing how stable the program is as well. Even when using it for Arri Alexa processing or grading, it hasn't crashed during a session yet.

[luigivaltulini]

Hello David,
to support OS X for your mainboard then http://www.s155158671.websitehome.co.uk/modifiedg5hackia.html or visit the forum and talk AQUAMAC,
regarding the flow in real time there are many people here in the forums that you can give some advice, this forum is full of nice people who help you.
I advise you if you are a beginner with a hakintosh to be very careful not as easy as it seems to make a perfect gaming. I would recommend you start with a gigabyte UD7 and download the necessary http://www.kakewalk.se/ from here if you need help you get well without problems.
And yes gtx 580 work but only in with driver nvidia mac and 10.6.5

[Bruce Allen]

Normally this would be a good idea.

BUT - the DaVinci guys are REALLY responsive and cool if you have a problem. If you use a Hackintosh, you miss out on that - and it's worth a lot.

Resolve isn't like some Adobe product where it takes 6 months / never for them to fix a bug.

I hit a very minor bug at one point in the beta (that only occurred with an old, unsupported Blackmagic card) and emailed them precise details on it.

They fixed it in a day with a new build - overnight support from the programmers.

Yes, a Mac Pro is lacking in PCI slots and is overpriced. However, the efficient coding on DaVinci's part comes close to making up for that. Then their support closes the argument.

IMHO the only reason you should Hackintosh for DaVinci is if you can't afford a Mac. Still though, this is really one of those times when it's a good idea to just get the recommended system.

My 2c.

Bruce Allen
www.boacinema.com

[Ben Brainerd]

IMHO the only reason you should Hackintosh for DaVinci is if you can't afford a Mac. Still though, this is really one of those times when it's a good idea to just get the recommended system.


I actually had a pretty lengthy discussion about this with some of my buddies over drinks a couple days ago. It was long and convoluted, but the short version was "Pro software requires pro hardware."

I'm not saying that, in your particular situation, Resolve on a hackintosh won't work out. It's possible it will. But is it really worth the risk on a professional job? The last thing you want is clients getting annoyed with you because you're working out bugs in your hacked-up system that occur in the middle of a grading session. (Because that's when they'll happen. Not during your shakedown, not during your solo grading. Murphy demands that show-stopping bugs will occur with clients in the room)

There's also the question of "Budget System" as it applies here. You're looking at a seat of Resolve ($1000), a control surface ($1500+), a RedRocket ($3000/$4750), the Decklink HD/3D ($1000), a high-end monitor for output ($2500 for HP Dreamcolor or FSI 1760, possibly a LOT more) and call it another $500 for various bits and bobs. That's $9500 before you even factor in actual baseline computer hardware. Yes, you can probably built a machine that's equivalent specs-wise to a Mac Pro, but you're still going to be in the range of $13000. And once you end up spending that much, are the "savings" of a hackintosh really worth the hassles?

[Rob Ruffo]

I'd say for short form you don't NEED a Red Rocket - Rocket is awesome gear that makes me drool, but you can always render a 30 second spot or a 3.5 minute music video after the client has gone home - it will only take less than an hour.

Also, you really don't NEED a Dreamcolor - since it has no viewing angle issues, you could go for a Panasonic plasma (in some ways it would be better) as a secondary monitor for final color tweaks. Get an HDMI switch and you are all set.

[Peter Chamberlain]

Hi guys, now that Resolve v7.1 on Mac supports multiple GPU's via an expander I see no reason to consider anything other than the certified platform. Our development team works day and night to make it reliable on both Linux and Mac and we trust that this most recent major update, just 90 days from the formal IBC release, shows how serious we are about adding the features you need as quickly as we can.
Peter

[David Kellermann]

Hello David,
to support OS X for your mainboard then http://www.s155158671.websitehome.co.uk/modifiedg5hackia.html or visit the forum and talk AQUAMAC.

I would recommend you start with a gigabyte UD7 and download the necessary http://www.kakewalk.se/ from here if you need help you get well without problems.
And yes gtx 580 work but only in with driver nvidia mac and 10.6.5

Thanks a lot for the links! The UD7 unfortunately has only 4 PCIx16 slots, so I'll stick probably to the ASUS P6T7 and two or three GTX 570, since I can use now multiple GPUs for Resolve.


