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  Competing directly with hardware RAIDs costing thousands more, the BurlyVR offers the same data protection and superior performance at an affordable price. The 8 bay Burly Video RAID is a turnkey system that comes with everything you need to implement a storage solution running RAID 5 or RAID 6. Speeds in excess of 700 MB⁄s are possible while your data is configured in a failure tolerant hardware RAID.

  Everything you could ever want from a high speed storage solution. Security, reliability and high performance all bundled together in a single package at a great price. These systems ship complete with everything you will need including the enclosure with drives, cabling, SAS RAID Controller and quick start CD.

  This system uses a high performance 8 channel Areca SAS Controller with onboard CPU and RAM dedicated to managing the RAID so your computer resources aren’t taxed, enabling your computer to manage the tasks you assign it without the overhead required to manage your RAID. Workflow and productivity are greatly enhanced by using the on-board resources.

  RAID control interface is either via CLI or browser GUI. The browser based utility is simple and intuitive to use. Most users find the interface simple enough to set up their RAID with minimal input from the users guide. Many RAID systems have very complicated user interfaces that tend to make their implementation and operation a hassle. Areca has done an excellent job making theirs user friendly.

  The BurlyVR System provides excellent performance with a maximum of nearly 700 MB⁄s RAID 5 and nearly 600 MB⁄s RAID 6 with a dual parity that can survive two failed drives. Even with the drives at 80% capacity the RAID is capable of over 500 MB⁄s. Plenty of speed for photo databases and even editing up to 2K (2048 x 1556 30fps) uncompressed HD Video.

  The BurlyVR uses the latest in cabling and connection technologies called Mini-SAS. The enclosure will attach to the controller card with a pair of cables that latch in place providing an enterprise level connection. This cabling solution provides a simple installation and a clean workplace. Each individual drive has a dedicated channel so drive performance is not compromised.

Burly Storage offers Free Ground Shipping to the lower 48 US States for the Burly Video RAID Enclosures.

        Burly Port Multiplier Enclosures - A cost effective high performance storage solution

  For the ultimate in low cost high speed video or photo storage, the Burly Dual Port Multiplier enclosure meets the need. Connecting with a pair of eSATA cables and RAIDed using your operating system, speeds over 400 MB⁄s are available. Since the operating system runs the software RAID there are no complicated user interfaces you have to deal with, creating a user friendly yet robust storage system.

  The Burly 6PM Enclosure can be configured as a software RAID or JBOD depending on your needs and operating system capabilities. Many users find it useful to create a pair of 3 drive RAID 0’s within the same chassis, one for the database and another for a backup. When the database is full, simply attach a second 6PM to your computer and migrate the data over to the larger volume. Each 6PM enclosure is capable of providing up to 18TB of storage at approximately 400 MB⁄s.

  The 6PM is one of our best selling enclosures due to the high performance, low cost and low noise characteristics. The chassis has a pair of 80mm fans on the back and two more inside behind the drives designed to keep even the hottest running drives cool. These large fans turn at a slower RPM which reduces the sound output of the cooling system while maintaining 24⁄7 drive availability.

  Port Multiplier capable Host Cards are available for most desktop and laptop computers. 2 port cards have limited bandwidth of about 150 MB⁄s. The more popular 4 port cards can support up to 20 drives and are capable of 800+ MB⁄s.

                Our Most Popular Product Line!

Burly Storage offers Free Ground Shipping to the lower 48 US States for the Burly 6PM Enclosures.

        Burly Port Multiplier Enclosures - A cost effective high performance storage solution

  Port multiplier enclosures are some of the easiest and least expensive storage solutions to come along in recent years. With the installation of a simple host card, high speed multi-drive storage can be added to most computers. Software RAID or JBOD configurations are simply managed within the operating system allowing the simplest most cost effective storage available.

  Drives contained in Port Multiplier Enclosures can be software RAIDed within Disk Management (Microsoft) or Disk Utility (Mac) across multiple enclosures to create huge, very fast storage volumes. Each individual Port Multiplier board contained within an enclosure is capable of approximately 220 MB⁄s. Individual PM boards can be combined with multiple drives to create blazing fast storage arrays. The Burly 6PM, 8PM and 9PM enclosures are examples of enclosures that have 2 or even 3 PM boards installed. Combining board bandwidth increases the maximum speed of an array. Multiple boards need not be in the same enclosure to achieve the benefit. RAIDing drives across multiple enclosures gains the benefit of multiple PM boards used.

  Port Multiplier capable Host Cards are available for most desktop and laptop computers. 2 port cards have limited bandwidth of about 150 MB⁄s. The 4 port cards can support up to 20 drives and are capable of 800+ MB⁄s.

For a low cost option check out the Burly Economy Enclosures

Trayless option!

