SSD DOCK?

While I await impatiently for my BMCC, Im wasting time by researching the best ssd options. Temporarily, I will be editing using an older mac without thunderbolt so Im left to transfer directly from an ssd using a dock. Anyone have any experience or suggestions on whats a good brand ssd dock or is there any alternatives?

i am using the seagate goflex thunderbolt...the best thing about these is that you can use the bare drive....afaik they have fw and usb versions as well.....

Is it confirmed that we can log/ copy files from the SSD using the camera's thunderbolt port?

[Kaspar Ko]

The Thunderbolt port on the camera will allow you to use Media Express and capture a live feed of what the camera sees. It will not allow the transfer of footage off the SSD. For that, you will need to use a SSD dock.

Ok. So does anyone have any recommendations for portable and bus powered 2.5" docks? a thunderbolt one would be ideal. Something like the red 1.8" docks would be ideal.
Maybe BM will make something like this?

Ok. So does anyone have any recommendations for portable and bus powered 2.5" docks? a thunderbolt one would be ideal. Something like the red 1.8" docks would be ideal.
Maybe BM will make something like this?

This is the one to get - the Seagate GoFlex Thunderbolt Adapter (STAE121)

http://www.amazon.com/Seagate-GoFlex-Th ... hunderbolt

Great due to fact that it is small, light, bus powered. Will mount any 2.5" spinning or SSD

i am using the seagate goflex thunderbolt...the best thing about these is that you can use the bare drive....afaik they have fw and usb versions as well.....

Thanks, I will definitely look into this one. Im very please to know that the ssd docks are reasonably affordable.

Just wondering also since I don't have thunderbolt and Ill need an ssd dock that runs firewire 800, how much slower will this make my transfer times?

that looks pretty good. What i really want though is a thunderbolt cable running directly into the sata connection of the hard drive/ssd. That would be ideal as all i'd need to take on shoots would be the cable. Oh well, one can hope.

The Thunderbolt port on the camera will allow you to use Media Express and capture a live feed of what the camera sees. It will not allow the transfer of footage off the SSD. For that, you will need to use a SSD dock.

Any chance that will work for Media Express for Windows?

Cheers.

Just wondering also since I don't have thunderbolt and Ill need an ssd dock that runs firewire 800, how much slower will this make my transfer times?

With my 2 yr. old MacBook Pro 17" (2.66GHz i7 8GB RAM), which doesn't have T-Bolt but does have FW800, USB-2 and an ExpressCard34 slot, I use one of these enclosures "with its lid off":
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/MEQM0GBK/

It's a small external 2.5" hard disk or SSD drive enclosure which can be bus powered from a FW800 or USB-2 port. In actual use the enclosure's eSATA-2 port is more than twice as fast as FW800. With the lid left off the enclosure, it's very easy to slide a SSD drive in and out of the enclosure.

For maximum speed, I use that with one of these Sonnet eSATA-3 dual-port ExpressCard34 adapters:
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Sonnet%2 ... A6PRO2E34/

(I got the 2-port adapter because I have multiple eSATA devices, but there are also less-expensive single port eSATA adapters available from Sonnet & others).

When connected via eSATA, the external enclosure is powered via a FW800 cable (all cables are included with the unit). So the data moves at eSATA-2 speed and the power is supplied by the MBP's FW800 port. Of course you can also use the enclosure with any computer via any of its 3 types of ports. It's very versatile.

Alternatively, I've heard that the Voyager-Q cradle/caddie units are very good. I would have gotten one except that it requires an external power supply (it's not bus powered):
http://www.newertech.com/products/voyagerq.php

See also my detailed post in the other thread about SSDs:
viewtopic.php?p=1169&sid=a0f7d760fc112eb4c5352ed26e77e267#p1169

Cheers.

that looks pretty good. What i really want though is a thunderbolt cable running directly into the sata connection of the hard drive/ssd. That would be ideal as all i'd need to take on shoots would be the cable. Oh well, one can hope.

like i said the goflex does not need an enclosure for the drive....all you have to do is "plug in" the drive....so really all you have is the cable and the goflex....

like i said the goflex does not need an enclosure for the drive....all you have to do is "plug in" the drive....so really all you have is the cable and the goflex....

How about speed? Has anyone tested this GoFlex with the BM tester?

like i said the goflex does not need an enclosure for the drive....all you have to do is "plug in" the drive....so really all you have is the cable and the goflex....

