SSD's in the Real World...or how I plan to save $2000 a year on three minutes a day

Solid-state drives (or SSD for short) are becoming the new rage in computing. You can get a good read on the background of the SSD here:

Wikipedia entry on solid-state drives

Over the last year or so, the capacity of drives has gone way up and the price has come down significantly. They've come down so much that we obtained three of the 80 GB Intel X-25M drives and tossed them into a Mac Pro as an experiment to see how fast they worked.

We were fairly shocked. I've never seen a single internal boot volume working at over 700 MB/s (not megabits...megaBYTES). Ever.

I was so impressed that I set out to conduct another experiment. This would be a real-world experiment: moving my entire MacBook Pro from a regular 2.5" SATA hard drive to an SSD.

Would it be worth the trouble in time and money to make the move? Could someone justify the expense of an SSD now versus waiting till later when the prices fell more?

I had to wait a little while until the 160 Gb SSD's came out from Intel. There was just too much stuff I kept on my laptop to pare down to less than 130 Gb of critical info--so in the meantime I read up on my friend Lloyd Chambers' excellent technical primer on using Intel SSD's in both MacBook Pro and Mac Pro.

I received my 160 Gb Intel SSD earlier this week. I copied off the boot drive to the SSD with Mike Bombich's fantastic tool Carbon Copy Cloner. Then I set about conducting tests with the primary drive before I moved over the the SSD.

Rather than re-invent the wheel with Lloyd's technical analysis, these are my anecdotal thoughts on my own experience with running an Intel SSD in a MacBook Pro.

The test system is my 2.5 Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo-equipped MacBook Pro with 2 Gb of RAM running Mac OS X Leopard 10.5.6.

I was tempted to do the tests from a clean installation, but this is a real world test. I didn't have time to un-license and deauthorize all my apps and then reauthorize fresh builds on the new system. I figured most other folks wouldn't have the time to do that either--so I opted to do a clone of my hard drive.

These were essentially boot-time tests. I didn't want to make any major file changes to docs or anything else on the old drive since I was going to start using the SSD permanently--so I only tested the boot times along with conducting some other interesting tests. Here are the apps I booted:

Apple iCal
Apple Numbers
Apple Pages
Apple iPhoto
Apple iTunes
Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Illustrator
Apple Final Cut Pro
Microsoft Word
Apple Safari
Apple Mail

I also tested system boot time and shutdown. Finally, I ran AJA System Test to determine drive performance.

Here is the chart of the raw performance I got between my old hard drive and the new SSD. Time is in seconds.

To say that this workflow is fast is a complete understatement. Everything is fast--my Mac finally feels like it works as fast as I think.

Response is instantaneous. Boot times on some of these applications is nothing short of ridiculous (Booting iCal and Numbers in 1-2 seconds?)

However, what really surprised me was the performance tests I ran with the help of AJA System Test.

With the hard drive installed, I ran System Test on a standard 1.0 Gb test using SD sized frames. With nothing else running. I got writes of 43.6 MB/s and reads of 52.2 MB/s. Very respectable all around. I then loaded up iTunes and let it start playing a track. I reran the tests with results of 38.9 MB/s and 41.2 MB/s. A drop of around 20% in performance, but still not horrible.

However, I then started Safari and did a 15-tab load--then I ran the same AJA test. On the hard drive the writes plummeted to 12 MB/s and the reads went to 12.8 MB/s. I thought I did the test wrong because an 80% performance hit didn't sound right. I reran the test--with the same results.

With more apps running, I got the performance down to around 4.2 MB/s sec for reads and writes.

Yuck. No more hard drives for me--that kind of performance sucks.

I swapped the HD for the SSD and performed the same tests.

With nothing loaded, we got writes of 62.2 MB/s and reads of 120.8 MB/s. With this test alone, we had already increased writes by 20% and doubled the read performance. The next test took me by surprise and I had to run it three times.

Performance went up when I did the iTunes test! I expected a performance hit when I launched and played iTunes, but the writes went to 68.7 MB/s and the reads went to 122.1 MB/s. I tried it three times--the reads and writes were all higher while iTunes was running versus when there were absolutely no apps running in the background.

I can't explain it--and I doubt it has anything to do with iTunes--but it was very strange to see drive performance actually increase when placed under increased load.

Finally, I ran the 15-tab Safari test and expected performance to fall apart. It didn't.

While iTunes was playing and Safari was loading 15 tabs, SSD writes were at 63.2 MB/s and reads pegged 121 MB/s. If there is an engineer out there who can explain why the SSD works faster when under load, I am all ears...

I figured all those time savings netted me an additional 3-4 minutes daily. At our lowest hourly bill rate, I figure on recouping nearly $2000 per year on the time I reclaimed.

Okay...okay...that is kind of ridiculous, isn't it?

It would be if the time savings was just from booting apps. However, the kind of performance achieved with this new SSD has added a level of productivity that I haven't had before. I can switch back-and-forth between windows and apps with zero lag time. Opening files is nearly instantaneous. Accessing websites is about twice as fast since the disk caching is way faster. Reading my mail and synchronizing my mailbox between the laptop and my SMTP servers is much faster than it was before.

And the dreaded Spinning Beach Ball has totally vanished.

I conservatively estimate I'll be working 10-20% faster than I was before. That alone is worth the price of the drive for me. Is the speed worth it to you? You have to be the judge of that.

Here are my new recommendations for the fastest possible system (either MacBook Pro or Mac Pro)

1. Get as much RAM as your budget will allow
2. Get the fastest processor possible, too.
3. Equip your system with an SSD-based boot drive (make sure its an Intel X-25...) If you can afford to, put in two or three in the Mac Pro.

