HDD Docking Station

stoney

Has anyone used a docking station like this? It can take two desktop 'internal' hard drives and has a USB 3.0 connection. I'm not sure whether it supports RAID or not. If not, I could use the 2nd drive as a backup.

Here's a product review. http://www.techradar.com/reviews/pc-mac/pc-components/storage/disk-drives-hdd-ssd/startech-com-usb-3-0-to-sata-ide-hdd-docking-station-1082546/review

USB 3.0 seems fast enough for editing small clips. http://nofilmschool.com/2013/05/macworld-benchmark-battle-usb-3-vs-thunderbolt/

ebay http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-StarTech-com-SuperSpeed-USB-3-0-to-Dual-2-5-3-5in-SATA-Hard-Drive-Docking-St-/161037665603?pt=US_Computer_Cases&hash=item257e97c543

Usually I transcode MTS files into MP4 then edit from Adobe PP and AE. How about saving trascoded files in the external drives and creating PP and AE project files directly on the drives? Does this seem a viable solution?

eatstoomuchjam

I have a similar dock and I like it quite a bit. With cameras increasingly shooting to SSD, I imagine that similar docks will increase in popularity.

USB 3 should have plenty of bandwidth for editing small or large clips - a hacked GH2 is still only 170 megabits/second at the most. Even a hacked 5D Mark III shooting 14-bit raw at 1080p is still only around 700 megabits/second. A 7200 RPM drive has trouble keeping up with raw, but if I plug an SSD into mine, I have no doubt that it would be able to handle raw footage.

stoney

Thanks. So you did edit directly on a drive in your dock and experienced no showstopper?

Yeah USB3 has 115MBps or over 900Mbps throughput from 7200rpm HDD. Nowadays it seems disk isn't a bottleneck, but CPU/GPU hardware accelerator is. I do use SSD for operating system and apps though. I like the dock since it seems so easy to replace with a bigger disk. Only $90 for 2TB disk.

brant_moore

I have a similar dock as well. The only problem I have is that there is no cooling on these docks. When you have a higher rpm hdd connected and transferring it tends to get hot. In my case once it gets so hot it automatically shuts down the hdd. This can be very annoying.

To solve this I set an ice pack wrapped in a towel under the dock. Sometimes a PIA, but it runs all night and renders from a 3.5" hdd this way.

eatstoomuchjam

I edited h.264 from my dock and had no problems. I haven't tried raw yet, but I don't expect any problems.

Vitaliy_Kiselev

I suggest to check something more closed and with some fan.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Icy-Dock-MB662U3-2S-2bay-3-5-sata-Usb-3-0-Hdd-Raid-/330935878976?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4d0d50c540

rockroadpix

@eatstoomuchjam - I may be confused here. You edit on the ssds that you are recording onto? I would drag ftg off the camera drives onto my cpu for editing.

peternap

@rockroadpix I transfer from the camera to my Dock but only for storage. I use an internal drive to edit from. The files on the Dock are never used other than to copy from. Now that I think about it, that's wasteful and a little silly. I'll try an edit from the Dock tomorrow but it shouldn't be a problem.

eatstoomuchjam

@rockroadpix My desktop has a 3-drive RAID-0 so if I'm editing on it, I tend to put the files there. On the other hand, if I'm editing on my Macbook Air, it only has a 128G SSD internally so I tend to leave files on the dock. I don't usually record to SSD, though - usually I'm dumping to SSD from CF or SD (and backing up to my server as well).

stoney

@eatstoomuchjam +1. I'm a laptop guy. My macbook pro has an additional 1TB HDD, but it can't hold all data. I need to unload'em. This USB3 (not USB2) docking station might be good enough to hold data and be edited directly.

stoney

@Vitaliy_Kiselev A closed docking station w/ fan sounds fine, but wouldn't it be quite noisy?

tinyrobot

I have an older one with usb2. Works fine for most things and I cool it with a mini usb fan directed at it. One potential issue is that on mine at least, if it gets bumped, then it will loose connection so in some applications it can be critical. A closed case is better if you are worried about this.

stoney

Thanks @tinyrobot. If USB2 is good enough, USB3 should be no problem. Hmmm. Tempting. Let me think over... take some time... cuz I'm no longer shopaholic!!! But this does seem no-brainer. I have a couple of internal 1TB drives doing nothing.

rockroadpix

@eatstoomuchjam - My need for a dock will be for dumping ssds after I have shot on them (once my BM4K (fingers crossed)arrives)... I'll put the ftg onto external hard drives. Prolly an EZQuest or some other...

kavadni

@rockroadpix ... wait for the BMD Multidock

They don't have description on their site as yet

eatstoomuchjam

@rockroadpix If you shoot raw on your BMD, be warned that a single spindle (like most external drives) almost definitely won't be able to keep up with the data rate you need to process the footage in realtime. If you shoot prores or dnxhd, then maybe.

zigizigi

I have been using this ESATA cheapo for few years now.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/3-5-2-5-SATA-HDD-HARD-DRIVE-DISK-DOCK-DOCKING-STATION-USB-e-SATA-Card-Reader-/130891288696?pt=UK_Collectables_HardDriveEnclosures_RL&hash=item1e79ba9078

Very happy about it. I buy new inexpensive 3.5'' SATA HDDs - the best money per GB ratio - and edit my projects directly from it. If you need to open a last year's project you just pick up a drive off the shelf and edit straight away. Really handy. This one is single pocket, so obviously no RAID capabilities but with not the fastest around Samsung HDD I can run 6 angles AVCHD milticam project in full preview mode in Sony Vegas without a choke - more than enough for my needs, never cared for RAID because of that.

stoney

Cheap is beautiful. I like dual slots to make a backup, too. RAID is more headache.

rockroadpix

I'm sorry, I'm referring to when I am on location shooting. I'll dump ftg back directly to cpu or some other device for edit.

MikeLinn

Seems like very useful thing. I especially like closed RAID one.

Vitaliy_Kiselev

Few 4 bay ones:

Mot really cheap

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ORICO-4-Bay-2-5-3-5-SATA-HDD-to-USB-3-0-ESATA-Docking-6648SUSJ3-Free-Shipping-/281137111992?pt=US_Drive_Enclosures_Docks&hash=item417513e3b8

*MAIWO K307**

Cheap, $59, but USB 2.0 only.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/MAIWO-K307-Four-Bay-Clone-2-5-3-5-SATA-HDD-Docking-Station-Storage-2-USB-/141007973082?pt=US_Drive_Enclosures_Docks&hash=item20d4baeada

stoney

Dual drive docking station. USB 3. SATA 3.5" or 2.5". $38.99

http://www.ebay.com/itm/USB-3-0-SATA-HARD-DRIVE-DOCKING-DISK-BACKUP-CLONE-DUAL-DOCK-EXTERNAL-black-/230900295470?pt=US_Drive_Cables_dapters&hash=item35c2bae72e

tinyrobot

Recommend the one stonebat linked. Rock solid so your disc does not unlink. I use a Korean branded one, but looks just like the one in the link.

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