There's also the question of "Budget System" as it applies here. You're looking at a seat of Resolve ($1000), a control surface ($1500+), a RedRocket ($3000/$4750), the Decklink HD/3D ($1000), a high-end monitor for output ($2500 for HP Dreamcolor or FSI 1760, possibly a LOT more) and call it another $500 for various bits and bobs. That's $9500 before you even factor in actual baseline computer hardware. Yes, you can probably built a machine that's equivalent specs-wise to a Mac Pro, but you're still going to be in the range of $13000. And once you end up spending that much, are the "savings" of a hackintosh really worth the hassles?

I already got an Pany P50VT25, a Blackmagic 3D and a nice RAID setup. Still I will probably spend 1300$ on a PC, all the other hardware (raid-controller, GPUs) and software (Resolve) could be used in a Mac Pro which I will probably buy next summer when the new Mac Pros get out. The PC could then still be used as an additional editing station in my company. As I invested already quite a lot in the last months, every 1000$ realy matter. By next summer my financial situation will probably allow me to upgrade to "real" Macs, but I can't wait for Resolve until then.


Hi guys, now that Resolve v7.1 on Mac supports multiple GPU's via an expander I see no reason to consider anything other than the certified platform. Our development team works day and night to make it reliable on both Linux and Mac and we trust that this most recent major update, just 90 days from the formal IBC release, shows how serious we are about adding the features you need as quickly as we can.
Peter

Your amazing product is the reason why I want a Mac so urgent. Believe me that I know about the upsides of using certified hardware / software combinations and will invest in them, as soon as it is possible for my company.
Or you could just make the Linux license a 1000$ :laugh:

[Harris Charalambous]

Hi guys, now that Resolve v7.1 on Mac supports multiple GPU's via an expander I see no reason to consider anything other than the certified platform. Our development team works day and night to make it reliable on both Linux and Mac and we trust that this most recent major update, just 90 days from the formal IBC release, shows how serious we are about adding the features you need as quickly as we can.
Peter
Peter, I just checked out the update. You guys are doing great stuff - keep it coming.

[jake blackstone]

Hi guys, now that Resolve v7.1 on Mac supports multiple GPU's via an expander I see no reason to consider anything other than the certified platform. Our development team works day and night to make it reliable on both Linux and Mac and we trust that this most recent major update, just 90 days from the formal IBC release, shows how serious we are about adding the features you need as quickly as we can.
Peter

Agreed Peter, certified system is the way to go, but can you tell us what other hardware beside 2xFX4000 and GT 120 can present Mac reliably run with the expander chassis? What kind of performance can we expect with 2 GPUs? Can this system run 2xRR for real time stereo grading? What about real time 4k grading? Just curious...
Never mind, just found the answer:
http://forums.creativecow.net/readpost/277/3283

[Matt Gottshalk]

tagged.

[Jose Lomeña]

Why hackintosh?

I have a MacPro 12 core 2.9, a lot of Imac, macbook, and 6 hackpros.

All my system fail in a middle of a project, but not for a hardware problem, always software problems.

If you only need one system, go with a macpro, but my recomendation if you need 3 or more system is hackintosh. Why, because if the computer died, you only need to replace the needed parts, and no more very expensive reparations from apple store, or expensive or impossible harware upgrades

my clients are happier with a spare system, than, only one expensive and exclusive fast macpro. Think what your client need.

Saludos,

Jose.

[Ben Brainerd]

All my system fail in a middle of a project, but not for a hardware problem, always software problems.


If you're experiencing software problems, wouldn't that be an argument *FOR* a MacPro/Certified system? Given that running on a Hackintosh automatically invalidates any support for the software?

I suppose having a cheap backup system standing by would work, but personally I would rather be able to call up the software company and get the problem *fixed*, something you can't do with a hackintosh.

[Jose Lomeña]

Software problems fixed with a call?... In spanish?... From apple?...
At the end the problems are solved from users that can help you in boards like this. This is the best support. At least for me.
Like i said, i have macpro too, and certified support, but with one is enought. For the rest, hackpros.

