firewire network = the best file transfer method between 2 computers?

[hoihtah]

i need to set up a fast network between two computers so they can transfer large (10-30GB) of files.
for what i need (video editing)... 100mbps is not going to be enough.

i'll be using westerndigital's 120GB 8mb HD's ... so the bottleneck won't be with my HD.

i thought about going with 1000mbps ethernet... but it seems to cost a lot for the benefit.
and many anantechers seem to be agree that it's just not practical.

so... i'm left with either of two options.

1. go with 2x100mbps nics in each computer... and go for 200mbps network setup.

or

2. go with firewire.

i understand that you can't network over firewire cable any more than 25 feet.
but that won't be a problem, cause these two computers will be sitting right next to eachother.

given my situation... firewire seems to be much better option at 400mbps.

anyone using network over firewire? any opinions?

 

[JackMDS]

You log to Compgeeks.com, you buy two Mobil Racks $7.95 each.

You install one in each computer. You take the HD of the destination computer, and put in the origin computer, and you copy the files from one drive to the other.

Removable ATA/66-100 Enclosure w/Lock/Fan/LED-Rem Face Plate.

Or: Lian-Li Mobile Rack RH-07 IDE, With Mechanical Lock & Fan, Plastic.

Network FireWire, it all sounds very exotic, but in truth the probability of corrupting data, is much less in Direct HD to HD transfer.

 

[hoihtah]

while i'd agree with you in that physical HD-HD transfer is the best method in terms of preservation of data...
these mobile racks cannot handle the kind of speed that i desire from HD's.

correct me if i'm wrong... but the last time i looked into these racks... they couldn't support fast harddrives.
i forget whether it's a driver issue or something...
but i need fast drives for video editing.

as i stated before... i'm going to use 120GB 8mb cache HD... which can compete with some scsis.

if the speed wasn't a factor... i'd consider it.

anyone have experiece in these HD removal racks?

 

[Garion]

If you really need to transfer massive amounts of data between TWO machines, Gigabit isn't such a bad thing. You could use two gigabit cards with a crossover cable between them. That's going to get you, by far, the best performance. I'm one of the Anandtechers that agrees that Gigabit isn't right for the masses, as most people barely need 10BaseT, not to mention gigabit and just want it for bragging rights. But if you have a need for it, especially just between two computers, it's a good solution.

If you need to get to other machines on your network or to the Internet, put a 100BaseT NIC in one of the PC's, in addition to the gigabit card. Use either Win2K/XP built-in IP routing (for strictly internal traffic) or something like Sygate (for traffic to the Internet), depending on your needs.

- G

 

[wedi42]

check out this site
link
it list the speeds of all network connections

100 Mbps - 100Base-T Ethernet (Fast Ethernet)
400 Mbps - FireWire (IEEE 1394)
1000 Mbps - Gigabit Ethernet

 

[ericboo]

I agree with gigabit and a crossover cable. It is more expenisve than the mobile racks, but what I would choose. The adapters are not expensive, and it is cheaper than firewire cards and enclosures. I have seen some Dlink gigabit PCI cards for about $50. Don't know if there are any problems with gigabit though.

I started at home with PNA adapters until I could not they were just too slow for file transfers. Now I run 100bt and wirelss to share my internet connection with my neighbor.

 

[Mday]

i have never seen a firewall network... i assume a firewire to fast ethernet device can exist, but then... it'd still be 100 Mbps.

 

[Sukhoi]

Although gigabit would be cheaper, would it be possible to run some kind of a SCSI network by putting a SCSI card in each machine and connecting them externally?

 

[hoihtah]

is there a such thing as scsi network?

man... scsi cables don't go that far...
so with this setup the computers would have to be literally right next to eachother.
hmm.

 

[Garion]

I've never heard of running a network across a SCSI connection and don't really think it could be done. Gigabit is cheaper, faster, and easier, so there's not much point in experimenting with something like SCSI.

- G

 

[Santa]

There is the thing called Scsi over IP coming out but that is probably not practical at this point since what option you are looking at is more bandwidth related not distance.. Scsi over IP is more for fixing distance issues with Scsi.

He also already has IDE drives so that is out in terms of investment.. (expensive IDE drives to boot 8MB cache varoom).