  The solution to many requests for a robust trayless enclosure has now been achieved. Burly Storage has been looking for that solution for some time and it’s now available in the Burly Enclosure line. If you want your enclosure to include the trayless bays simply choose "Trayless" in the "Bay Type" pull-down menu on most Burly Enclosures. CLICK HERE for a complete description and photos.

                Our Most Popular Product Line!

        Burly Economy Enclosures - a LOW COST - high performance storage solution

   For customers that need high speed dependable storage, but don’t want the high cost of a HotSwap enclosure. Burly Storage is now offering an economy line of Burly enclosures. These enclosures are available in Port Multiplier, Firewire⁄USB 2.0 or Mini-SAS connection configurations and coming soon in Thunderbolt. The drives are attached internally using brackets instead of the hot swap bays greatly reducing the cost without sacrificing quality or performance. These enclosures include a high quality built in power supply and multiple case fans to keep the drives cool.

  We offer these enclosures with Retail version Seagate or Hitachi SATAIII drives which have proven to us to be the most dependable. These drives all have the full manufacturers 3 year warranty. We’ll install the drives, test and format them so the enclosure is ready to go to work when you get it. If you choose to purchase an enclosure without drives you’ll have to screw the included drive brackets to each drive and in turn screw the assembly into the chassis and hook up the internal cables.

• Lower purchase price
• Quieter than the HotSwap version
• All steel chassis, strong enough to stand on
• 24⁄7 Dependable professional grade enclosures
• Light enough for fieldwork, photo or video capture
• Choose the size of drive to meet your storage needs
• Can be converted to a different connection type in the future
• 1 year warranty with lifetime support, we come with it, just a phone call or email away

                                    Choose your connection type below

  The Burly rack enclosure is an all steel 4U chassis capable of up to 12 drives. We can configure it with Port Multiplier, Firewire⁄USB or Mini-SAS connections. Choose the bay style from standard or LCD hot swap bays, trayless bays or the skeletonized trays on the 12 bay unit. Basically we’ll build it to your specifications. Cooling isn't a problem with any configuration as each drive is is cooled by bay fans as well as large chassis fans on the back-plane.

  The Burly "Quiet" enclosure is now available for storage in the studio. This enclosure is built with upgraded fans and trayless bays that are nearly silent. This rack enclosure is available in Mini-SAS, Port Multiplier eSATA or Firewire⁄USB2 connections.

  Burly Storage also offers iStoragePro rack and desktop enclosures. These all aluminum enclosures are available as Mini-SAS direct connect or with an expander built in for huge expandable arrays. Connection styles include SAS with or without expanders and quad interface with eSATA, Firewire and USB 2.0.

   Expander enclosures are the hot setup for storage that’s always growing. Begin with a single enclosure and SAS controller card, then add additional enclosures as your needs grow. These additional enclosures simply daisy chain from the first with each RAID managed by the controller for peak performance.

Don’t hesitate to Contact us with any questions you may have or to configure a system for your specific needs. Business hours are 8-5 Monday-Friday Pacific time, 208-983-2555.

        Burly LOW NOISE Enclosures - a quiet - high performance storage solution

  For customers that need high speed dependable storage, but don’t want the noise associated with data storage. The Burly professional hotswap, low noise enclosures are built from the ground up to provide a low noise, studio acceptable enclosure that maintains low drive temperatures. The trayless bays used in these enclosures allow you to swap bare drives in and out as needed without the high frequency noise commonly encountered with other drive bay types. The fans in the rear of the enclosure chassis all get upgraded to a lower noise ball bearing style high tech fan to keep sound quality as low as possible.

  We offer these enclosures with Retail version Seagate or Hitachi SATAIII drives which have proven to us to be the most dependable. These drives all have the full manufacturers 3 year warranty. We’ll install the drives, test and format them so the enclosure is ready to go to work when you get it.

While every effort is made to keep these enclosures as quiet as possible, they do have some sound from the case fans. These fans are required to keep the drives from overheating while editing. We use high quality Vantec fans designed for near silent operation, and in some cases we run the fans at lower RPM to cut the noise signature. The trayless bays we use have no integral fan. There is a slight tradeoff between silence and drive reliability, we feel this enclosure line is the perfect compromise.

• Lower purchase price
• Quieter than the standard HotSwap version
• All fans are upgraded to the Vantec low noise ball bearing fan
• All steel chassis, strong enough to stand on
• Dependable professional grade enclosures designed for 24⁄7 operation
• Silent hotswap trayless bays for easy data management
• Choose the size of drive to meet your storage needs
• Can be converted to a different connection type in the future
• 1 year warranty with lifetime support, we come with it, just a phone call or email away

Consider our Drive Storage Drawers as a way to keep your valuable data safe and available.

