Hi everyone! I'm reaching out for some advice on storage solutions for our media team. We have a small group working on producing around 6000 videos, and we've been using a SAN for storage and editing, which is replicated for safety and keeps 3 months of snapshots. However, the team feels that the SAN isn't meeting their needs anymore, and they're interested in exploring other options, particularly something more aligned with industry standards, like the Blackmagic MultiDock.
I'm open to exploring alternatives, but I'm curious how others in the industry handle backups for setups like this. Should we consider mirroring, snapshots, or other strategies? Ideally, we'd want a method where we can automate mirroring between disks while still maintaining a fast workflow. Any insights on whether solutions exist that mirror disks as they work, and how to efficiently back up the projects while keeping performance top-notch? Thanks for your help!
5 Answers
Yeah, those MultiDocks are really meant for single users. I’d recommend investing in an all-flash SAN instead. Boosting your network speed to at least 10GB would make a huge difference for handling 6K HD editing without lag.
First off, focus on your network. Upgrading to 10GbE cards and switches can help a lot. You can use LACP to combine multiple connections and really ramp up your speed. Also, are your users editing in full 6K or using proxies? That can significantly affect performance as well.
The sheer amount of data being produced is a challenge too—around 200TB! It sounds like your network upgrade is crucial. Planning that for next year will definitely help.
If you can swing it, check out products like those from NetApp. They provide a solid mix of speed and functionality. But keep in mind, proper network practices are super important too.
From what I've seen in videos, it’s crucial to have a good ingest station that ties everything together. The footage should go to a reliable backup and active working directories afterward. Your current 1GB network is likely the bottleneck here.
Totally agree! LTT has a lot of great content on this. It’s essential to keep editors away from working directly on the source disks to avoid data loss.
Honestly, I’m puzzled why devices like the MultiDock are marketed for this. They’re essentially just dumb storage without RAID or any redundancy. If your team is editing directly off it, that’s a bit risky. Have you considered ingesting footage to a server first? It might help mitigate risks and improve workflow.
Absolutely, an all-flash SAN can handle a lot more load. And don’t touch iSCSI for connectivity; stick with something robust. You’ll be able to manage the data flow much better.