These three recommendations will get you the fastest available Mac.

One more note--you can't get it from Apple. They don't have the Intel X-25 drives in their systems. If you want yours X-25 equipped, let me know at info@silverado.cc

tl

50% off Sony 4k projectors...

Sony Digital Cinema Systems has an abundance of SXRD® ultra-high resolution 4k projection equipment now available at a tremendous discount - 50% off MSRP.

Each model is fully refurbished, and carries the full Sony warranty and service options available with new A-stock models. B-stock accessories are also available to configure full 4K systems at a great value -- now priced at 10% below MSRP.

If you have considered purchasing a Sony 4K projection system, now's the time. Systems can be purchased outright or leased over time. Here are the available models:

Sony SRX-R105 SXRD 4k Projector
5,000 Lumen
MSRP $68,000.00
Sale Price $34,000.00
Lease as low as $789 over 60 mos.

Sony SRX-R110 SXRD 4k Projector
10,000 Lumen
MSRP $98,550.00
Sale Price $49,275.00
Lease as low as $1145 over 60 mos.

Sony SRX-S105 SXRD 4k Projector
5,000 Lumen W/DVI
MSRP $78,000.00
Sale Price $39,000.00
Lease as low as $905 over 60 mos.

Sony SRX-S110 SXRD 4k Projector
10,000 Lumen W/DVI
MSRP $102,000.00
Sale Price $51,000.00
Lease as low as $1160 over 60 mos.

Members of Silverado's StudioBuilder list are also eligible for the following rebates when ordered before February 13th.

Sony SRX-R105: $1,000
Sony SRX-R110: $2,000
Sony SRX-S105: $1,500
Sony SRX-S110: $2,500

We are able to provide a free replacement Xenon lamp ($1675 for 5,000 lumens and $2100 for 10,000 lumens) for the first two projectors ordered.

These systems require accessories like lamps and lenses which are based on your facility. We'll need to determine which items are needed for your installation, but the discounts on those items are huge, too.

Please contact us directly at orders@silverado.cc for ordering information. More details on each machine can be found below:

Sony SXRD projectors at Silverado

We've been told by Sony that all projectors in this class will be gone by March. There may never again be another opportunity to own Sony 4k gear at such reduced cost.

Torrey
----------------------------
Torrey Loomis
President & CEO - Silverado Systems, Inc.
Outfitter to the World's Foremost Apple Professionals
2600 East Bidwell Street, Suite 280
Folsom, CA 95630
(916) 760-0032 • FAX (916) 404-5258
torrey@silverado.cc
http://www.Silverado.cc

What do you want to see in the new Final Cut Studio 3?

Apple is on a new rotation with their product releases now that they have purged tradeshows from their calendar with the termination of their presence at Macworld.

With that in mind, its reasonable to think that Final Cut Studio 3 could be released any time between now and NAB. I think it would be silly for them to release it after NAB, but Apple definitely doesn't play by anyone else's rulebook...

So...with that in mind--what do you want to see in the new Final Cut Studio 3?

Please opine gratuitously in the comments below.

tl

Amazing new Panasonic monitor...

Folks,

Check out this awesome new monitor from Panasonic: the BT-LH2550

Panasonic BT-LH2550 25.5 Multi-Format Color LCD Production Monitor with native 1920 x 1200 IPS Panel

Its got a color gamut larger than 709, so its going to be awesome for HD-color work. Plus, native 1920 x 1200 resolution for 1:1 reproduction of detail without scaling.

Here is all the nitty gritty:

* 1920 x 1200 resolution (WUXGA)
* Six color space settings for use in print to digital graphics to HD video: SMPTE, EBU, ITU-R BT.709, Adobe 2.2, Adobe 1.8, D-Cinema
* Wider color space than CRT models with two new color space modes Adobe gamma 1.8, Adobe gamma 2.2 and D-Cinema gamma 2.6
* Wide 178 horizontal and vertical viewing angles
* New split-screen function plays dual live pictures (1 each: SDI, DVI, Component or Video)
* Calibration hardware interface for chroma and luma (with built-in Application Software)
* Built-in waveform monitor and vectorscope functions from SDI (HD/SD) input (representing all picture lines)
* Exceptionally accurate color reproduction and improved contrast and black levels
* Three-dimensional 10-bit 3D LUT offering virtually the same color
* Offers a variety of professional functions including split-screen/freeze frame (live input vs. freeze frame), marker and blue-only, and cross hatch overlay display
* Time code and closed caption capable (closed caption on video input only)
* Embedded audio decoder on board (via Headphone Jack)
* 8 Channel audio level meters
* Cine-gamma Film-Rec compensation function for use with cameras such as the Panasonic AJ-HDC27 VariCam HD Cinema Camera and the new AJ-HPX3700 and
AJ-HPX2700 P2 HD VariCam camcorders
* Inputs/outputs include: DVI-D input and two HD-SDI/SDI Auto switching inputs with switched output, component video (Y/Pb/Pr), RGB, PC RGB, external sync, RS-232C/GPI remote control terminals, speaker and headphone jack
* Five programmable user buttons for easy access to functions
* Desk stand included; compatible with VESA mounts (100mm x 100mm or 200mm)
* Separate 24 Volt AC Adapter supplied; AC cord (5.58 ft.) and 4-pin XLR DC cord (6.56 ft.) included
* One-year warranty (parts & labor)

tl

Silverado Expansion in 2009--WE NEED YOU

A little history about Silverado. We are now in our 7th year of operations. Every year we seem to grow more and more.