                                    Choose your connection type below

  The Burly Mini-SAS and Multilane Enclosures are the perfect solution for Hardware RAID Controllers and SAS Cards. The excellent cooling that these enclosures provide will ensure a long drive lifespan. The 8 Bay Desktop and 8 Bay Rack Mount Enclosures will both have a pair of 8088 Mini-SAS connectors on the backplane and SATA Hot Swap Trays or Trayless Bays on the front. All eight drives will attach with the two cables and receive full bandwidth from the card providing the best possible performance. The 4 Bay will have a single sff-8088 connection on the backplane. The external cables (sold separately) are all latch-able making this cabling solution much more robust and trouble free than direct SATA. Custom configurations are available.

  iStoragePro Mini-SAS Enclosures are available in many configurations. Some of these mini-SAS enclosures have a built in expander allowing the daisy chaining of multiple enclosures when used with a Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) card. The lower cost enclosure do not come with the expander and are designed to be direct connected to the RAID Controller or SAS card with no ability to daisy chain more enclosures. Enclosures are available for either 2.5" or 3.5" drives.

  The new 6G SAS enclosures are now available. If you’re running an older 3G SAS card please stick with the 3G style expander enclosures. Use 6G expanders if you're running the newer 6G SAS cards. Do not mix and match within a system. If you're using a Mini-SAS enclosure that doesn't have a built in expander any enclosure will work with any card. Use only SATAII drives with 3G enclosures, and SATAIII with 6G.

Please order any cables you need from the SAS Cable Page.

  The iStoragePro SAS Expander Enclosures are equipped with high performance SAS expansion technology, designed to allow one Mini-SAS 8088 cable connection to a SAS Controller capable of providing high speed storage. This efficient SAS interface provides cost effective solutions without compromising performance. When the SAS JBOD is connected to a RAID Card, it can easily be configured as a RAID 0, 1, 5, 6,10 & JBOD, capable of providing performance and fault-tolerance necessary to protect your data. The SAS Controller may be connected to an iStoragePro Subsystem by a single cable which is capable of providing high performance and expandability. The Expander interface provides cost effective expandable storage without compromising performance.

  The iStoragePro Expansion Enclosures must have a SAS Controller in the system in order to use them. This SAS Controller can be an Areca or ATTO SAS Card installed inside the computer, or you can use an enclosure with a built in SAS Controller attached via a PCIe extension card. The iR16SASER (Mini-SAS), iR16FC4ER (Fibre Channel) and iR16IS4ER (iSCSI - Network Attached) enclosures all have this ability. Each of these units has a dedicated built in SAS Controller that allows you to attach multiple Expander Enclosures to greatly enhance your storage array.

  The New 6G SAS enclosures are now available. If you’re running an older 3G SAS card please stick with the 3G style expander enclosures. Use 6G expanders if you're running the newer 6G SAS cards. Do not mix and match within a system. If you're using a Mini-SAS enclosure that doesn't have a built in expander any enclosure will work with any card.

  When simplicity is the goal, this is the easiest way to attach storage to a Firewire or USB equipped computer. Burly Enclosures use the Oxford 924 Firewire Bridge Boards providing excellent speeds using SATA drives. These boards can be chained together to provide huge storage capacities. Perfect for photo and audio library storage. You can even stream SD video on them!

  The Burly Firewire Enclosures are available in a Hot Swap version that allows you to swap drives in and out to expand your storage capabilities, or the Economy version that provides a lower cost alternative without the hot swap option. We also offer a Low Noise version that’s perfect for the studio environment.

Choose the type of enclosure you want below to see the configurations available.

  iStoragePro is a leading manufacturer of Enterprise level storage enclosures and PCIe Expanders. These all aluminum enclosures provide a refined look to any studio or workspace and offer excellent performance and reliability at a great price. Available in many connection types, you're sure to find a large or small scale storage system to suit your needs.

  SAS Expander capability can be extremely useful with it’s inherent ability to allow the growth of your storage system over time. One complaint we often hear is that an installed RAID Controller is only useful for a handful of drives for a single PCI Expansion Slot. That problem has been solved with the introduction of SAS Expander Technology.

  Our iStoragePro enclosures are priced with economical desktop drives. If you prefer to have Enterprise Class SATA, SAS or SSD drives installed please contact us for pricing and availability. We list prices for each enclosure type with 1,2 and 3TB drives as well as the empty enclosure without drives.

  Enclosures purchased with drives installed will get formatted into a RAID and an extensive burn in procedure will be performed for 24-48 hours. Once all testing is complete we’ll create the RAID type of your choice on a computer and Operating System similar to yours so it’s configured and ready to go when you get it. This ensures that when you install the enclosure on your machine everything is well tested and ready to go. It’s a service well worth the expense.