I would say try to use the Firewire first since hopfully its just a matter of a wire purchase + a little time spent learning to configure to find out if it will work for your needs.

You have a theoretical transfer rate of 800Mbit/sec through to ATA100 spec bus (100MB/s) and a 602 Mbits/sec transfer from cache to platter (according to their web site)

This means that if you hit theoretical peak a Firewire network will be your bottle neck by about 198Mbits/sec but we all know that these are theoretical peaks and realistically Firewire should be able to sustain an almost seemless transfer between harddrives as if the hard drive sat in the other computer.

Obviously Gigabit will be able to sustain your rate and your Hard Drives may start becoming the bottle neck but try the Firewire and see how it goes.

 

[hoihtah]

thanx guys...
as santa said... i'll give firewire a shot.
and if that doesn't work... well enough for my needs...
then... i'll go with gig bit ethernet.

 

[PlatinumGold]

i'm still not convinced that 100 mb / sec wouldn't be fast enough. can any hd really maintain over 100 mb / sec transfer over periods of time?? how much would he really gain by going w/ the gigabit or firewire?

 

[hoihtah]

maybe you can prove me wrong on this...

but according to StorageReview...
WD1200JB does 48.8-29.2MB/s
so let's say that it does about 30MB/s for easy calculation's sake

1 Byte=8 bit.

30MB/s = 240mbps.

that's the lowest end of the hd's spec.

even with the theorethical bandwidth of 100 mbps network...
i'm 140 short... to transfer the data without HD being the bottleneck.

especially when dealing with one or two (10-30GB) files ... i think the drive's seektime won't come to play as much.

with gigabit or firewire... this bottleneck disappears.
400mbps of firewire should still have head room for most of the transfers.
except at 48.8MB/s,... since i'm lookign at 390.4 mbps.

within the next few days...
i should be able to test this system out...
so i'll let you guys know how this works out.

if firewire doesn't cut it...
then i'm moving to 1gigabit nic.

 

[spidey07]

Let us know how your test turns out.

Gigabit is by far the fastest today. It is faster than a PCI bus and faster still over a harddrive. That latest tests I've seen are with a 32 processor/256 Gig SUNFIRE 6800 box. IT STILL COUDLN'T SATURATE GIG ETHERNET.

Hope that puts into perspective just how ridicuously fast 1000 BaseSX is.

 

[PlatinumGold]

hoihtah

those are good benchmark / theoretical type numbers. i'd like to see numbers w/ actual data transfers. do transfers using the 100 mb/s nic's and time it. then try it w/ firewire and see if there is a significant difference. I'd be surprised if there was a significant difference.

 

[Goosemaster]

I say go for Gigabit...

Although a lot of people have been chastized(by me of course) for wanting to go to Gigabit without needing it, it seems that your situation needs it.

I also agree with the recommendation of the Gigabit cards and a crossover cable...saves you from buying a $700-1500 switch

Good luck..keep us informed on your progress

 

[Santa]

Here is an excellent article with closer real life transfer rates from this paticular drive.

Tom's WD Benchmarks

He mentioned that the drive at read time was averaging around 50MB/sec or 400Mbit/sec

The Write time which is real important since that will be your bottle neck during video editing is around 40MB/sec or 320Mbit/sec

If you read from cache all the time which I doubt you will be your throughput goes up to almost 80MB/sec or 640Mbit/sec so in this case depending on how much your process is able to stay in the 8MB cache will determine if Firewire will be a bottle neck or not.

Firewire should be able to deal with this amount of throughput so let us know if all this information is true in a real world test.

 

[hoihtah]

i've ordered a 15 feet 6pin-6pin firewire cable.
and it's coming.

my 4 1200jb's are also on their way.

so i'll keep you guys posted

 

[Santa]

Here is a comparison of Firewire Transfers also so..

sheesh.. the more I look into it the more I want to try this out!!

Link!

 

[hoihtah]

my 15feet 6-6 wirewire cable arrived today...
but i'm still waiting for my drives.

i might just go ahead and test the specs with my 7200rpm and 5400rpm drives.
to see how much difference it makes with normal drives as to 1200jb.

again... i'll keep you guys updated with the progress.

 

[PlatinumGold]

santa
based on review you should, firewire is only good if you have w2k on both PC's otherwise 100 mb nic cards are better.