Revised Testing Numbers

Jan 6

The day after I posted the numbers I was getting from the CalDigit S2VR unit I am reviewing, I received a conference call from the guys at CalDigit. They didn’t like the numbers. I was confused at first, thinking that they were wondering how I got such high numbers. Because I was impressed with my results. But no, that wasn’t it. My numbers were too LOW. I should be getting much faster transfer speeds and they wanted to help me figure out what I did wrong.

Let my list the computer specs of the G5 that the unit is attached to.

Dual 2Ghz G5, 3GB RAM, no other cards installed other than the CalDigit controller card, which is located in Bay 4.

When I first configured this unit, I used the S2VR Configuration software that came with the drives. The RAID setting I chose was JBOD, or Just a Bunch of Drives. Then I used the Disk Utility to RAID the drives as a Striped Set (RAID 0) and there I had it. Apparently I did it wrong. But that is the configuration the documentations picture indicated…JBOD.

I was told by the guys at CalDigit that I needed to use the configuration software and select PERFORMANCE when I create the RAID. And I did. Then, instead of using the Disk Utility to create the Raid I used it to create one partition. Then the drives showed up as one.

I ran the test again.

For DVCPRO HD 720p60 1 GB file, I got:
Write: 146.6 MB/s
Read 144.4 MB/s

CONSIDERABLE difference. Wow. Just to check I went back and reconfigured it as a JBOD and striped using the Disk Utility and ran the test again. I got similiar numbers to the ones above.

Huh…I think I did something wrong the first time. I must have…those are far bigger numbers than what I initially received.

Anyway, those are the numbers I am getting now, close to 140 MB/s with all the formats I tested…just what the guys say I should be getting. To be fair, when I ran the first test (Using the AJA KONA System Test) the S2VR Duo unit had 338 GB of footage on it…and it is a 500GB unit. So the unit was 67% full at the time. The above numbers reflect what I am getting with an empty drive. I will copy over the files again from my main system and run the test again…see what the numbers say then.

OK…I copied the footage back. 338GB of footage. Again, the unit is 67% full. I ran the test again.

DVCPRO HD 720p60 1 GB file:
Write: 109.1 MB/s
Read 105.0 MB/s

Uncompressed 10-bit SD 1 GB file:
Write: 109.2 MB/s
Read 108.1 MB/s

So those numbers are closer to what I got in my original tests, but slightly higher. So I think that initially I did do something wrong when I first formatted the drive. But it also shows that drive performance does indeed dip lower the fuller the drive gets. Still, those are very acceptable numbers. Great numbers in fact. I can get several streams (layers of video) with those numbers. I’ll have to test how many in the coming weeks.

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Comments

Anonymous

January 7th, 2007 at 5:53 PM

Thanks for the update, Shane. Sounds like a solid product, but I will say that the numbers seem no better than you’d get with, say, Firmtek’s 2-port SATA card, and its 2 drive enclosure. For $300, you can have the enclosure and card. Plus, the FirmTek has a much smaller form factor than the CalDigit (it can comfortably fit under my 23″ Cinema Display), and you can swap the drives from the front of the unit, without having to turn it around and access the back. Check out this review at AMUG:

http://www.amug.org/amug-web/html/amug/reviews/articles/firmtek/2se2e/

and this review at Barefeats:

http://www.barefeats.com/hard83.html

Finally, the Firmtek card lets you boot from one of the sata drives, is really quiet, and also passes SmartData through to the Mac.

Not trying to ding the CalDigit, but just pointing out another good option. I just wish the Firmtek enclosure also had a second, more common port like FireWire 800 or USB 2, so you could take it wth you to other machines more easily…
Shane Ross

January 7th, 2007 at 8:00 PM

Impressive. Same performace for about half the cost. And yes, access is easier for hot swapping. And I was about co comment about MacPro support not being there, until I read the Barefeats review…it is supported on all Intel Macs.

I’ll have to test the bootablility of the CalDigit unit, when my testing of it for media performance is over.

The advantage I see with the CalDigit at this point is that with Superlane technology, you can connect up to 5 drives to one port on the card, and the card has 4 ports. So up to 20 drives, if my math isn’t fuzzy.

But I like other options. Good to know this is out there. Thanks….uhm…you.
Anonymous

January 8th, 2007 at 1:45 AM

Oh, sorry, that first anonymous post about the Firmtek was me, Helmut. Forgot to sign my name. Maybe it’s time I get a real account, eh?

So the CalDigit card does port multiplication, eh? That’s cool, like the Sonnet e4P. Also, I believe the $99 Firmtek card does port multiplication on its 2 ports. I could be wrong–I seem to remember seeing a reference that the new firmware that enables Intel compatibility also introduced port multiplication, but again, I’m a bit foggy on that!

-Helmut
Helmut Kobler

January 15th, 2007 at 3:01 PM

P.S. Just for the record, Sonnet Tech just introduced a $79 card with two external SATA ports, and port multiplication so you could connect up to 10 drives across 2 enclosures.
That’s even cheaper than Firmtek’s 2-port card. Add a 2 drive SATA bay (like Firmtek’s Seritek), and you’ve got a pretty good little raid for under $300.
Shane Ross

January 17th, 2007 at 11:46 AM

Helmut, that is good to hear. Nice to know that inexpensive solutions are out there. But…that is just the card and box, right? Or is that including two 250GB drives?

The CalDigit solution is more expensive, but has some advantages. I’ll have to sit down and write the first part of my review soon. Explain both sides.

Little Frog in High Def

Revised Testing Numbers

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