NOTE: RECENT FLOODING IN THAILAND HAS CAUSED A SHORTAGE OF HARD DRIVES IN THE CURRENT MARKET. PLEASE CALL FOR PRICE AND AVAILABILITY ON ANY ENCLOSURE WITH DRIVES. THE CURRENT ENCLOSURE PRICES SHOWN MAY NOT BE VALID. PLEASE CONTACT US FOR THE MOST CURRENT PRICE.

  iStoragePro is currently transitioning their expander product line to the new SAS 6G and SATAIII 6Gb⁄s specification. The new expanders allow higher performance when used with SSD and high RPM SAS drives. The 6G SAS Expanders work very well with the ATTO R680 and Areca ARC-1882x SAS Controllers.

There are some known incompatibility issues when using older 3G SAS Controllers with SATAIII or SAS 6G drives and 6G expanders. If you are implimenting a new system we strongly urge you to go with the 6G SAS components and SATAIII or SAS 6G drives. If you already own a 3G system and wish to add 3G components please contact us.

SAS Expander and drive compatibilty guidelines.

SATAIII (6Gb⁄s) and SAS 6G ENCLOSURES

6G SAS Controllers, RAID Controllers and Non-RAID HBA’s

"SAE" Enclosures with an Expander installed must use a SAS controller card. The SAE enclosures will allow additional enclosures to be daisy chained to increase storage capacity. If large storage volumes are required the Areca ARC-1882X card will allow up to 32 drives in a single RAID volume, twice that of the ATTO R680.

The "MIS" enclosures may be attached with a simple RAID controller or HBA. Two cables are required.

THUNDERBOLT, PORT MULTIPLIER eSATA and QUAD INTERFACE ENCLOSURES
           eSATA - USB 2.0 - Firewire 400 - Firewire 800

                  *** iStoragePro cables, drive modules, trays and accessories ***

Don’t hesitate to Contact us with any questions you may have. Business hours are 8-5 Monday-Friday Pacific time, 208-983-2555.

  Burly SATA enclosures come in many variations useful for different purposes. The Burly SATA enclosures attach with 1 Type-A or eSATA cable per drive, supplying full bandwidth to each drive. This connection type is normally used with older SATA host cards and RAID controllers that offered a large number of SATA ports. This type of enclosure is not as common as they once were since Port Multiplication has come along.

  For those of you with a little Techie in your blood we offer the Burly SATA Kits that let you to built it yourself and save a few bucks. These enclosures are available in Fixed Drive or Hot Swap configurations. This allows you to build it to your specs, perhaps with an optical drive or a card reader built in. If you prefer to have us assemble your kit for you so it’s ready to go to work when you get it, just choose that option.

  The Burly Port Multiplier Systems are the real workhorses that allow several Enclosures to be attached to a single installed Host Card. PM Enclosures are our best selling technology and are usually the best solution for photo libraries and HD video editing. Wicked data speeds are made possible by using Port Multiplication as well as huge volumes with up to 20 drives per host card. Large arrays can be Striped (RAID 0) to combine the speed and volume of each included drive.

  The USB ⁄ FireWire ⁄ eSATA Firmware based RAID5 system is equipped with 4 easy connections and provides firmware based RAID5 protection for your video data. This efficient interface simplifies setup and provides cost efficiency without compromising performance.

  The Quad interface enclosures are available as a 4 drive desktop tower, a 4 drive tower with an integrated CF card reader in the front panel or a 4 drive rack mount version. Each style has USB 2.0, Firewire 400, Firewire 800 and eSATA connections making attachment to your computer as simple as can be.

               Please view the products below for more detailed specifications.

RECENT FLOODING IN TAIWAN HAS CAUSED A SHORTAGE OF HARD DRIVES IN THE CURRENT MARKET. PLEASE CALL FOR PRICE AND AVAILABILITY ON ANY DRIVE OR ENCLOSURE WITH DRIVES. THE CURRENT ENCLOSURE PRICES SHOWN ARE NOT VALID.

  Many of our customers know what size of enclosure they need or have a storage size goal in mind. These pages simply make it easier to zone in once the number of drives you need is known.

  Enclosures on this page are grouped according to the number of drives they will support. All connection types will be represented here. If you’re not sure which type of connection is best for your purpose, or if you simply have questions, please contact us.