However, in 2009 we're going to take the growth to a completely new level. We've defined a massive core market--the professional broadcast and digital cinema industry--and our vendor relationships are second-to-none. We're going to take that momentum and redouble our growth efforts over the next 18 months.

We're going to be expanding our local presence to upwards of 25 different markets across the country. To do that, we'll need a lot of help. We aren't looking for employees, but people who want to run an entire wing of Silverado in their market.

This will take someone who--by profession--is a broadcast or digital cinema pro. You'll not only need experience, but you'll need to be a savvy marketer and be able to effectively network with the media community in your region.

If you are that type of person--and you are looking for a change of pace from production and editorial to trusted advisor--we want to talk to you. It will be your shop and your territory.

Here are the markets we are working towards in our initial roll-out:

New York
Los Angeles
Chicago
Philadelphia
San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose
Dallas-Ft. Worth
Boston-Manchester
Washington DC
Atlanta
Houston
Detroit
Tampa
Phoenix-Prescott
Seattle-Tacoma
Minneapolis-St. Paul
Miami-Ft. Lauderdale
Cleveland-Akron
Denver
Orlando-Daytona Beach
Sacramento-Stockton-Modesto
St. Louis
Pittsburgh
Portland
Baltimore
Indianapolis

If you are interested in joining Silverado not as an employee--but as a partner--please send me a note to torrey@silverado.cc and I'll forward more information your way.

CFAA tonight...

Important advocacy meeting tonight at Capital Film Arts:

Please join local filmmakers and friends or an important meeting of the Capital Film Arts Alliance
ADVOCACY AND INCENTIVES FOR THE FILMMAKING INDUSTRY

Tuesday, January 20th at 7:00 PM
Art Institute of Sacramento

2850 Gateway Oaks Dr.
Sacramento (I-5 to west El Camino)
Free for all

Capital Film Arts Alliance

Got one thing right...the rest wrong...

I got one thing right about Macworld. Steve Jobs was a no-show.

I was pretty sure that if he looked anywhere near the way he did at the last WWDC, the stock would fall 5% just for spite.

So, I think I was right on that count. I was wrong on everything else.

No new displays, Mac Pros, no iPhone anything...

Nada. Zip. Zilch. The announcements were total buzz kill.

I will say this--Phil Schiller did an excellent job at taking the keynote helm. He had very hard shoes to fill and I think he did a fine job.

That said--two software announcements and a laptop speed bump? Ouch...

But then again...I have to take that back, too. Those were my first impressions when I read about the announcements, but when I watched them being demonstrated I was really impressed.

It was appropriate to show the software. The demo of the new iMovie '09 had me saying a few times "gee, I wish that was a feature in Final Cut..."

And iWork.com is great! The kind of collaboration that product will enable is huge--its a fantastic way to share and work on docs.

So, a mixed bag in all. Neat products were released, but nothing over-the-top and it was definitely a let-down to see Apple leave Macworld with a whimper, not a bang.

tl

Business analysis of Steve Jobs latest health info...

Not that I am a callous person in any way, but I don't really pay much attention to other people's health matters unless they are a close friend or family.

My health is private, so yours should be private, too. In the Internet age, there are way too many things for snoops to pry on these days--and your health should be the last of them.

So, its with business in mind that I comment about Steve Jobs current state:

Post on Steve Jobs health from Apple

The letter flat out states Jobs isn't leaving Apple as CEO. Regardless of his weight loss, he probably feels fine.

So, if he feels OK then why did he drop out of Macworld 09? Simple--he probably doesn't look good.

If he has been losing the kind of weight he mentioned, his figure is probably fairly gaunt--so why bother with a repeat of the rampant speculation ala WWDC 2008?

Tons of flacks mentioned that Jobs' cancer looked like it had returned, but Apple attributed his appearance to a "common bug." However, the precedent had been set--if Jobs shows up looking bad, comments will be made. And the stock price may suffer.

Easy solution is to have Phil Schiller take over this year's keynote while Jobs gets his weight back.

But...without Jobs--people simply think Apple doesn't have anything to show. And while that may have been true in the past at a couple of keynotes, it doesn't seem likely for this one. Here are some of the possibilities:

New iMac

New Mac Mini

New LED Display

New 17" MacBook Pro

New Mac Pro

Updates on Snow Leopard

Plus one that Andy Ihnatko is talking about:

Super secret Apple product to be released at Macworld?

So where is Steve Jobs in all the product-release madness? Again, its simple--he's not there and he won't be there.

Times are changing. Apple is not doing trade shows anymore--they see WAY more people in a week at their retail stores than they see at Macworld. Plus, with access to the Internet--even people who can't make it to an Apple Store have access to way more information than anyone could have by making it to a Macworld show.

Jobs can't run Apple forever--this is just part of the separation process for the Apple community. Even if he is there for another 10 years, the community has to accept that it won't be business as usual at Apple going forward. Best to get used to it now.

While Apple is Steve Jobs, and vice versa--it can't always be that way. Part of the mystique that is Apple is the mysteriousness of Mr. Jobs. But while there may have been a time when it was flattering, the cult of personality which has been built up around him can't be a pleasant way to live.

And now this obsession with All Things Steve is so bad that when he gets sick, it affects the stock price?

The board of directors can't allow a company like Apple to externally manipulated by forces outside their control. Apple has to be bigger than one man.

So, MWSF 2009 is Apple taking the leap to show that its more than Steve Jobs. The Keynote? Performed by others. The One Last Thing? Done by someone else.

