Apple Final Cut Pro 5 - Manual (Page 189)

188 Part II Learning About the Final Cut Pro Interface
When you create or purchase a disk array, there are two important considerations:
 Compatibility: Make sure the software you use to create the array is compatible with
Final Cut Pro. For more information, go to the Final Cut Pro website at
http://www.apple.com/finalcutpro .
 Ventilation: If you’re creating an array yourself with an off-the-shelf drive enclosure,
make sure to allow for good ventilation. Disk arrays store information on several disks
simultaneously. If one of your disk drives fails, information on all the disks is lost. One
of the most common reasons a disk drive breaks down is overheating, so make sure
that your disks stay cool.
Important: Check the manufacturer’s specifications before buying disks to make sure
the disks offer the level of performance you need.
Fibre Channel Drive Arrays and RAIDS
Fibre Channel is a hard disk drive interface technology designed primarily for high-
speed data throughput for high-capacity storage systems, usually set up as a disk array
or RAID. Fibre Channel disk drive systems typically have performance rivaling or
exceeding that of high-performance SCSI disk arrays.
One of the most common ways of connecting a computer to a Fibre Channel disk drive
system for video capture and output is called a point-to-point connection. A single
computer, equipped with a Fibre Channel PCI card, is connected to a single Fibre
Channel disk drive array. Unlike SCSI systems, Fibre Channel cables can be run
extremely long distances, up to 30 meters using copper cables and 6 miles
(10 kilometers) using optical cables.
For all its advantages, a Fibre Channel disk array requires more setup than the other
storage options previously described, making it unsuitable for portable use. Fibre
Channel disk arrays usually have extremely high capacity (potentially several terabytes
of disk storage). While this can make them more expensive relative to other storage
solutions, the cost per megabyte is often considerably lower.
Fiberchannel
card
Computer Disk array