| Best way to optimise a HFS+ video disk array?
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 | Best way to optimise a HFS+ video disk array?
by Ben Cheng on Oct 23, 2006 at 3:32:54 pm |
Hi All,
I like to seek your advice on the best way to optimise a HFS+ video disk array & to maintain its health status?
Often, after a period of usage, the disk array will not be able to playback. Drop frame warnings regularly.
The SCSI disk array, e.g MediaVault U320R or RX, is used with Mac OS X & FCP.
The disk array is not full, but fragmented (according to DiskWarrior).
As Huge does not recommend DiskWarrior, I like to seek your advice on how we should optimise the disk array performance.
1. Does a low-format format help?
2. What if we backup the data, perform a low-level format & then move the data back?
3. Or we should re-capture the media, after the low-level format?
4. What other actions should we take to maintain a healthy disk array?
--
Cheers,
Ben Cheng
Application Engineer
The Media Village Pte Ltd
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• | | | |  | Re: Best way to optimise a HFS+ video disk array?
by Lance R. Gropper on Oct 23, 2006 at 5:02:56 pm |
Hello Ben:
For starters, our arrays do not currently low-level format. Drop frame warnings can be from a lot of things: Most common is Final Cut Pro is not performance-tuned. The default settings, for example, are for capture and playback of DV or HDV material, however the settings are not really good enough for SD uncompressed or HD uncompressed. In some cases, other settings, such as safe area and caps lock can cause dropped frames.
Getting back to "defragmenting the array" - If you are using a Mac, and don't need the data, restripe the array. If you need the data, back it up then restripe the array then restore the backup. If it's on a PC, and you don't need the data, use the Windows Disk Management with WinLDM or equivalent utility to restripe the array. If you need the data, back it up, use Windows Disk Management with WinLDM or equivalent utility to restripe the array, then restore the backup.
Most optimization software isn't designed for hardware RAIDs -- by defragmenting the array with the optimization software, you can actually be fragmenting the array worse.
It's also important to note that when you restore the backup is a critical time -- the files must be copied in a single pass with nothing else writing to the array while the files are restoring, otherwise you risk refragmenting the array while restoring the data. Another consideration, if you have files which you know don't need to go fast, such as stills or audio files, you can copy the video files first, then copy the other files afterwards -- this has the added benefit of locating the video files towards the outer portion of the disks.
Lance Gropper
Ciprico
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• | | | | | Re: Best way to optimise a HFS+ video disk array?
by Ben Cheng on Nov 7, 2006 at 6:29:00 pm |
Hi Lance,
Thanks for your reply.
May I know how do you re-stripe a disk array in Mac OS X?
Cheers,
Ben Cheng
The Media Village
Singapore
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Hi Ben, this is Robert.
Please refer to the Formatting and Partitioning section of our User's Guide, page 19. Click here:
U320RX User's Guide
Robert Leong - Tech Support
Huge/Ciprico.
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• | | | | | Re: Best way to optimise a HFS+ video disk array?
by Ben Cheng on Nov 9, 2006 at 6:17:32 pm |
Hi Robert,
Thanks for your advice.
May I know if the 'Erase' function in Disk Utility is the same as 'Partition'?
Usually I used 'Erase' instead of 'Partition'
As for the low-level format I was talking about previously, in the 'Erase' section, in 'Options', you can choose 'Zero All Data'.
Is this the same as a low-level format?
May I know does this help in optimising the disk array?
Cheers,
Ben
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• | | | | | Re: Best way to optimise a HFS+ video disk array?
by Lance R. Gropper on Nov 9, 2006 at 6:20:43 pm |
Hello Ben:
Erase is not the same as Partition (That's why they both exist) - Partition will erase the partition table on the disk and create a new partition table, and install the OS 9 drivers if selected/available. Erase will erase an existing partition, not affecting other partitions which may already exist on the disk.
Lance Gropper
Ciprico
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