  A correctly configured workstation is the best way to increase productivity, profits and rev up the old Photoshop performance. The slowest part of your computer is the hard drive, especially if you’re asking it to multitask. Hard drives are very efficient if asked to do one job at a time but waste a lot of performance if they are doing more than one. Streamlining your workflow and using dedicated task oriented drives solves this performance latency. For a photo machine you’ll need at least three drives, or groups of drives. The first of these is your Operating System drive. Keep this drive as clean as possible with just the OS and applications. Natively, when Photoshop gets installed it will configure your OS drive as it’s scratch disk. This causes your most important drive to perform dual tasks slowing down both Photoshop and your OS. By providing Photoshop a dedicated scratch disk, the second drive, you allow the OS and photoshop to run much more efficiently with their own dedicated drives. These two drives should be located inside your computer if possible. The third drive or array of drives should be your database or library drive. This should be housed in a Burly Enclosure, exterior to your computer’s chassis. Since these drives contain your livelihood they must be kept as stable as possible and that’s what the Burlys do best.

  The photo database should be as fast as is reasonable without throwing money at it. You’ve gained a lot of performance by configuring your computer resources correctly. The external storage enclosure must offer the drives a stable source of power and adequate cooling for long term life. It must also offer a connection method that does not slow down your workflow. Port Multiplication Enclosures are the most economical while providing excellent performance which makes them the most popular with photographers. These enclosures attach to a Host Card that gets installed inside your desktop or laptop computer and provides multiple high speed eSATA attachment points, many times faster than Firewire. Each of these eSATA ports is capable of hosting up to 5 drives in a PM Enclosure. These drives can be configured as individual volumes (JBOD) or they can be RAIDed into larger single volumes with improved performance.

  If your computer type prohibits the installation of a host card a Burly Firewire Enclosure offers the same drive protection as the PM Enclosures. These Firewire enclosures have a powerful built in power supply and excellent drive cooling allowing for 24/7 operation. Most firewire enclosures have little on no cooling and brick power supplies that lead to early hard drive failures. The Burly Enclosures solve these problems and add the ability to swap drives in and out of the chassis as needed for archiving.

  Today we’re shooting with cameras that have huge image capabilities. We shoot and keep more photos than we ever did when we had to absorb film and developing costs. We store RAW as well as edited and non edited copies of our work. This means that our storage needs are constantly growing. Today’s cataloging applications like Lightroom prefer to have the database on a single volume. Once your database has grown to a certain point it will no longer fit on a single hard drive. In the effort to streamline this means creating a RAID. A RAID 0 will combine the individual drive capacities and their performance into a single large volume designed to work with Lightroom and other cataloging software. This database volume can be as large as required by including the number of drives needed. This RAID should be constructed in Disk Utility (Mac) or Disk Management (PC).

  As with any database a backup must be maintained. Working without a backup is akin to walking a tightrope without a net. Any digital data that you can’t do without should be kept backed up and current. The most cost effective method is to maintain a direct hard copy on a backup drive and use a dedicated software application to automatically perform backups on a daily basis. (Do Not Use Time Machine) If your library is stored on a RAID 0 you should have a second RAID 0 of equal size for it’s backup. This type of backup will protect your data from hardware failure as well as data corruption and human error if it’s managed properly.

  Now that you have your photo library on an automated backup routine and your workstation is working like a top, what’s left? Consider keeping an off-site copy or archive of your data. If losing your photos means going out of business or starting all over always keep a second copy stored in a different physical location. Catastrophic events do happen. Occasionally we have a customer call that has had their computer equipment stolen, burned in a fire or zapped by lightening. Consider what you would do in either event. We can always go out and purchase a new computer, but you can’t buy what was stored on it. It’s awful easy to keep a copy archived off-site. Hand your neighbor a hard drive or take one home and store it on a shelf or in a fireproof safe. It’s cheap insurance and the best Digital Asset Management!

CHECK OUT OUR PHOTO STORAGE GUIDE IN THE REFERENCE & INFORMATION SECTION

  The most important considerations for video storage are performance (speed), volume and security. The goal is to keep enough performance headroom to avoid dropping frames and enough storage volume to accommodate your project requirements. Redundant data backup equates to security regardless of RAID type used. That said let's look at the performance requirements first since they are the most complex.

PERFORMANCE

  For every format of video there is a performance threshold or minimum performance that must be maintained to avoid problems when editing the footage. SD has very low performance requirements and can usually be accomplished with just a pair of drives in a simple RAID 0. HD, especially editing uncompressed has much higher performance requirements. For example, to edit 1080i uncompressed will require about 250 MB/s minimum and 2K starts at about 300 MB/s. Fortunately with today's high performance drives it requires less hardware to manage those speeds.

  To understand where the storage RAID array get it's speed there are a couple of realities that must be understood. The performance requirements dictate the number of drives that must be used. Each drive included in a RAID be it either a RAID 0 or a RAID 5 adds it's performance value to the RAID. Today's retail desktop drives are capable of 100 - 120 MB/s when empty. If you build a RAID out of multiple drives the number of drives included dictates the maximum performance available. Sometimes there are other limits to performance such as bandwidth or computer limitations.