My educated guess: Phil Schiller will do a great job on the keynote. And Steve Jobs will not make an appearance at all.

MWSF 2009 Predictions...the New Mac Pro

[UPDATE 1 - Info's on SSD's added 12/29/08...duh to me for not adding the first time. Also, info on upcoming Cinema Displays and graphics cards.]

As an Apple VAR (value added reseller) you would think we would get some notice of upcoming new technology. New iPods, iMacs, Mac Pro's, MacBook's, etc...

Not so.

Apple is notoriously tight-fisted with information. And rightly so...its how they maintain their competitive edge and the element of surprise.

But--it doesn't stop one from guessing at what might be coming. So here is my best shot.

None of this is based on any first hand knowledge--just conjecture and some educated guessing.

BACKGROUND:

Apple introduced the Intel Mac at MWSF in 2006. It was reported that Intel had over 1000 people under NDA working on the transition.

Why is that important?

It shows at least a couple things:

• Apple and Intel are capable of pulling off major projects--and can keep them quiet
• Apple can integrate new Intel technology before other vendors
  

Later that year, Steve Jobs introduced the Mac Pro. The Mac Pro would incorporate the new Intel dual-core Xeon's. And at the time--those weren't available to other manufacturers.

Fast forward to now.

Intel is currently offering the new Nehalem Core i7 chips using the single-socket DX58SO "Smackover" logic boards. These boards and chips are not used in any of Apple's current CPU lineup. Apple's latest MacBooks (just released) did not use these new chipsets.

And officially from the Intel community, dual-socket boards are not due for a while.

Where does that leave Apple for MWSF 2009? Before we go there, let's look at what Apple does have that people will be expecting: Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard.

Beyond the usual accoutrements that accompany a major release, Snow Leopard has Grand Central:

"Grand Central", a new set of technologies built into Snow Leopard, brings unrivaled support for multicore systems to Mac OS X. More cores, not faster clock speeds, drive performance increases in today’s processors. Grand Central takes full advantage by making all of Mac OS X multicore aware and optimizing it for allocating tasks across multiple cores and processors. Grand Central also makes it much easier for developers to create programs that squeeze every last drop of power from multicore systems.

Think about what this provides. The ability for any application to take advantage of all processors--apparently intelligently distributed by the OS itself.

So here is my prediction: I think Apple will be debuting the Intel Nehalem Core i7 architecture in their new Mac Pro's at MWSF 2009. Further, I believe that multiple-socketed Smackover-type boards are not only possible, but likely.

Why bother with Grand Central if you are only going to use one socket on the board? And why roll out a new architecture that only has one socket when everything else currently in the Mac Pro line is dual-socket?

There is a laundry list of new things that are rumored to be included in new Apple technology, so lets go down the list:

Bluetooth 3.0
Blu-Ray Drives
DDR3 Ram
USB 3.0
Wireless USB
Integrated eSATA ports
Firewire S1600 and S3200
10 Gig Ethernet
SSD Drives [Update 1 - 12/29/08]
Cinema Displays [Update 1 - 12/29/08]
New Graphics Cards [Update 1 - 12/29/08]

Bluetooth 3.0 - No way

The new spec isn't even due until mid-2009, so shipping chipsets with even pre-draft tech are highly unlikely. Here is an update from Mike's blog over at the Bluetooth SIG:

"As we wind down 2008, it is easy to start anticipating what will occur in 2009. One of the most anticipated specifications from the Bluetooth SIG should be finalized about midway through next year. This will be approximately two years after the v2.1 + EDR specification which was adopted on July 26, 2007. Of course I’m referring to the core specification developed with the code name of Seattle. The hallmark feature of the Seattle release is an architecture enabling higher data rates. The reason why I still refer to this specification as the “Seattle” release is that the Bluetooth SIG typically doesn’t finalize the name of a specification until just before adoption. This is to ensure that the exact feature set for the specification is known before the name is finalized. As such, it is too early to identify the Seattle release as v2.X or v3.0 or anything else. Currently, many different contingencies are being discussed and proposals being considered. I expect that decision to be made in the first part of 2009; perhaps at the All Hands meeting."

So, its Bluetooth 2.1 for now.

Blu-Ray Drives - I say yes

This is WAY overdue.

You can already pop in a Panasonic SW-5583 Blu-ray drive into your Mac Pro and burn discs all day long using Adobe Encore. We've done a few of these already and it works great.

Apple used to rule the world of discs with iDVD, DVD Studio Pro and SuperDrives. However, they completely ceded their leadership role in disc-based media to Sony (Blu-Ray drives shipping for a while now in their machines...) and Adobe (their Encore disc burning software)

So, creating HD video on Blu-Ray is simple. But what about playback of commercial discs?

One of the sticking points here is High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection--or HDCP for short. It states that "high-definition digital video sources must not transmit protected content to non-HDCP-compliant receivers."

Translation--no playing Blu-Ray discs to non-HDCP displays like Apple's Cinema Displays via DVI.

However, Apple is now deploying their new DisplayPort-enabled 24" LED Cinema Display equipped with HDCP. As such, any new DisplayPort Mac with a Blu-Ray drive and the correct software should be able to play commercial discs just fine.

Further, with the advent of Final Cut Studio 3 and DVD Studio Pro 5 (more conjecture on my part--another story for another time) Apple really needs to have another avenue for deploying HD video from Final Cut. Layback to tape is soooooooo 1990's...

DDR3 RAM - Yep

Intel's Nehalem architecture only uses DDR3, so this is a given.