[David Kellermann]

If you're experiencing software problems, wouldn't that be an argument *FOR* a MacPro/Certified system? Given that running on a Hackintosh automatically invalidates any support for the software?

I suppose having a cheap backup system standing by would work, but personally I would rather be able to call up the software company and get the problem *fixed*, something you can't do with a hackintosh.

Since all his systems fail, including the Mac Pros, the Apple software should be the problem, or at least that's how I understood it.

I'll wait with the Hackintosh until the new Intel CPUs are released in early January, since Sandy Bridge is supporting EFI which could be handy for Hackintosh.

After figuring out the glitches, I'll post some tutorial, benchmarks and pics on the new system.

[David Kellermann]

Software problems fixed with a call?... In spanish?... From apple?...
At the end the problems are solved from users that can help you in boards like this. This is the best support. At least for me.
Like i said, i have macpro too, and certified support, but with one is enought. For the rest, hackpros.

Seems like a good solution! I'll use Hackintosh anyway only for Resolve.

[Aleksandar Colancevski]

My hack with two GTX 285 is flying. Thank you BM-DaVinci.

[Paul Hazlett]

My hack with two GTX 285 is flying. Thank you BM-DaVinci.

care to share your setup? I am looking to build one!

Thanks

[Alex Carr]

A computer is a computer, a computer built for professional use will be just as good. To me, Apple makes a big heavy boat anchor that you have to modify to fit in a rack. Apple needs to re-configure their approach to the Pro Market desperately. I've been dissatisfied for years. I spend more money on Hackintoshes but I get more out of them than a MAcPro can give me. Plus I can build them in any case without a fuss, I prefer 4U Rack systems. My only gripe is I can't fit water cooling in a 4U as easily as a tower.
If you can't do the research and figure this out then don't do it. I wouldn't suggest any of you doing this because it requires research and experience, things that most of us don't have time for when there are more important things to research. I do it because its easy for me, I've done the research for the past 4-5 years when apple first made the switch to Intel. I get a new motherboard and spend an afternoon editing the .plists and creating a gfx string.

[roryhinds]

Hackintosh's are cool.
Think different, do what Apple won't do.

[David Kellermann]

I ordered all the parts today... I'll post an update next week with links to all the files and tutorials you need to make it (hopefully) work.

[luigivaltulini]

Well,
i wait your test David ;)
I know what you ordered is beautiful;)?

[luigivaltulini]

hey DAvid thanks for your post in aquamac forum,
If you need help ask me too;)
I hope you have taken this type of water cooling.
otherwise you will have serious problems to put the cards in the other half remember that the case should be as big as corsair 800D Louis let me know.

if you are interesssed i give you boot sequence is nice :)
see 2 pics

[luigivaltulini]

DAvid ok I did want these drivers to put in the extra folder and the new chameleon from Ifabio , I hope you serve as served to me.
Thanks to the AQUAMAC the system works fine ,We tried both evga 4 sli and gigabyte ud9 but pt6ws supercomputer is the best ever.i recommend you install the OS 10.6.3 with only 4 GB of RAM and 1 video card. Then update to 10.6.6 and add the rest of the hardware.
If you need help let me know you with files, downloaded and even pfix kext helper b7.

Luigi

http://rapidshare.com/files/442965742/kext.zip

[David Kellermann]

Hi Luigi,

that boot screen looks pretty cool:001_cool:
Thanks a lot!!!

I ordered the same water cooling system as you did... I'm glad that you have already good experiences with it! And thanks for the information... I'll install it the way you recommended.

Unfortunately some parts are still missing... but everything should be here on Friday. Did you had to modify the boot.list in your isntaller to install OSX with your GPU?

David

[luigivaltulini]

Hello David,
I installed everything with an old 8800 GT, then I installed the drivers and put all the cards.
let me know when you get everything, I'm glad you got the GTX 480 will give you a boost;)
You have already tried the matrox hd compressor?
Today is 15 days and nights that the asus p6t7ws and 'turned on and still did not give me an error or kernel panic. beautiful.
I'm working on sleep on the info in your control panel. I'll 'know.
Hello David hold on power;) in a few days you'll have everything at home;)

[Aleksandar Colancevski]

care to share your setup? I am looking to build one!

