Pixelmator learn...

Just a quick plug for a project was involved in recently which has just gone live - The Pixelmator Learn page

If you're familiar with ScreenCastsOnline, you'll probably know I've done a couple of tutorials on this outstanding graphics package. Some of those shows were re-purposed to host on the site. It's something I can do for vendors who sponsor the show as an optional service. It's usually a matter of splitting the original show into multiple smaller segments, and then rebranding it by putting a vendor specific intro on each segment. This seems to work really well and is a great way of new people finding ScreenCastsOnline.

This time round, the Pixelmator team wanted some additional features not covered in the show as separate 1 minute mini tutorials. I was happy to oblige on a commissioned basis and these new mini tutorials are now included on the new Pixelmator Learn page

Just click on the Video Tutorials tab to see them in all their glory! My favourites are the Basketball one and the Brushes.

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DroboShare Performance..

Just did some simple tests on the Drobo MK II connected via a DroboShare and connected via FW800.

As I said in my previous post, I've no real need for startling speed from the Drobo as it's meant as a backup device. Hooking it up to a DroboShare just means that it's more convenient as it's accessible from all devices on the network as an SMB share. Not configuration required, it just seems to work.

I did get a few requests for some comparative speeds so before I start populating it with real data, I've unhooked it from the DroboShare and connected it to my Mac Pro directly using FW800. To run the tests, I've used the HD Drive Speed Test written by John Flowers over at Unscale. The application is designed for video professionals with special aims as per the website

Benchmarking tools do not accurately represent the real-world workflow of importing, editing and working with HD video files. This program was written to solve that problem by using actual system calls - just like Final Cut Pro or Adobe Premiere (or Avid Media Composer) - and benchmarking your drives based on their ability to read/write/import the video files you’ve recorded.

So here are the results!

First, the Drobo connected via the Droboshare on a Gigabit Ethernet switch:

Click on the image to see a larger view but basically it's showing a sustained speed of 12.35 MB/s and should be capable of streaming 720p footage. Again, not spectacular and perfectly fine as a backup medium.

Secondly, the same Drobo directly connected via FW800

Oh! That would be a sustained speed of 33.45 MB/s and capable of streaming RED 4K video at 13 fps. That's quite a difference!

Of course, your mileage may vary depending on your network, network switch, drive size and configuration, etc.

This hasn't been a detailed comparison but should give you a rough idea of the comparative speeds.

It's very easy to configure the Drobo as a shared volume on the Mac and make that accessible on the network, as long as the Mac is on 24/7 or at least for when you want to access the data.

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Drobo and Droboshare..

Following on from my decision to move away from a pair of RAID 0 arrays for my backup solution (see previous post) I decided to try out a combination of a couple of mirrored drives for resilience and the ability to create offsite backups plus a Drobo based solution for long term storage (plus cloud backup, yada, yada....)

Well I ordered a Drobo MkII last week from Amazon and worked out I could reconfigure my existing config to free up 4 x 1TB drives to populate the Drobo.

Literally minutes after the order was dispatched from Amazon, someone on Twitter pointed me across to the eBuyer site where the same Drobo was on offer but with a DroboShare device thrown in for free (usually £169). The DroboShare is a device that allows you to connect your Drobo via Etehrnet to your network turning it into a NAS or Network Attached Storage device.

It was too late to cancel the order with Amazon but their policy is to accept returns within 7 days so I ordered the Drobo and DroboShare from eBuyer. Needless to say, the Amazon unit arrived several days ago but I left it unopened waiting for the other unit.

The second unit arrived today and I have to say, installation was a breeze.

Very nicely packaged with simple instructions! Basically:

• Unpack both the Drobo and Droboshare.
• Connect the DroboShare to my Gigabit ethernet switch with supplied cable
• Place the Drobo on top and connect to the DroboShare using the supplied USB2 cable
• Insert the 4 x 1TB Drives
• Power the two units from a single power supply using the supplied Y splitter
• Insert the CD into the Mac and installed the Drobo dashboard
• Once installed, the dashboard found the Drobo and realised that the disks were unformatted (note even if the drives are formatted or have data on, the Drobo will treat them as new disks and wipe them)
• Selected HFS+ as format and selected a 16GB volume (figured it was better to go for the maximum size to make upgrading easier later)
• Drobo then proceeded to format the drives and five minutes later, I had 2.7 TB of usable storage space!

Now before you ask, 4 x 1 TB does not equal 2.7 TB !

As can be seen from the graphic (click to see full size), because of the way drive manufacturers describe drive capacity, it's actually 3.63 TB in real terms. But this still isn't 2.7 TB?

In fact, 960 GB is reserved for protection and this is the beauty of the principle behind the Drobo.

In theory, I could copy up to 2.7 TB of data onto the unit, then remove one of the drives and still access the full 2.7 TB!

In the future, when 2 TB drives (or even bigger) are more common and more affordable, I could increase the available storage on the device (up to a maximum of 16GB) without having to move data around manually and reformatting. The Drobo will let me remove a drive, replace it with one of a higher capacity and just re-jig the data to fit!

