Date: Mon, 30 Sep 2002 11:04:57 -0700 From: "David Smithson" <david@customfilmeffects.com> To: <freebsd-firewire@FreeBSD.ORG> Subject: Re: RAID Host Adapter Message-ID: <011001c268ab$e2e2b5c0$0801a8c0@customfilmeffects.com> References: <00ec01c265a3$de400f50$0801a8c0@customfilmeffects.com>
next in thread | previous in thread | raw e-mail | index | archive | help
Okay, so nobody is interested in this topic. I'll just assume that it will work because it's OHCI compliant. In case anyone is interested, let me describe how we use firewire storage devices to move data. I am sysadmin for a visual effects co. in Burbank, California. We work primarily with 2k film-resolution image files (log10-bit/channel Kodak Cineons @ 2048x1556). These are uncompressed and in full format are about 13MB ea. Those familiar with cinema know that there are 24 frames per second, so obviously these files can use up a lot of space very quickly. We store them on a 1.5TB FreeBSD file server capable of sustaining 130MB/sec sequential reads. When we have finished a job, we have to send the data to a film-printing facility. Our current method is to use one or more 80GB Maxtor drives in firewire enclosures and transfer the data via gigabit network interconnect. As you can see, this is a serious application of the ieee1394 standard -- not just for home use. Much of our time is spent waiting for transfers to complete. The bottleneck, at the moment, probably occurs at the physical disk level (Old Maxtors) and then at the physical network layer (even over gigabit copper). I wish to eliminate the network bottleneck by implementing firewire in FreeBSD. I have been successful in doing so on a test computer with a cheapy OHCI firewire host adapter. I'm hoping to reduce some of the physical disk shortcomings by replacing the Maxtor drives with faster (newer) ones -- maybe the new WD special addition drives. In addition to this, I'd like to use a firewire card that is geared toward serious applications. That is why I am interested in the Indigita card. Here's a link to it: http://www.indigita.com/products/prod_fireidt800pci.htm if you are interested. Comments are welcome. I'm hoping to maximize transfer rates to eliminate the wait period and get jobs done faster. I'm just not sure that I'm seeing all the bottlenecks here. Thanks for listening. ----- Original Message ----- From: "David Smithson" <david@customfilmeffects.com> To: <freebsd-firewire@FreeBSD.ORG> Sent: Thursday, September 26, 2002 2:30 PM Subject: RAID Host Adapter > Hi. I've been looking at Indigita Corp's products. They will soon have a > host adapter that supports RAID configurations (iDT800PCI). I was just > wondering if there is any reason to think this adapter will not work with > the current FreeBSD firewire module? > > -- > David Smithson - Systems Administrator > Custom Film Effects > > > > > > To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org > with "unsubscribe freebsd-firewire" in the body of the message To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-firewire" in the body of the message
Want to link to this message? Use this URL: <https://mail-archive.FreeBSD.org/cgi/mid.cgi?011001c268ab$e2e2b5c0$0801a8c0>