Thanks

Gigabyte x58 USB3, 3x4gb ram, i7 930 3,7GHz, 2x285gtx, 4 disk raid0

[Jan Prochazka]

Gigabyte x58 USB3, 3x4gb ram, i7 930 3,7GHz, 2x285gtx, 4 disk raid0

It seems like pretty standard setup, we ended with the same :conehead:

We tried old´n´(t)rusty 9800GT as a GUI card, but it´s not powerful enough, so 2x GTX285 is our way for today ;-)

[Jan Prochazka]

A computer is a computer, a computer built for professional use will be just as good. To me, Apple makes a big heavy boat anchor that you have to modify to fit in a rack. Apple needs to re-configure their approach to the Pro Market desperately. I've been dissatisfied for years.

Same for me. Plus couple of other things, mainly OS related. (Have you ever tried open 150k files folder (movie in .DPX) in finder?)



If you can't do the research and figure this out then don't do it. I wouldn't suggest any of you doing this because it requires research and experience, things that most of us don't have time for when there are more important things to research. I do it because its easy for me, I've done the research for the past 4-5 years when apple first made the switch to Intel. I get a new motherboard and spend an afternoon editing the .plists and creating a gfx string.

True. Even many-times-tried combinations of hw and sw hesitate to work. You can get another revision of mobo and spend day or two just solving basic things - i.e. Or after minor upgrade of sw you can end with "black box" and spend couple of days to work out.

[Thor Melsted]

4 disk raid0

Pardon my French, but that's just balls out nuts.
4 times the chance of failure - and if you lose one, you lose all because RAID 0 has NO redundancy whatsoever.

For your sake I really hope you have a good backup configuration.

Yes, RAID 0 is very fast, but it's also a very high risk setup.

I've seen too many 16 drive RAID5 arrays rebuilding due to a failed drive to ever trust RAID 0 without it being part of a 0+1 or 1+0 setup.

[Jan Prochazka]

Yes, RAID 0 is very fast, but it's also a very high risk setup.


I don´t know Aleksander´s setup, but in our case this is intended just for render cache. It does over 400MB/s r/w with four "green" (read cheap) disks as software raid. We had no success with onboard raid controller, because ICH10R raid capabilities are AFAIK unsupported in OSx86. There is also JMicron and Marvell (supported) raid controllers onboard, but both have just pair of connectors.

[Darren Orange]

We are running a Hack here, fast no real issues. x58 Gigabyte chipset is the way to go.

[Aleksandar Colancevski]

Pardon my French, but that's just balls out nuts.
4 times the chance of failure - and if you lose one, you lose all because RAID 0 has NO redundancy whatsoever.

For your sake I really hope you have a good backup configuration.

Yes, RAID 0 is very fast, but it's also a very high risk setup.

I've seen too many 16 drive RAID5 arrays rebuilding due to a failed drive to ever trust RAID 0 without it being part of a 0+1 or 1+0 setup.

Maybe I am crazy or lucky, but in my 17 year experience(started on Quadra840AV with 2GB Micronet raid0 - still working) never had drive failure. Still thinking that if you buy server quality drives you are safe enough.
I always do backup of project files daily on other disks and delete source from backup after finish of the project.
I have always bought new drives because capcity of the old is not enough. My previous raid0 was 4 300gb drives which I use now for boot drives or on the shelve backup.
Reminder: with Diskwarior you can see how many hours your drive have worked so you probably predict the failure. Yes, maybe I am crazy that I trust manufaturers specs.

[David Kellermann]

Maybe I am crazy or lucky, but in my 17 year experience(started on Quadra840AV with 2GB Micronet raid0 - still working) never had drive failure. Still thinking that if you buy server quality drives you are safe enough.
I always do backup of project files daily on other disks and delete source from backup after finish of the project.
I have always bought new drives because capcity of the old is not enough. My previous raid0 was 4 300gb drives which I use now for boot drives or on the shelve backup.
Reminder: with Diskwarior you can see how many hours your drive have worked so you probably predict the failure. Yes, maybe I am crazy that I trust manufaturers specs.

