articles/Storage/graid-page3

G-RAID with Thunderbolt - part 3 of 1 2 3

by Mark McNamee Published 01/06/2013

The 100Mb file saved to a Mac SSD* (Local) in under 1 second; saving to G-RAID using FW800 took 2.5 seconds.

* Mac configuration:
MacBook is a 2009 Model
2.53GHz Core2Duo
4Gb RAM
Corsair 240Gb SSD
Snow Leopard
Using Firewire 800 connection
**Windows configuration
Windows Laptop - Dell E6430
Core i7 (3rd Generation) 3720QM @ 2.6GHz
8Gb RAM
Samsung PM830 256Gb SSD
Using 'Superspeed' USB 3 connection

In Use

The G-RAID was simple to set up. We did note quite a lot of noise and vibration when it was standing on a conventionally sized office desk; the resonant frequency of the desk matched that of the drive. The effect was eliminated with either a change of desk or placing the G-RAID on a rubber mat.

Note that a Mac-formatted drive is 6x faster on the Mac than an NTFSformatted drive but cannot be used AT ALL on a Windows system.

An NTFS (Windows) formatted drive can be used on both systems, but is significantly slower on the Mac system. This is probably due to the 'NTFS 3G' software used on the Mac to provide compatibility; this may have been improved in newer versions of the operating system (Lion/Mountain Lion), and would also be affected by CPU speed.

OVERALL

This is impressive technology and overcomes some of the issues which arise for Mac users with their very limited ability to expand the storage capacity built into their iMacs or Macbook Pros. A very fast connection to an external drive offers a good alternative. Using USB 3 alone offers possibilities for Windows users although this is a slower option than that offered by Thunderbolt and there are many other alternatives on offer.

Please Note:
There is more than one page for this Article.
You are currently on page 3

• G-RAID with Thunderbolt page 1
  
• G-RAID with Thunderbolt page 2
  
• G-RAID with Thunderbolt page 3
  

Contact Mark McNamee

1st Published 01/06/2013
last update 21/07/2022 08:46:24

More Storage Articles

There are 0 days to get ready for The Society of Photographers Convention and Trade Show at The Novotel London West, Hammersmith ...
which starts on Wednesday 15th January 2025