However, how much RAM will you be able to use? And in what configuration?

Intel's DX58 boards use three channels for their most optimized DDR3 RAM configuration. However, Apple uses two daughterboards for their current motherboard connection.

Snow Leopard will be able to address 16 Tb of RAM, so something is going to have to give in order to accommodate a LOT more memory.

USB 3.0 - Maaaaaaaybe

"On September 18, 2007, Pat Gelsinger demonstrated USB 3.0 at the Intel Developer Forum. The USB 3.0 Promoter Group announced on 2008-11-17 that version 1.0 of the specification has been completed and is transitioned to the USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF), the managing body of USB specifications. This move effectively opens the spec to hardware developers for implementation in future products. A new major feature is SuperSpeed bus, which increases the maximum transfer rate to 5.0 Gbit/s. USB 3.0 receptacles are compatible with USB 2.0 device plugs for the respective physical form factors. However, only USB 3.0 Standard-B receptacles can accept USB 3.0 Standard-B device plugs."

Intel showed this back in 2007. If Intel was working on new boards for Apple, its possible that they might incorporate the new spec into the new product. However, USB 3.0 devices don't even exist right now--no cameras, recorders, printers--nothing. So, this might get extended out to 2010.

I wouldn't be surprised to see this go either way.

Wireless USB - Possible

"In May 2005, the Wireless USB Promoter Group announced the completion of the Wireless USB specification. Wireless USB is used in game controllers, printers, scanners, digital cameras, MP3 players, hard disks and flash drives. It is also suitable for transferring parallel video streams. Kensington released a Wireless USB universal docking station in August, 2008."

Steve Jobs hates buttons. Is it a stretch to think he hates cables any less? Ridding the desktop of as many cables as possible would be awesome. I would love to see this incorporated on as many Apple products as possible.

Integrated eSATA ports - they should be!

If anything should be on the new motherboards, its at least one or two integrated eSATA ports. Right now, there are two on the Skulltrail motherboards and on the DX58, so it shouldn't be a stretch to add these to the new Mac Pro.

Firewire S1600 and S3200 - I say yes

"In December 2007, the 1394 Trade Association announced that products will be available before the end of 2008 using the S1600 and S3200 modes that, for the most part, had already been defined in 1394b and was further clarified in IEEE Std. 1394-2008. The 1.6 Gbit/s and 3.2 Gbit/s devices use the same 9-circuit beta connectors as the existing FireWire 800 and will be fully compatible with existing S400 and S800 devices. It will compete with the forthcoming USB 3.0."

So, the new Firewire spec has been approved for a while, beats USB 3.0 to the market hands-down, and is backwards compatible with current 400 and 800 Mb/s devices. I'd say this would be stupid not to include on the new motherboards.

10 Gig Ethernet - I say yes

There is a ton of really cool stuff you could do if you integrated 10 Gig Ethernet into the new Mac Pro. Fibre Channel over Ethernet becomes a reality:

"Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) is a proposed mapping of Fibre Channel frames over full duplex IEEE 802.3 networks. This allows Fibre Channel to leverage 10 Gigabit Ethernet networks while preserving the Fibre Channel protocol. The specification is supported by a large number of network and storage vendors, including Absolute Analysis, BLADE Network Technologies, Broadcom, Brocade, Cisco, EMC, Emulex, Finisar, HP, IBM, Intel, Hitachi Data Systems, Mellanox, NetApp, Nuova, PMC-Sierra, Qlogic and Sun Microsystems."

With FCoE, network (IP) and storage (SAN) data traffic can be consolidated using a single network switch. This consolidation can:

• reduce the number of network interface cards required to connect to disparate storage and IP networks
• reduce the number of cables and switches
• reduce power and cooling costs

Very cool applications for Xsan environments where shared collaboration between creatives is a must.

SSD Drives [Update 1 - 12/29/08] - YES...this should be a no-brainer

In my opinion, SSD's (solid state drives) are one of the BEST new things to come along in a while.

Some of the early entrants to the field were marked by spotty performance or reliability concerns (how many times can you write to one before it goes bad?)

However, the new X25-M series of drives from Intel are nothing short of stunning.

For kicks (albeit expensive kicks) we obtained three of the new X25-M Series 80 Gb drives and RAID'ed them together into a three-drive RAID 0 using Disk Utility. The results were nothing short of amazing.

700 MB/s read speeds (that is megaBYTE, not megabit...) and the machine would boot from the "bong" in 11 seconds.

Photoshop loads in 3 seconds. Flat.

This is one of most important things that ANYONE can do to speed up the performance of ANY Mac Pro. And if Apple doesn't include these by default, we'll make sure that we do.

Cinema Displays [Update 1 - 12/29/08] - Most likely.

I can tell you this. Getting a new 23" Cinema Display is now officially impossible. They are sold out everywhere.

What's someone to do if you want a 23" or 24" class Apple display? You have to wait for new graphics cards in the new Mac Pro...or get an adapter (which don't exist right now...)

You can still get 20" and 30" Cinema Displays...while they last.

However, I think that there will be some 20" and 30" cousins for the 24" LED display before too long. All based on the DisplayPort connector and integrating HDCP.

New Graphics Cards [Update 1 - 12/29/08] - Yes.

There are a few toss-ups here. Here is one that I think is the no-brainer: the new Nvidia Quadro FX 5800.

A Mac Pro version of this should be rolling out to replace the 5600 that is currently offered. However, one thing that will probably be different about the Mac version is the DisplayPort. Currently, the shipping version from Nvidia ONLY comes with dual-DVI.