How about speed? Has anyone tested this GoFlex with the BM tester?

The GoFlex is a standard computer accessory, not specific to the BMCC; reviews about the GoFlex are available online. Its T-Bolt interface is very very fast (>2-3 times faster than eSATA or USB-3), and ultimately its speed depends on which SSD, HDD or computer you to attach it to.

Just to be clear: You don't connect a GoFlex to the BMCC. Instead, you slide the SSD out of the BMCC, connect the SSD to the GoFlex, which in turn is connected to your T-Bolt equipped computer.

The BMCC is only connected directly to a computer via T-Bolt if you're using BMD's UltraScope or Media Express software.

The GoFlex is a standard computer accessory, not specific to the BMCC...

My question was to hook up a GoFlex to a Mac Pro and use the BMD Speed Disk test on any drive.
Them take that drive and test it internally.
For me I can just pop my Mac Pro open and place the SSD internally if the speed differes too much.
Now your other suggestion sounds better the one with eSATA.
This way I dont have to get rid of my 2009 17" Uni
I almost sold it to get a retina but I dont know if I can work with 17" on the field.

The GoFlex is a standard computer accessory, not specific to the BMCC...

My question was to hook up a GoFlex to a Mac Pro and use the BMD Speed Disk test on any drive.
Them take that drive and test it internally.
For me I can just pop my Mac Pro open and place the SSD internally if the speed differes too much.
Now your other suggestion sounds better the one with eSATA.
This way I dont have to get rid of my 2009 17" Uni
I almost sold it to get a retina but I dont know if I can work with 17" on the field.

I also replaced my 2 yr. old MBP-17's internal DVD drive with a 2nd HDD using one of these mounting brackets. So now my MBP-17 has 2 internal HDDs. I put the DVD drive in an inexpensive external enclosure w. a USB-2 port. The new 750GB 7200rpm HDD has a SATA-2 interface, and my MBP's internal bus is also SATA-2, so it's fast, but not quite as fast as SATA-3 (likewise eSATA-3:
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/DDAMBS0GB/
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6822148599
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other%20 ... SS9TOPTU2/

Apple's "System Information" utility app tells you exactly what speed the bus/interface, drive, and "link" (the actual negotiated top speed) is capable of. Beyond that it depends on the hardware itself (different drives have different buffering, etc.) and the type and size of the files being moved. That's why the marketing "spec" speed ("eSATA-3!", "USB-3!", "Thunderbolt!") is usually higher than real-world results.

I suspect Mac Pro & other "desktop" machines have different internal SATA interface & bus speeds depending on the model/year. I haven't used one in a while so I don't know off the top of my head.

Thanks again Peter.
I guess with all this waiting cant help asking and prodding all options
I like the eSATA SSD reader option for my MBP.
I will probably go that route first.

I almost did the same with my Uni due to my DVD drive failing.
But a Mac tech friend opened it up and found debris causing the drive to not function.
I probably wont replace the internal DVD with a drive since I have too many externals lying around here

[Kristian Lam]

Hi,

We use a combination of docks and adapters when on test shoots with John. The Seagte GoFlex is crazy fast. That's my first choice in terms of offloading footage.

The other cable we use is the Apricorn USB to eSATA cable which you can find here:

http://www.apricorn.com/products/notebo ... -kits.html

They have a USB 3.0 and USB 2.0 version and work well. And they are low cost! You can find them on Amazon.

Hi,

We use a combination of docks and adapters when on test shoots with John. The Seagte GoFlex is crazy fast. That's my first choice in terms of offloading footage.

The other cable we use is the Apricorn USB to eSATA cable which you can find here:

http://www.apricorn.com/products/notebo ... -kits.html

They have a USB 3.0 and USB 2.0 version and work well. And they are low cost! You can find them on Amazon.

Thanks so much Kristian..very helpful..I think I will try out the Seagate Goflex. Ill have to get the firewire 800 one though

Does a mac have eSata?
On my PC I would use this

http://www.amazon.de/Cabstone-Docking-S ... 791&sr=8-1

Does a mac have eSata?
On my PC I would use this

http://www.amazon.de/Cabstone-Docking-S ... 791&sr=8-1

Yes of course.

Mac Pro "desktop" systems have SATA, and it can easily be brought out external to the machine via an eSATA cable, but iMac, Mini, MacBook Pro, and MacBook Air don't have external eSATA ports and can't have an external eSATA port added easily (if at all). Of course, most new Apple computers have Thunderbolt and/or FW800 ports.