I'm running now a RAID 10 on my Windows workstation with 8x 1TB Samsung F3 (pretty fast drives) connected to a LSI MegaRAID 9260-8i with BBU. But even a RAID 10 isn't really secure. For my new Hackintosh workstation, I'll replace the LSI (which will move into my backup server) through an Areca ARC-1880-i (for OSX support). The 8 drives will be put together to a RAID0 with daily backups and all project files saved on the server. Also all data on the server is duplicated to 2TB hard disks which are kept safe in a differt location. That way I'm even secured against a potential fire or water damage.

Maybe it's not the most bullet proof setup, but you can't get even close to similar transfer rates (my RAID10: 1100MB/s read / 650MB/s write) and 100% data security without spending way more money.

[Jan Prochazka]

Maybe I am crazy or lucky, ... never had drive failure. Still thinking that if you buy server quality drives you are safe enough.

We run 24 disk SAN here and in past three years we had to replace more than 10 disc. The truth is, that 8 of them were from one bunch - we returned whole bunch under warranty.
All of them are 24/7 server grade disks.
Most of them died in first week of service.
We have RAID 6 so no problem here, but you ARE crazy AND lucky! :devil:

[Aleksandar Colancevski]

We run 24 disk SAN here and in past three years we had to replace more than 10 disc. The truth is, that 8 of them were from one bunch - we returned whole bunch under warranty.
All of them are 24/7 server grade disks.
Most of them died in first week of service.
We have RAID 6 so no problem here, but you ARE crazy AND lucky! :devil:

I think your supplier sucks.:emote_hippie:
I have a question for all of you: If raid 0 is so unreliable, what happens if Red drive fail after a day of shooting exclusive documentary material? Or you say, hold your thought Mr.President, we have to change the drive in order to make backup, or maybe you say to the capricorn to repeat that beautiful jump.
After all rebuilding a raid is slower than making backup of source material on other disks.
I make several raid 1 from 2drives and copy R3D. One of the drives I put into the workstation the other goes on the shelve. So why do I need raid 5,6,10,x?
If drive fails I have the project, I have the source, we all have realtime systems, so really I don't understand what is the paranoya about failing drives. It just 2 espressos more to give to your client, with raid 5 or whatever you will tell him to call you tommorow to check if the raid is finished rebuilding.

[Nikolai Vavilov]

I think your supplier sucks.:emote_hippie:
I have a question for all of you: If raid 0 is so unreliable, what happens if Red drive fail after a day of shooting exclusive documentary material? Or you say, hold your thought Mr.President, we have to change the drive in order to make backup, or maybe you say to the capricorn to repeat that beautiful jump.


I'm also have some experience with big external 24/48 disk RAID systems and also can say - drive fails happens pretty often, doesnt matter which brand or model they are.

Red drives also looks pretty risky for any serious work - we used at least 2 RedDrives per camera and we try to change them back and forth and make backups as often as possible.

[Uli Plank]

Same here, the RED drives are risky. I think there's a reason why RED is getting away from them.

[Aleksandar Colancevski]

Hey guys, I don't want to go too technical, but if you use it on moto "don't be gentle it's a rental" then failure can be expected. Maintenence is the name of the game and nobody cares except the guy who gives the money.
For me it works until now.
Also I believe in Reds testing methods for realibility and never regret it.

[Uli Plank]

Well, the drives are not made by RED, and all drives fail sooner or later. A RAID-0 quadruples the risk of loss for the same amount of data, since one drive will kill all content, and the RAID doubles capacity.
If you have ever shot in a chopper or a fast car with stiff suspension, you will have experienced dropped frames with the RED RAID. It's just advised to backup as often as possible. I'm very grateful that SSDs will be soon here to get rid of that technology.

[Jan Prochazka]

I think it depends on workflow. While your everyday "two capucino" backup is fine for you, I can´t imagine it here.
Notice: you can hardly notice performance dropdown during on-the-fly rebuild of raid 6.

[Thor Melsted]

Maintenence is the name of the game and nobody cares except the guy who gives the money.
No, protection is the name of the game. While important, maintenance is not as big a factor, it just makes drives last a bit closer to their estimated life cycle. Hard drives are mechanical with parts that move very fast, and they will all fail eventually.