  As data is added to a hard drive it's performance degrades, the more full a drive the slower it will be. At 80% of capacity a drive will provide approximately 70% of it's original speed when empty. The problem occurs when editing on a system that only provides enough performance for the required format when it's empty. As the drives fill up with data the performance degrades and the array starts dropping frames. The cure for this is to plan for the degraded performance of a loaded array. At 80% of capacity the performance is approximately 70% what the array started at. If you plan for this slow down and buy hardware accordingly you won't experience dropped frames.

Video format data rate chart is available at the bottom of this page

STORAGE VOLUME

  The volume of storage required is determined by the format of video multiplied by the hours of video that must be stored (MB/s X 3600). This includes the RAW footage as well as the post processed final product. With the huge 1500 GB drives available now this is easier than ever. When you choose what drives to RAID together to get the performance required for your project you will also choose the drive capacity. By considering the volume losses and your project's space requirements you should be able to decide what size drive is best for your needs. Keep in mind that you never want to fill a hard drive to it's capacity, always stop at about 80% when storing video. This provides room for the directory index which avoids data corruption. If the RAID you plan on using is a RAID 0 all but about 7% is available for storage. That 7% is lost to the formatting process. If you choose RAID 5 you will lose the volume of one of the drives as well as that 7%. For example if you build an 8 drive RAID 5 using 1TB drives you will lose 1TB for the parity and the 7% format loss leaving you with approximately 5.2 TB of usable space at 80% of capacity.

SECURITY

  Contrary to popular belief, a RAID 5 does not offer much more data security over a simple RAID 0. What it does offer is failure tolerance, a RAID 5 can fail a single drive and maintain it's data where a RAID 0 will lose all data if a member is lost. Parity RAID such as a RAID 5 or RAID 6 is a server technology designed primarily to maintain database uptime. It does this by storing parity data across all of the drives along with your video data, if a drive fails the RAID Controller can calculate what was on the missing drive. This makes for a very complicated algorithm which requires a high quality RAID Controller. The real quality comes into play when something goes wrong. These parity RAIDs are intolerant of data corruption. A little corruption introduced can make the RAID unreadable. Another issue is the complexity of the RAID itself. They are complicated to maintain especially when a problem arises. Should a drive failure occur and the operator accidentally remove the wrong drive the controller sees the missing drive as a failed drive , meaning that the array has lost two members and is now irreparably lost. We've seen this happen. Parity RAIDs have their own avenues of failure and for this reason can't be used without a backup copy of your data. Even a RAID 5 can fail and lose your valuable, irreplaceable data.

  The best plan that exists for protecting what you can't afford to lose is to have multiple copies. If you manage a backup copy of your data correctly it can protect you from events that the most robust RAID 5 can't. If a failure or corruption should occur, the backup copy can be used to recover or keep working. The backup should be automatically updated by a software application which keeps the backup version up to date with the primary. The one caveat to this method is should you experience a database problem or corruption you must stop the automated backup from occurring until the problem is rectified, otherwise that corruption will be carried over to the backup. Anytime an Operating System, Security Update or new software is installed you should disable your backup so that in the event of a problem it will be in pristine condition and available.

  For more information on RAID 5's check out our RAID 5 guide.

HARDWARE

  Most of our customers are processing their video on RAID 0 systems with a second array for backup. This requires a Port Multiplier capable Host Card installed inside the computer to provide external eSATA ports. Each of these ports is capable of up to 5 drives when using the Burly Port Multiplier Enclosures allowing enough drives to be mounted for today's video formats. These RAID 0 systems are the most cost effective and expandable storage available. One of our best sellers is the Burly Dual PM which uses a pair of Port Multiplier Boards and 6 drives in a small chassis with excellent cooling to provide 400 MB/s performance. That's fast enough to edit 2K or you can stripe 3 drives and back up to the other three in the same enclosure. Depends on your performance needs.

  For a true Hardware Based RAID 5 check out the Burly VR RAID Systems. This Enclosure comes with everything you will need already formatted into a RAID to your specifications. RAID 5 and RAID 6 is becoming popular for video and provides failure tolerance although a backup is always required. These systems have the dedicated CPU and RAM on a top level Areca card to manage the RAID leaving your computer's resources untaxed. The high performance CPU provides excellent performance in the 700 MB/s range.

  If you have specific questions don't hesitate to call or Email us. We're always happy to help you configure a system that will best suite your needs.

  Whether you're doing on location video capture or downloading your camera to your mobile computer at a shoot, it's a good idea to create an immediate backup of your work before you delete or format your capture card. This requires an external storage solution. There are several awesome options available. You can attach single or multiple hard drives via Firewire / USB or keep it natively SATA for even more speed and simplicity. To use a Firewire / USB Enclosure all you will need is the enclosure with the hard drive installed. Plug it in and go to work. By using a native SATA solution you can count on achieving the fastest possible speeds.