Older MacBook Pro laptops have an ExpressCard34 slot, so an optional eSATA adapter card can be used, and most have FW800, too.

I don't own the Seagate GoFlex Thunderbolt adapter but have read online that it uses an SATA II connection. If that is true, then I don't believe that it can reach speeds that SSD and Thunderbolt are capable of. Here's my source:

Seagate advertises the Thunderbolt adapter as being up to 20x faster than a USB 2.0 connection. In practice, the reality is much different. Seagate uses a clever swap system that relies on the SATA II connection, making it very easy for users to swap the I/O. SATA II can transfer data at a maximum of 3Gbps, so already, the savvy reader will realize that a drive using a SATA II adapter is not going to get anywhere near the maximum bandwidth of a Thunderbolt connection.

Read more: http://www.electronista.com/articles/12 ... z24nq5J5Dp

Thanks Graham for the heads-up.
I will probably still buy one of these if they work with any SSD drive.

There are so many factors at play that it is hard to see the forest...but clearly there are some comparisons that can be helpful:

• an SSD (up to 500 MB/s for cutting edge drives) is a lot faster than any HD (50 – 120MB/s)
• the major advantage of an HDD is that it is capable of storing lots of data cheaply (this price gap has only recently started to close)
• SATA III (600MB/s) is a much faster connection than SATA I (150MB/s) or SATA II (300MB/s)
• eSATA is faster than Firewire800 or USB3 (but Thunderbolt is over 3x faster than eSATA)

Some ideas I'm taking away from these comparisons:
A single SSD drive cannot read or write as fast as the SATA III, eSATA, and Thunderbolt busses run. That said, they will come pretty close and in some RAID configurations can exceed the eSATA connection. So...you should try to use the fastest IO buss your computer can support - especially if you're working with HD video.

Practical examples:
1) If you have a newer computer with Thunderbolt, you should use that combined with an eSATA adapter like the one from LaCie. Be sure that you are using one of the fastest SSD and that your external drive connects with SATA III.

2) If you have an older computer without Thunderbolt, add an eSATA connection to utilize the fastest connection speeds of your SSD. Mac Pro users should connect their SSD inside the machine directly to the SATA III buss connectors. MBP users should add an ExpressCard/34 interface like the ones from Sonnet combined with an eSATA ExpressCard to connect to an external hard drive with an SSD connected with SATA III.

3) Desktop machines running Windows should add an eSATA PCIe card or connect SSD drives internally to the motherboard's drive busses (check to be sure it is SATA III, if not consider getting a PCIe card)


Note: I'm sure that I've oversimplified these issues to a fault but this is what I've theorized so far on the quest to have multiple streams of HD video play on my machines. As a final note, it has been reported that Intel 7 series chipsets with RST RAID work can utilize the TRIM command within a RAID0 array, speeding past a single SSD's 6GB/s transfer ceiling. This currently only works on Windows 7 OSes, although Windows 8 support is forthcoming.

like i said the goflex does not need an enclosure for the drive....all you have to do is "plug in" the drive....so really all you have is the cable and the goflex....

How about speed? Has anyone tested this GoFlex with the BM tester?

With a Crucial m4 512GB drive 383MB Read and 245MB Write using the BM Disk Speed Test. I let it run for some time as I heared that the SSD sometimes require more power than the TB port provides, no problem. Over the weekend I used the drive and the connector for editing, no problem.

Hi,

As I'm not the computer-hardware guy the bmcc will surely be a challenge in terms of my "storage and transfer-speed" knowledge.

Maybe somebody can help me out because I just unterstood some bits of what everybody is talking about in this thread.

I have a new Ivy-Bridge i7 Macbookpro 15" non-retina with a 256SSD Samsung and a 750GB HDD 7200rpm (replaced for the optical drive) - mid 2012 generation

I also have a fast windows-computer (which I'll hope to use for editing and color correction with the Cinema Camera) with one small SSD for win7 and three big HDD's (7200rpm).

Here's the question:

Since I need a mac-formatted drive to run with the cinema camera what is the fastest under 300Dollar-System (hopefully even cheaper) to transfer all the data to my windows system?