On the low end, we could see new entrants from ATI and Nvidia. I won't even speculate on those options since it could be one of any different entry level cards.

However, one dark horse candidate for a mid-range card is the Nvidia Quadro CX card. This card is optimized for hardware-acceleration of Adobe's CS4 suite of applications. From hardware-accelerated Photoshops scrolling to vastly improved h.264 render times--there are a TON of things that Adobe and Nvidia worked on together to integrate on this board.

I blogged about this before, but if this card isn't offered its not because Nvidia and Adobe don't want you to have it. Apple has the hardware and source-code for the board. They just have to integrate into their offerings.

Wrap-up

Those are my MWSF 2009 predictions for the Mac Pro. Tune back in January to find out how close I got. In the meantime, chime in with some predictions of your own.

tl

Torrey schools KGO's Gene Burns

Torrey just schooled KGO's Gene Burns on law enforcement use of force policy. This is an audio file. Its a recording from KGO posted on their website at KGO Radio

Click here for audio player

I had just gone to funeral for a police officer the morning this was taped. I thought Gene was way off-base on this so I called to talk with him about it.

His last words are priceless.

tl

RIP--SJPD Officer John Cahill

My friend John Cahill, officer with San Jose Police Department, passed away yesterday.

I remember talking with John just a few weeks ago over a pool game at Donna Lind's house along with Bruce Lindsay. I had no idea that just a short time later this awesome person would be gone.

It makes you think about the people in your life--and about your priorities. All of the problems in your life pale in comparison to not having a life at all.

John Cahill's Memorial Service is this Tuesday (Dec 9th) at 11 a.m. at San Augustine Church on Glenwood Drive in Scotts Valley. Scotts Valley Police Department Lt. John Hohmann and retired sergeant Bruce Lindsay are coordinating the details. John's family is requesting donations be made to the Fallen Officer Foundation in John's name.

tl

Silverado Special Edition Mac Pro...released

Not for everyone, but...

If you are looking for the fastest Mac Pro in the world, this is it:

Silverado Mac Pro Special Edition

The Intel SSD boot drive setup alone works at over 700 MB/s. Triple Intel X25-M drives raided together create a boot drive capable of boots of less than 15 seconds.

Hand-tuned by Silverado, each system includes the following:

• Two 3.2GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon
• 32GB (8x4GB) 800 Ghz FB-DIMM
• Three Intel X25-M 80 Gb Hard Drives in a RAID 0 boot configuration
• One WD 300Gb Velociraptor Drive
• One Panasonic Blu-Ray Drive - SATA
• One NVIDIA Quadro FX 5600 1.5GB
• One 16x SuperDrive
• Apple Wireless Mighty Mouse
• Apple Wireless Keyboard (English) + User's Guide
• AirPort Extreme Card (Wi-Fi)
• iWork '08 preinstalled
• AppleCare Protection Plan

10,000 RPM Western Digital Velociraptors add 300 Gb of lightning-fast storage for photos, music, and backup.

Includes 32GB of ultra-fast 800MHz DDR2 ECC fully buffered memory — a memory architecture that's up to 256 bits wide and allows for incredible memory capacity, bandwidth, and reliability.

NVIDIA Quadro FX 5600 graphics card is the ultimate workstation-class graphics card available, with a massive 1.5GB of GDDR3 memory and a 3D stereo port for stereo-in-a-window applications.

Panasonic Blu-Ray is standard on this machine for burning up to 50 GB of data on dual-layered Blu-Ray discs.

We have a limited amount of $2500 discount coupons available for this system through December only. If you want one of these coupon codes, just e-mail me at torrey@silverado.cc

tl

Nothing personal, just business...Should we stop accepting the American Express card?

I got a $5400 bill the other day from American Express.

$5400 for one month.

Why? Its their fee for allowing us to accept AMEX at the business--and its not right.

When we process an AMEX card for a client, we don't see the funds for at least four business days. That is four days that American Express gets our funds--interest free.

In contrast, when I run a Visa or Mastercard transaction, our funds post to our account at midnight the next business day. And our rates are about 32% less.

So, if I have this straight--I am paying a huge premium for a large corporation to take advantage of us by getting a short-term interest free loan.

Its not as if small businesses haven't had run-ins with American Express before over other issues. Do a Google search on all the small business credit lines that they are drawing down:

American Express reduces small business credit lines

My question is this: Should we draw down on American Express?

American Express--if you are listening--I suggest you call me ASAP. You have a very dissatisfied customer.

Torrey

(916) 760-0032

Update: Lots of angry people responding to this New York Times article

Annual Silverado Fire Sale

Its time for another famous Silverado Fire Sale!

We updated our Fire Sale page here for 2008:

http://tinyurl.com/33z2uo

We have a ton of new and used gear that needs to go before we begin the transition over to our new facility in Historic Old Folsom in 2009:

Silverado 950si SCRATCH CPU (demo machine)
Apple Mac OS X Leopard (overstocked - new copies)
AJA IO HD (demo machines)
Panasonic displays (new LCD's and demo plasmas)
Apple Mac Pro's (demo machines)
Apple MacBook Air (demo machine)
Apple Cinema Displays (demo machine)
Apple MacBook Pro (brand new--overstock item)
Dulce RAID (demo item)
Silverado Fieldmaster (demo system)
Sony JH3 Compact HDCAM (demo system)
Tangent Devices CP100 (demo system)

Prices range for 11% to almost 70% off.

Also--we've released a new Twitter feed:

http://twitter.com/silveradosys

All new updates will now be pushed to Twitter first and then to our blog.