For me it works until now.
:banghead:
With all due respect, I find your attitude towards data redundancy pretty careless, and something one can only expect from someone who's never lost data. Just because you haven't lost a drive, doesn't mean you never will. Relying on luck and knock-on-wood is bound to come back to haunt you at some point, and most likely when you can least afford it.

Just my opinion...

[Aleksandar Colancevski]

I am not saying that using Raid 6 or X is stupid, I would use it too.
Just saying that for single CC- editing suite is not nessesery.
I went on training configuring XSAN so I really understand what you are saying.
But for Red R3D and ProRes codec, a single disk setup is a must.
I am using 2 different e-sata external drive backup for recorded R3Ds.
For complex multistation, tens of Terabyte of data serious disk array is a must.
But thinking of building yourself serious raid is not very serious.(in case you are not experienced engineer)
My mathematics has proved that 100 Capucino is much cheaper than good quality raid solution.(if have that luck to have over 50 failed drives)
I have already backed up my source, DaVinci is a realtime, backing up FCP project, edl or DaVinci project is a one second job, so I don't get you what is there to be afraid if drive fails.
And Yes Uli, I have over 50 commercilals and 2 feature movies recorded with my Red.
I am well aware of the Red drive sensitivity. But then again if you know how to balance on the string, you will not use CF cards so often. Ofcourse we are all happy that Red put SSD in the RedOne too.

[Aleksandar Colancevski]

Hint: I allmost forgot to tell you my recent event. A frend of mine had failure of the power supply into one of his computers. It resulted with fried electronics on all the drives in it. He had luck that one of the same drives series sits on the shelve so we changed only the electronic plate on the failed drives and managed to take out all the data from them.

[jake blackstone]

I can see, that this discussion veered off the main subject a while ago, so I'm going to add to this goal a bit more.
In many locations, Eastern Europe included, low quality of power distribution network leaves said equipment at the mercy of quality UPS. Power can and does go out at most unexpected times in duration frequently exceeding UPS power reservoir. Personally, I can't imagine using RAID 0 in such locations without major loss of data at some point...

[David Kellermann]

I can see, that this discussion veered off the main subject a while ago, so I'm going to add to this goal a bit more.
In many locations, Eastern Europe included, low quality of power distribution network leaves said equipment at the mercy of quality UPS. Power can and does go out at most unexpected times in duration frequently exceeding UPS power reservoir. Personally, I can't imagine using RAID 0 in such locations without major loss of data at some point...

You don't even have to go to Eastern Europe to have problems with the electric network. I'm living in Germany, close to the Swiss and French border... last week, out of nowhere, the power supply struggled for 30 seconds, with all the lights in the room flickering (like in a bad horror movie). I'm sure glad that all our electronical equipment is behind UPS. Especially since they don't cost a fortune, if you don't want to run without power for more than a couple of minutes. The problem is returning since then and the electrician is clueless where the problem lies...

[Aleksandar Colancevski]

I can see, that this discussion veered off the main subject a while ago, so I'm going to add to this goal a bit more.
In many locations, Eastern Europe included, low quality of power distribution network leaves said equipment at the mercy of quality UPS. Power can and does go out at most unexpected times in duration frequently exceeding UPS power reservoir. Personally, I can't imagine using RAID 0 in such locations without major loss of data at some point...

Right, we are way off. Because we are disscusing Hacks I think exchange experience in using certain parts is needed. Regarding your comment about the electricity here you are right. We tend to use quality UPSs. In the case I described it was the falty Asus video card that draw a lot of current from Chieftec power supply which inner protection failed to react.

[David Kellermann]

My Hackintosh finally works (see thread http://reduser.net/forum/showthread.php?t=54430). The Areca 1880i RAID0 with 8x 1TB Spinpoint F3 is flying... Blackmagic speed test gives out strange results, since I have no idea how to disable the OSX system cache. On the Aja benchmark, I get 3500MB/s read / 2000MB/s write speeds (the write speed is going down to 860MB/s which seems more realistic)

Right now, I'm securing all data on a daily basis on our server, running Windows Server 2008 R2, on a LSI 9260-8i (with BBU) RAID5 with 6x 2TB Samsung F4.

The transfer speeds are ok (Gigabit ethernet), but on the long run I have to find a better solution for backing up these huge data amounts.