Would love to here your suggestions!
Best,
Andreas

Can Kasper or anyone clear-up my confusion regarding the SSD drives needing to be formatted on a Mac for use with the camera. All of my editors are using Mac Systems for editing, but I am using a new and very fast PC notebook for day-to-day computer needs. There are docks that utilise Thunderbolt and USB 3.0. and I really would prefer to stay with the new PC notebook for use with the BMCC. Any work flow recommendations would be appreciated. Camera scheduled to arrive in late September.

Best,

and I really would prefer to stay with the new PC notebook for use with the BMCC

Good question. Im sure the files wont be a problem (thanks to JBs DNGs) but how to mount the SSD could be tricky.
There are cheap (below $100) apps and utilities that let you read Mac formatted volumes on the PC side of things.

Is MacDrive our only contender for SSD formatting on Windows?

Is MacDrive our only contender for SSD formatting on Windows?

While MacDrive will read/write/delete files on a Mac drive, I have not been able to reliably format an HFS drive on Windows (XP or 7) with any MacDrive version to date. I suggest you only use a Mac (any Mac will do) for formatting.

Cheers.

Is MacDrive our only contender for SSD formatting on Windows?

While MacDrive will read/write/delete files on a Mac drive, I have not been able to reliably format an HFS drive on Windows (XP or 7) with any MacDrive version to date. I suggest you only use a Mac (any Mac will do) for formatting.

Cheers.

Are we really expected to buy a Mac to format our SSDs? Really?

Is MacDrive our only contender for SSD formatting on Windows?

So far its the most stable for us anyway.
But we rarely use it.

This USB3 dock from Thermaltake would be suitable for transferring data from the SSD drives to a USB3 equipped computer, and would also work on a USB2 port albeit at a slower speed.

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/thermalt ... ing-usb-30

A lot cheaper than the Thunderbolt options. I don't see a single SSD drive needing the bandwidth of Thunderbolt

here are too good docks

http://ain.mediasonic.ca/store/product_ ... cts_id=265

This one here could be a dream for DMT

http://ain.mediasonic.ca/store/product_ ... cts_id=264

These 2 enclosures from CalDigit should be very good for Thunderbolt users when they are released. No price has been suggested and the release is slated for October:

http://www.caldigit.com/Thunderbolt/T1T2.html

Is MacDrive our only contender for SSD formatting on Windows?

While MacDrive will read/write/delete files on a Mac drive, I have not been able to reliably format an HFS drive on Windows (XP or 7) with any MacDrive version to date. I suggest you only use a Mac (any Mac will do) for formatting.

Cheers.

Are we really expected to buy a Mac to format our SSDs? Really?

Yes this is getting ridiclous, BMCC windows support is looking very poor. I don't want to buy a mac. I have PC's, the last thing I want to do is have to worry about cross platform problems.

Any consumer electronic shop sells USB3 IDE/SATA external adaptors... I bought 2 of them (1 German made and 1 Swiss made)... 20 to 40 bucks each!
Its simple and efective. For reading anf formating the SSD, just use Mac drive (i never had probs with it). Keep up to date with the software.

I didnt even know that there was such a tech (SSD Docks).
For the price its worth it.
And 50 dollars for a utility app should never be a problem for most professionals.
I think I paid more for a WMV file reader for Mac.

And 50 dollars for a utility app should never be a problem for most professionals.
I think I paid more for a WMV file reader for Mac.

I don't believe it is unreasonable to ask BMD for a recommended utility app for SSD reading, writing and formatting via Windows. True that $50 is not too much money but I have seen no official endorsements along the lines of the BMC approved SSD list. Maybe I missed it...hopefully someone will toss up a BMD URL. Surely BMC has been tested with Windows...where are the findings?

Here's a link to a device i found on ebay that might be handy for on-set dailies / backups etc. Copy direct from your ssd to sata without the need for a computer.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/USB-3-0-Dual ... 20c7c03e64

Cheers

ADAM

I don't believe it is unreasonable to ask BMD for a recommended utility app for SSD reading, writing and formatting via Windows...

I cant speak for BMD but I agree that opening up such an option for the Windows should be there.
I just come from the world of "work with what you get" and that stems from as far back as DOS for me
I know it will happen when Im in the middle of a project and have no access to a Mac then Ill be saying curses

Here's a link to a device i found on ebay that might be handy for on-set dailies / backups etc. Copy direct from your ssd to sata without the need for a computer.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/USB-3-0-Dual ... 20c7c03e64

Cheers

ADAM

Great! Thanks.

Whats the difference between the Goflex and this model?
http://www.amazon.com/Seagate-Portable- ... 94EQR7XYYH