  To attach a native SATA system you will need a Host Adaptor Card in one of three formats, PCMCIA (Cardbus Card) for older machines or Express34 or 54 for the newer PCs and Macs. The adaptor cards slide into a slot on the side of your mobile computer and provide external Port Multiplier capable eSATA ports. These cards can direct mount two drives or by using a Port Multiplier Enclosure attach up to 10 drives to your computer.

  If you want the smallest possible mobile drive check out the KC21-SATA that uses a SATA laptop drive and can fit in a pocket. This enclosure can be bus powered via USB or Firewire ports so no external power is required. If you need a more robust mobile enclosure that has a built in power supply and offers a great cooling solution check out the Burly Single Bay Enclosures. They are available in Direct Mount or Hot Swap configurations. The Hot Swap enclosure is great because it allows you to capture to a single drive then pull that drive out and slide it into a desktop enclosure when you get back to the studio for editing on a faster computer.
 

  Hardware RAID is accomplished by using a host controller with an on board CPU to handle the needed RAID calculations freeing up your system CPU. This is very important when using a Parity array since by it's nature it tends to be a CPU hog. RAID 5 and RAID 6's share parity information among all drive members where a RAID 3 has a dedicated Parity drive. Parity RAIDs require a lot of processor to perform all the calculations needed to maintain the revolving parity. This is best accomplished by using a Hardware based Controller such as the 3ware since all the needed calculations can be performed on the Controller itself leaving the system CPU untaxed.

  For PCs there are several options. 3ware makes excellent controller cards for up to 24 drives with onboard CPU and RAM which can be used with our line of Burly SATA and Multilane Enclosures. The Areca cards offer the latest Processors found on a RAID Controller providing the best performance for both PC's and Macs. These cards are available in PCI-X and PCI Express versions and work with just about any PC OS.

  Hardware RAIDs are the safest possible means of storing your irreplaceable data but backups are always required. Due to the complexity of any RAID it should never be relied on as your sole storage. You must maintain a backup. There are innumerable ways of losing or corrupting data, most have nothing to do with hardware failure. For this reason we at Burly Storage ALWAYS recommend that you keep your data backed up in at least one place preferably two, one being off site. This applies even when using a Parity RAID such as a RAID 5 or RAID 6. These RAIDs may protect your data from a hard drive failure, but they can't save you from the many other ways of losing your data. ALWAYS use an automated backup routine and make sure that the timely backups occur. Also of note, a Mirror (RAID 1) can not be considered a backup. The problem with a mirror is it's instantness. Should you corrupt your data on one side of a mirror it's also corrupted on the other. If you use a software backup routine to copy your data to your backup drive after hours and should that same corruption occur, your backup drive would remain intact and undamaged to recover from.

  The iStoragePro 6G SAS Expander Enclosures are equipped with high performance SAS 6G expansion technology, designed to allow one Mini-SAS 8088 cable connection from SAS Controller to enclosure array. This efficient SAS interface provides cost effective solutions without compromising performance. The SAS controller enables the drives to be configured as a RAID 0, 1, 5, 6, 10 & JBOD, providing the fault-tolerance necessary to protect your data. The SAS Controller attaches to an expander enclosure using a single multi-channel cable and additional enclosures are daisy chained from the first.

  The 6G iStoragePro Expansion Enclosures must have a 6G SAS Controller in the system in order to use them. This SAS Controller can be a 6G Areca, ATTO or other 6G SAS Card installed inside the computer. Older 3G controllers and 3G SAS or SATAIII drives are not compatible with the newer technology.

The iStoragePro 6G Mini-SAS enclosures are an excellent choice for a high speed database that does not require the ability to grow. These low cost high performance enclosures attach to a RAID Controller or 6G SAS card providing fault tolerant RAIDs. The Mini-SAS enclosure connects with a pair of SFF-8088 cables to the controller and provides speeds up to 959 MB⁄s Writes and 901 MB⁄s Reads.

  These enclosures are not expandable, a common 8 channel controller card will operate one enclosure. If your storage needs exceed what a single enclosure can do, or if they may grow in the future please consider an iStoragePro Expander Enclosure. The expander enclosures can be daisy chained to provide huge scalable storage solutions.

  SAS (Serial Attached SCSI) is the next step up from SATA desktop storage. SAS can also accommodate both low-cost, high-capacity SATA disk drives as well as long-life, high-performance SAS drives. This ability to support two classes of drives offers users and systems/storage integrators new levels of flexibility in designing, scaling, and managing disk arrays.