Performance seems fine! I was a little worried about using the USB2 connection to the DroboShare as the unit does have a FireWire 800 connection, but this is only for use when directly connecting to the Mac itself. As this unit is only intended as a backup device, I've no real need for speed. Besides which, I'm currently playing a 4GB HD movie off the drive via DroboShare and at the same time copying another two HD movies across! The movie is playing just fine!

Update: I had a few requests to do a comparison between the direct connection compared to the DroboShare connected. Glad I did as the direct connection is nearly three times as fast! See the results here

A quandry......

Well you know that other Drobo unit, the one that's going back to Amazon tomorrow....

Nah, I don't need two Drobos at the minute, although I do have some spare drives without a home...

No, I need to stay sensible and send it back.....

Yes, I will!

BTW I have no affiliation with Drobo either directly or via MacBreak Weekly. I paid for the machines with my own hard earned cash at current retail prices!

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Hardware day.....

Today is a hardware day, and in that I mean, it's time for a re-organise!

I've already split my 2 x RAID 0 Arrays into 3 1TB RAID 1 Arrays - One for Media, one for Data and one for current Video projects and the empty Drobo and DroboShare is arriving tomorrow.

So today I need to:

PowerPC G5 Tower
Remove the existing PowerPC G5 Tower and make ready for sale.

MacPro-01 (My original MacPro)
Add some additional eSata ports using an eSATA extender cable so I can hook up the Voyager external drive using eSATA

Move MacPro-01 over to the other desk and migrate the accounts on the G5 Tower over to it.

Reconfigure the printers connected to the G5 Tower to hang off MacPro-01

MacPro-02 (My new MacPro)
Split the existing RAID 0 partition and remove the 3 x 1TB drives and replace with 3 x 750GB drives from the split raids. I intend to use the 3 x 1TB drives (plus and additional 1TB drive in the Drobo)

Add some additional eSata ports using an eSATA extender cable so I can hook up the Voyager external drive using eSATA

Reconnect all three monitors

Start adding in any applications I haven't yet installed

MacBook Pro
Connect to the 30" monitor using the KVM switch

Finish the build process as best I can

Drobo
Clear a space for the Drobo and DroboShare

Cabling
Remove any redundant cabling and basically tidy up.

Superduper Backups
Make SD backups of all machines

So that should keep me busy for a few hours!

Update: I decided against installing the sSATA extender cables. They use two unused ports on the MacPro logic board but to get to them you have to remove the drives and fan enclosure. Not a big job, and for someone delving into the innards all the time, probably trivial. But, I decided against risking it, just in case!

I'll hold onto them until I either pluck up the courage or if there is a real need for them.

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Yet another build...

.... but I'm not complaining!

On arrival back from NSConference yesterday, was a rather plain looking brown packing box containing the new MacBook Pro.

Yowsa!

It took slightly longer than anticipated to arrive, but in reality, the timing was perfect. Had it arrived before the conference it would have been an unneeded diversion, as I had to prepare this weeks show in advance. I have to say though, I showed remarkable restraint and actually left the machine in the box unopened for a good six hours or so. Well, after being a way from home for a couple of days, it wouldn't have gone down too well to ignore the family and spend all night fiddling with the new machine.

So after an appropriate length of time (once they'd all gone to bed!) I duly did the ceremonially unboxing (no photos) and took stock of the new machine.

First impressions are that the screen seems significantly bigger than the MBA, which is one of the major reasons for upgrading. It seems huge and very bright. The other revelation is the trackpad - it's so smooth and easy to use. I'd picked up on this using my brothers MacBook, but it really does feel super smooth and is a delight to use. Not really started using the additional multitouch features yet, but the absence of a proper button (the whole trackpad is a button) is no issue and the muscle memory is easily re-trained.

Following a bit of a think (and lots of advice from the twitteratti) I decided not to go ahead with a migration from the MBA but to do a clean OS install and selectively start to add in my applications. It's not a trivial job as I use a ton of applications, but this time round I'm documenting all the steps on configuring the new Mac as a basis for a ScreenCastsOnline show for new Mac users.

I'm pretty much at the point where most of the core essential applications I use are now on the machine (Mail Act-On, 1Password, Launchbar, Evernote, TextExpander and a few more) but I daresay, it will take me a couple of days on and off to bring it fully up to spec.

As far as the MBA is concerned, it went on eBay for £760 to a chap in the Netherlands. Payment has been received so I'm just about to start the process of preparing it for sending off in the next few days. I've got a MBA superdrive so it shouldn't be to difficult to do a fresh install. I'll miss the MBA as it's been a fantastic machine but the MBP is a worthy upgrade.

As an aside, I suppose it's not that surprising but I'd say the vast majority of developers at NSConference were using new unibody MacBook Pros with a smattering of MacBooks and MacBook Airs. Quite a few new 17" machines as well. Now that is a huge screen!

Will keep you posted on any additional thoughts over the next few days.

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