Digital Video - March 2008 - (Page 16)

IN REVIEW SONNET TECHNOLOGIES FUSION F2 DRIVE only drawing power and not transferring data. Thus, Io HD and Fusion F2 work perfectly together. Sonnet sells a separate eSATA controller (under $100) that connects to the two ports on the F2 unit. Note that this unit is not port-multiplied. Port multiplication does reduce throughput by up to 10 percent, as well as adds bulk owing to the additional controller board. Sonnet has opted for speed and a compact footprint over single-port solution. Supplied accessories include two eSATA cables, a padded slipcase and a FireWire 400-to-miniplug power cable. The drives are formatted in MacOS Extended format, and the user must then utilize Apple Disk Utility to set up a RAID, if desired. If working in DV or DVCPRO HD where a single drive is more than adequate, you might opt to set up a mirrored RAID 1 for redundant backup. If you desire more layers of real time or wish to work in Apple ProRes 422 HQ, I would strongly recommend setting up a RAID 0 and then backing up critical data according to your usual backup strategy. (You do have a backup strategy, I hope). I opted to test the unit in a RAID 0 configuration. I first applied the AJA System Test using a DVCPRO HD sample. Read-write speeds were 114.7 MB/s while read speeds were 114.3 MB/s. This falls well within the tolerance required for ProRes 422 HQ but just short of the 125MB/s (or so) throughput that would comfortably allow editing of 8-bit uncompressed HD. In all fairness, there really is no two-drive RAID that could edit uncompressed footage. I put this drive through its paces in Final Cut Pro 6 on a MacBook Pro Core 2 Duo 2.33GHz with 2GB of RAM. Installation merely required installing the driver software for the Express34 controller card and launching Disk Utility and configuring the RAID level. It indeed performs as advertised with the Io HD and does not interfere with the FireWire transfer that the Io HD performs. In prior tests with single drive eSATA solutions, I could capture and edit ProRes www.dv.com The F2 drive set up with a Mac Book Pro and AJA Io HD SIZE MATTERS SONNET’S F2 PORTABLE RAID IS A MINI SOLUTION TO A MAJOR PROBLEM. that speed is only one factor. The density of the WD drive actually makes these he blurred line between a deskdrives faster than a Hitachi 7200 rpm top and a portable editing system drive. I tested a pair of Hitachi drives just got a little more blurry. striped in RAID 0 and found that the Sonnet Technologies has released the striped WD drives were 10MB/s faster! Fusion F2 640GB portable hard drive, a For those who might not be aware, storage solution aimed specifically at the difference between four-pin and sixMacBook Pro editors who are working pin FireWire connectors is that those two with large amounts of data where mediextra pins carry power. Thus, with a supum-rate throughputs are required. plied FireWire 400 cable, Sonnet has In a package about 6" square and less solved the problem of eSATA than 3⁄4" high, the F2 delivers AWARD OF connections not carrying power two eSATA drives that interface and the need for a cumbersome to the MacBook Pro via an Express34 eSATA card. But EXCELLENCE external power supply. But, you might ask, what if what is most ingenious about you need to use the remaining FireWire this device is that it draws its power from ports? First of all, if you need to connect the MacBook Pro’s FireWire 400 port. a FW400 device, it is as simple as using an The drive enclosure contains two FW400-800 adapter. But what’s most sig320GB 2.5" drives from Western Digital. nificant here is that all the F2 is drawing One might object that the WD drives are is power from that FireWire port. That is 5400 rather than the faster 7200 rpm vital for the product that this drive comdrives. It is important to note, however, pliments: The Io HD. The Io HD from AJA Video Systems SCORE allows field capture of HD material with a SONNET FUSION F2 DRIVE real-time transcode to Apple ProRes 422 PROS: Its design, speed and capacity make it a winor ProRes 422 HQ via the computer’s ner. CONS: FireWire-based power may be problemFireWire 800 port. The Io HD consumes atic for some. BOTTOM LINE: One of the most the entire bandwidth of the FW bus and innovative portable storage products in a long time. thus no other devices can be connected MSRP: $895 CONTACT: www. sonnettech.com to the Mac simultaneously. Fusion F2 is BY NED SOLTZ T DV 16 dv march 2008 http://www.sonnettech.com http://www.dv.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Digital Video - March 2008

Digital Video - March 2008 Contents DV Update Q&A Fest Circuit Instant Expert LP-Micro Light Fusion F2 Drive PPFP-3N Bag Ego Digital Imaging Light KE-79CC Boom & Fuzzy Close-Up: Honoring George Spiro Dibie, ASC Food Fight Key Thoughts on Chroma key DV101 Dynamic Duos First Look: A Big Serve Cameras & Courtrooms Ad Index Production Diary

Digital Video - March 2008

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