  In fact, the key advantage of SAS is choice. Moving to SAS lets users meet Performance, Capacity, and Reliability Requirements, while being able to employ legacy SCSI software and mix-and-match SAS and/or SATA drives.

  SAS drives are better suited for random, small-block transactions while SATA drives are the best choice for sequential, large-block I/O. SAS drives are quickly gaining market share with Parallel SCSI drives because of the systems flexibility.

  SAS Controllers can attach huge arrays of drives using expanders. SATA drives may be used in SAS networks for large inexpensive storage or backup for the best GB per dollar. For the best in data security use the highly rated SAS drives.

   SATA Host Cards come in 3 basic expansion bus formats for desktop computers, PCI, PCI-X (eXtended) and PCIe also known as PCI Express. Laptops also have three common card types available, Cardbus (PCMCIA), Express34 and Express54. It’s very important to choose the card type that fits your available slot as well as the individual card that works the best for your application and Operating System. For more information choose the appropriate card type below.

  If you’re looking for a card to manage a RAID 5 or 6 stick with the Hardware RAID Controllers from 3ware or Areca. These cards are designed with an on-board CPU and RAM to manage RAID function which avoids taxing your computers resources and slowing the overall system performance.

  SAS (Serial Attached SCSI) cards are becoming widely mainstream and offer some interesting storage benefits. By using an enclosure with a built in expander a SAS card based storage system can be grown to huge capabilities by daisy chaining hardware RAIDs controlled by that single SAS controller. SAS is the most efficient direct attached storage for huge storage needs.

If you have any question of which card will work in your computer or application please check out our "SATA Host Card Guide" or give us a call. 1-208-983-2555

Hard drives come in many styles, SATA, ATA, SCSI, SAS not to mention the new Fibre Channel and Solid State varieties. Simply choose the type of hard drive that you need from the sections below.

  Solid State Drives (SSD's) seem to be the next emerging technology on the horizon for desktop and laptop computers. We're monitoring the performance, durability and cost per Gigabyte on these new drives in hopes that the manufacturers will be able to make them a viable replacement for the array of electro-mechanical drives we now use. Solid State drives will provide almost instant data availability with a lower power consumption. Currently these drives are priced very high and the long term longevity is an unknown. Until the SATAIII 6 Gb/s protocol arrives in general use allowing the drives to provide more of their performance potential we don't forsee the SSD's becoming much of an option for the mainstream. By using the SATAII bus their performance will remain limited to the constraints of that bus. Expect great things from SSD's in the future.

Beware the OEM drive! The hard drive market is currently flooded with server and desktop OEM drives being sold at huge discounts. These drives usually have custom or proprietary firmware with no manufacturers warranty and tend to cause a lot of compatibility problems. We recommend that you stick with RETAIL drives for the best performance, reliability and full manufacturers warranty.

RECENT FLOODING IN THAILAND HAS CAUSED A SHORTAGE OF HARD DRIVES IN THE CURRENT MARKET. DRIVES FROM OUR SUPPLIERS ARE SPORADICALLY AVAILABLE AND ONLY THEN AT A HIGHER COST. WE WILL DO EVERYTHING WE CAN TO KEEP DRIVES IN STOCK AT THE LOWEST PRICE WE CAN. PLEASE CONTACT US WITH ANY QUESTIONS YOU MAY HAVE.

Burly Storage has a full assortment of Premium cables and adapters for PCs and Macs. All SATA cables support SATAI and SATAII specifications. We sell only the highest quality data and power cables available!

Check out our new line of SAS and Multilane cables and adapters. We also offer Firewire cables and adapter cables up to 32' long for printers and cameras.

  We carry only the finest quality memory available today. This isn’t sub quality overruns bought at auction but only premium quality and manufactured to the highest tolerance possible. Burly RAM is WARRANTED FOR LIFE from failure.

  Burly Storage has been with the same memory supplier since 1995. The nature of the RAM market requires the need for a dedicated testing, evaluating and purchasing facility. We have that service in place. We are analyzing, testing and stocking the best quality RAM from several manufacturers every day.

  With one of most every Mac model on hand for quality and support testing we are able to verify quality and specification needs across the Mac spectrum.

  We make no bones about it, we are not in the discount, low cost RAM business. We search out and purchase only the best for our customers. Poor quality RAM is the bane of any computing experience. The costs in data corruption with the inclement possibilities for data loss, repairs, lost time and frustration have led us to the inescapable conclusion that top quality is worth every penny spent. We are proud of this stance and are dedicated to maintaining this standard.

If you don't see the RAM you need please contact us, our RAM Lab offers RAM that's not offered on this page.

The icing on the cake. All the little parts and pieces that make life easier. If you don't find what you need please contact us, we may have it elsewhere.