One note--the site is triggered to sell first come, first served. Once an item is sold, it will no longer appear on the Fire Sale page.

Torrey
-----------------------------------------------
Torrey Loomis
President & CEO - Silverado Systems, Inc.
Outfitter to the World's Foremost Apple Professionals
2600 East Bidwell Street, Suite 280
Folsom, CA 95630
(916) 760-0032 • FAX (916) 404-5258
tloomis@silverado.cc
http://www.Silverado.cc

Nvidia Quadro CX...coming to Mac soon?

Unless you've been living under a rock lately, the hottest new thing from Nvidia and Adobe is the Quadro CX--which provides hardware acceleration to many of the apps in Adobe's new CS4:

So, the big question is this--can I put it in my Mac?

No--and right now its not because Adobe and Nvidia don't want you to.

While no NDA's were compromised here...I have it on very good authority that the ENTIRE source code for this product has already been given to Apple and its up to them to develop the Mac-based driver.

Do I believe it? Yes--this is a very high profile product for both Adobe and Nvidia and it makes a ton of sense for them to want to see this pushed as hard on the Mac platform as it is on Windows.

What kind of performance are we talking here? Think 500% increase in h.264 encodes for Blu-Ray media, real-time manipulation of monstrous images, and amplified processing of color conversions and tone mapping.

Best way to see this pushed through is to petition Nvidia and Apple as hard as possible to work together to see this gets done by Macworld 2009.

tl

Death of an Xserve...or why you need more than one server...

I get this question all the time: "You spec'd four servers for our Xsan system? Two MDC's and two ODC's? Do I really need that much infrastructure for a few people?!?"

The answer is yes. Absolutely yes. Definitively yes.

The last week has proven this point very painfully. I've never seen this type of behavior before in an Xserve, but it makes the case for multiple Xserve's extraordinarily clear.

Editorial crew (three people) came in Tuesday to find the machines unable to connect to their sinlgle Xserve (which acts as Xsan MDC and ODC). They were running slowly Monday, however I suspect one of their machines took over as MDC and the Xserve had actually crashed sometime over the weekend.

They hooked up a monitor to the Xserve to find the "prohibited symbol" against a grey background. I drove over to check it out myself. When I arrived, the monitor had the grey screen, Apple logo, and the circling status icon. It was rotating around like it was trying to load.

After a few minutes, it was apparent it would not boot. I shut it down, and restarted it in Target mode (which launched successfully and allowed me to mount Server HD on my laptop). DiskWarrior showed some minor things to clean up, which I allowed it to do. The folder structure of the Server HD looked fine. I disconnected and attempted to start it up.

No dice. Xserve got to the grey screen, Apple logo, and the circling status icon--but nothing else.

Thinking it might be a hardware problem with the hard drive, I attempted to boot off the Restore CD to see if Disk Utility had any thoughts.

The Xserve would not boot off the CD either. Neither the 10.4.10 restore disc OR the latest Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard Server disc either.

Now I am thinking its strictly a hardware problem, not a software issue.

Praying hard, I loaded Xserve Diagnostics and pressed "D" which DID allow it to boot into diagnostics mode. I thought I was right around the corner from discovering which hardware was the issue...except that all tests passed. Nuts...

As a last resort I had Carl run over with a brand new set of RAM for the Xserve and swapped the old. No help.

Everything was disconnected--including the RAID's and the ethernet connections. The only thing left in the machine besides the RAM was the fibre card. I even yanked the fibre card to see if it would boot--but no luck.

I left Tuesday at 2:45 PM and set the diagnostics to run for 15 hours to see if it would pick up an intermittent error.

At 9 AM on Wednesday, I arrived to find that Diagnostics hung up at 10 hours. Checking one of the CPU's is where it froze.

Now realize this...the client's budget did not allow for even a parts kit. At this point, I had no choice but to call AppleCare and wait four hours for an engineer and logic board to arrive. The AppleCare call was fairly straightforward since I had already eliminated nearly everything besides the CPU's and logic board.

Engineer arrived around 1 PM on Wed. and swapped the logic board.

Did...not...work...

Now frustrated, the engineer calls someone high up the Tier level at Apple and requests a bunch of parts for next day delivery. RAID card, fibre card, logic board, CPU's, etc...

As of this writing, their system is STILL down. So, while there is no resolution for the client yet, there IS a moral to this story.

1. Servers will die.
2. The best defense against server death is a PRE-DEPLOYED backup to act as failover.
3. You need backups of your MDC and ODC machines. Yes--four servers..
4. By hosting MDC duties and ODC on the same machine and implementing a network home folder--the client couldn't even log into his own machine to do any local work. Having an ODC (and backup) separate from MDC would have allowed them to work even if the SAN was down.
5. Parts kits DO NOT ALWAYS mean you are back in action. We replaced the logic board and the server was still down.

The Cost?

A creative director and two editors at total of $84 per hour (includes fringe, etc...) times 24 hours (three eight-hour days of lost time) equals a straight loss of over $2000--not to mention the grief and possible lost sales the CEO will lose from his creative team being down for three days.

At the very least, one more server in this workflow would have already paid for itself. These don't have to be huge render-class servers--just basic Xserves.

One funny note--the engineer works contracts for Apple and Dell. When asked, he said most of his dispatch repair work is on the Dell machines. He says he puts hands on an Xserve about twice per year for actual repairs.

Update: Turns out it was the logic board AND a RAID card that went bad. The Xserve went right back up serving out Xsan as soon as these were replaced.

