iMac 27" and Storage Solution

[JasonMillard]

Hey community...few questions:

1. I am purchasing an iMac 27" with a 256 SSD to run OS and Apps
2. I will upgrade the ram to 32gb (or is this overkill?)
3. I need two external HD solutions (1 for importing/editing/converting/exporting) (1 for backup)
   

Can I get away with 2gb Raid O and USB 3 for ML Raw footage?  I do short narrative/documentaries for my students so I was thinking I import both 64gb KB cards onto the 2gb Raid 0 for editing (128gb of footage) then after the final video is created deleting all DNGs and raw data, thus freeing the Raid 0 2gb drive up for the next project and transferring the final video to a 4, 6, or 8 TB external HDD 7200 rpm for storage of pictures/documents/videos only

Any gaps in my logic?  I was considering 4tb Raid 0 but i'd rather save $$$

Jason

[budafilms]

In my opinion if you can afford an original Imac 27, you can use an external HD by thunderbolt. You can operate by thunderbolt using your SSD only  for software and processing - if you write too much the SSD you will have to change your SSD in two years or loose cells every month.

USB3 it's cheaper, but it's not faster than SATA 3 - your internal connection is SATA 3. It's not as advertising the read and write. In a real scenery translate files is not processing, read, and write files.

The disks for USB3 are 5400 RPM vs 7200 or 10000.

32 gb of ram is not necessary except 3D. It's not faster.

I hope this help you.

[swinxx]

hello!

my 2 cents:

all in all you have 2 options if you wanna run a mac system (which is my preferable system nowadays)

if you go with the imac i would really wait til the new imacs will be out..
there is a rumor that those new imacs will be released soon and will have a "retina display"
i have a new macbook pro with the retina display and it is great!! and a big upgrade

all in all imacs are great computers, like the most apple products nowadays, although i have to say that my macbook is too slow and too small for editing raw video. (mostly because of the graphics card)

another option would be to build up a hackintosh. you can build up your own macpro with the fastest components available and will be only a little bit more expensive than the imac (but much better equipped) (i have build up one for video editing which runs a 4gb geforce 680, 32gb ram, an ssd for system files and a  6tb raid system for video files (4x3gb mirrored).
it works very fast and in realtime with raw files.
check tonymacx86 for more information..

the ony downside is that you have to be very careful with system updates.. (luckily i had no problem with my system so far..)

greets. sw

[JasonMillard]

Thanks! I thought about Hackintosh but not being to update, etc. turned me off big time.  iMac 27" it is...either now or in October...but they may not come until January or after...I think I could be okay with current version.

How about this:

Can I get away with 2gb Raid O and USB 3 for ML Raw footage?  I do short narrative/documentaries for my students so I was thinking I import both 64gb KB cards onto the 2gb Raid 0 for editing (128gb of footage) then after the final video is created deleting all DNGs and raw data, thus freeing the Raid 0 2gb drive up for the next project and transferring the final video to a 4, 6, or 8 TB external HDD 7200 rpm for storage of pictures/documents/videos only

Any gaps in my logic?  I was considering 4tb Raid 0 but i'd rather save $$$

[swinxx]

Hi,

2 aspects:

1. i can update my hackintosh but must do it with a special procedure. I never had troubles so far and have 10.9.4 with a mac keyboard and magicmouse without problems.

2 about your hdd and workflow concerns..
I Cant tell you cause
A. different Usb3 hdds have different speeds.
B. Depends on the resolution of your recording...

Think about a thunderbolt 2 hdd solution like the brand new cheap and fast thunderbay 4:
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/Thunderbolt/External-Drive/OWC/ThunderBay-4

I have read that those solutions are the fastest ones.. My Usb3 drive read speed is nearly 110mb/s, but those thunderbays are raid and therefore much faster!!