Major Adobe CS4 Release Event at next SF Cutters

Got this from my buddy Claudia Crask at SF Cutters:

Come Join Sf Cutters, San Francisco Final Cut Pro User Group on Sept 25th

To Celebrate the release of Adobe CS4 - learn more!

View the Finalists from our "Mini Reels Competition" and hear from G Technology makers of storage devices and technology.

For Further details and to Register online go to:

http://sept25sfcutters.eventbrite.com/

This Meeting is Free, but we do need you to preregister so your name is on the entry list.

Thanks to Adobe Systems their generous support of the meeting and providing CS4 Production Studio as a prize and to FMC Training for providing a pass to the Editors' Retreat, lodging and travel are not included in the pass, and are the responsibility of the winner.

Location: Adobe Systems in San Francisco
Map: http://tinyurl.com/37grn7
601 Townsend
San Francisco, CA 94103

Time 6:30 PM - 10 PM

Further questions contact Claudia Crask
sfcuttster@gmail.com

RED module added to upcoming Sacramento Final Cut Pro training

Due to popular demand, Larry Jordan is adding time to the tapeless media portion of his training to specifically talk about ingesting and editing RED media.

Silverado is hosting Larry Jordan's North American Seminar Tour for two days of jam-packed Final Cut Pro training in the Sacramento area on September 8th and 9th.

We now have a seminar discount code for registration. Enter the code SILVER8 upon registration at www.larryjordan.biz/seminar and you'll get 10% off the course registration fee.

Different than the other locations, each registrant for the Sacramento training will get a free Final Cut Pro keyboard cover--your choice of desktop or laptop cover.

We'll also have a large sampler of RED media for participants to copy and take home--just bring a hard drive and we'll copy it off for you.

Best of all, each participant will get a free entry into OpenCut 3.

This is our 3rd year hosting Larry in Folsom and he always gets rave reviews for the technical material along with his witty presentation and sage wisdom. I highly recommend anyone looking to sharpen up their FCP skills to attend these courses.

Register today at www.larryjordan.biz/seminar

AJA posts updated 6.0 software for Kona 3 and Io HD

Just got this in from AJA!

Io HD and KONA v6.0 Software Now Available. VTR Xchange v4.0 Application Now Available.

AJA has now released the anticipated 6.0 drivers for the Io HD and KONA products. They are available for download from the AJA website. Additionally, AJA has also posted a new version of the VTR Xchange application to the website. Details regarding these releases are outlined below.

Io HD New Features

• Additional format support for true progressive formats in 1080
• Additional format support for intermediate formats
• Added Audio Delay for Input and Audio Delay for Output controls
• Stand Alone Mode enabled
• Io HD LCD display now allows users to choose between the display of primary and secondary video formats or the primary video format and timecode
• Io HD now a FireWire "plug and play" device (can now be connected or disconnected to host computer without rebooting to recognize device)
• Active Video Output Filter added

Io HD Improvements and Fixes:

• Component and composite now provide simultaneous output
• General improvements to A/V sync performance
• General improvements for multi-user environments

KONA New Features

• RED Support added (KONA 3)
• For more details on KONA 3 support for RED workflows, consult the version 6.0 manual, page 24.

PLEASE NOTE: When working with RED Easy Setups, AJA recommends changing the Dynamic RT setting to "Unlimited RT" for the best playback results.

Active Video Output Filter added (KONA 3 and KONA LH)

KONA Improvements and Fixes

• 64 bit firmware update (KONA 3)
• General improvements to A/V sync performance (entire KONA product line)
• Custom LUT support now implemented for dual link output in addition to single link output (KONA 3)
• General improvements for multi-user environments (entire KONA product line)

VTR Xchange v4.0 New Features

• Multi-channel discrete audio output via new Audio Routing feature
• Batch capture feature added
• PLEASE NOTE: VTR Xchange does not offer batch logging and capture, only batch capture from a pre-existing batch list
• Apple script support added
• Support for playback of 23.98 fps movie files at 29.97 fps or 59.94 fps
  

VTR Xchange 4.0 Improvements and Fixes

• RP-188 and LTC timecode is now displayed in the main window during capture
• General UI enhancements

Please read the release notes for more details on Io HD and KONA v6.0 software and VTR Xchange 4.0 Application.

NOTE: There is important configuration and installation information contained in the READ-ME for both the KONA and Io HD software releases, so please be sure to read it completely.

The new v6.0 KONA and Io HD software is further proof of our commitment to build value and refinement into our Desktop products. KONA and Io HD offer professional features not found anywhere else, and our products are the most reliable and best supported solutions for any type of post-production work!

KONA v6.0, Io HD v6.0 and v4.0 VTR Exchange software can be found here:

http://www.aja.com/html/support_swd.html

OpenCut presentation at Sac Film & Music Festival

I was honored to be invited by the board at Sacramento Film & Music Festival to talk about OpenCut and screen the top three entries.

I talked about RED vs. Film workflow and went over how RED material made a 35mm editing competition possible.

The coolest part of the presentation was seeing three cuts of "Susannah" shown on a 40-foot screen at full res 1920x1080 HD.

I played back ProRes files from my MacBook Pro equipped with a G-Tech G-SPEED eS connected via an ExpressCard. It worked flawlessly.

I was really excited that Sean Wells--one of the top editors--was able to make it to the panel to answer questions about the editing experience. He offlined his version "Susannah" on a MacBook with FCP, then onlined his final version on an octo-Mac with Adobe After Effects.

It was such a good experience that we've been asked to repeat the presentation at an upcoming Capital Film Arts meeting. If you missed the first presentation, we'd love to see you around for the next one.