Drobo 5D update. Now with five 4 TB drives

I decided to upgrade my Drobo 5D; replacing all five 3TB Seagates with five new 4TB Seagates.

I now have 14.5 TB of real useable space; using  4 Terabyte drives. I offloaded my 4 month old 3TB drives into a cheap 4 bay eSATA RAID box. That right there is another 9TB to play with under RAID5.

Just a quick test with Black Magic Speed Test.

Restoring from backup isn't so bad. I'm sustaining and averaging 200 MB/sec from various external STAE129 Thunderbolt drives. This restore consists of mostly small text,photos, and source code files via rsync. The restore is also taking a few hours, so peaking at 200 MB/sec for that long of a period is very good in my book. 3TB worth of data takes about 7 hours or so to restore. I remember that use to take 1-2 days.

OSX Mountain Lion 10.8 UAS UASP USB Attach SCSI drivers

My blog was one of the first to write about UAS/UASP (USB Attached SCSI) on the Mac OSX platform last summer. I've been writing about it for some time.

I've been getting a lot of Google search query hits on my blog for "Mountain Lion UAS drivers", "OSX USB Attach SCSI", and "OSX UASP drivers."

Well, here is the answer for all those daily search queries in this blog post. If you came here from a search engine, this blog will help you find your answer.

What is UASP? In short.

• Enables storage products to operate much faster by utilizing the faster bandwidth now available with the new Super Speed (USB 3.0) standard
• Reduces the protocol overhead of Bulk-Only-Transport (BOT)
• Supports SATA native command queuing (NCQ)
• Multiple commands are processed in parallel

There is no "drivers" for UAS/UASP. If you have Mountain Lion, the "drivers" will be system kexts located at: /System/Library/Extensions

There are two USB kexts that OSX uses for mass storage:

IOUSBMassStorageClass.kext
IOUSBAttachedSCSI.kext

The first one for standard, traditional Mass Storage BOT (Bulk only transport) and the second for UASP. Even old Macs without USB 3.0 UASP ports will have the IOUSBAttachedSCSI.kext installed. It doesn't mean your Mac has UASP hardware.

To find out if your Mac supports UASP, here is a simple test.

Plug in a USB device. Go to  "About This Mac" > More Info > System Report  and scroll down to "Extensions" under Software.

If you have a BOT (aka regular USB drive) device, the IOUSBMassStorageClass will load up. A simple test is to plug in an older USB 2.0 stick/drive. See screenshot below.

Now, quit the "About Mac / System Information applet" and plug in your USB 3.0/UASP drive. Reload the About This Mac and repeat the previous step.

If  the following "IOUSBAttachSCSI" shows up, your Mac takes advantage of the faster SCSI USB like protocols, UAS.

I've notice that if you plug your device into a USB hub, it does not load up the UASP kext.  So take note. Even with some USB 3.0 hubs, the device will drop down to BOT Mass storage. This will be interesting to take note in the future.

Simple. Now, you don't have to Google around anymore for OSX "UASP" drivers. It is all there in Mountain Lion. The kext will load on-demand as your plug in your UAS/UASP USB 3.0 Super-speed devices.

Now, if you want to see UASP in action, here is a review of a UASP device in OSX: the Blac X 5G and a youtube video of it's speed below.

First attempt at VMware ESXi 5 on Apple Xserve

A few post back, I wrote about converting real physical Macintoshes into VM (Virtual Machine) guests. Today, I am going to blog about my first attempt of installing VMware ESXi 5 hypervisor Virtualization server on a 2009 Apple Xserve 3,1. This was the last Xserve before Apple discontinued the line.

The purpose of this exercise is to see if I can recycle some old Xserve to hosts and consolidate older Mac OSX servers running Quicktime and Indesign services.

Installation was a breeze. I had an ISO and hit the "c" key at boot and selected the CDROM. Installing ESXi 5 was no different than installing it on a Dell. I picked a 8GB USB stick and installed everything onto a bootable USB stick. Once prompted to reboot, I had to hit the option key to choose the USB stick which happened to be properly EFI made.

I then configured my IP and logged into the Xserve through the VMware view client. I couldn't format one of the disks from the Xserve's SAS bay. VMware recognizes and it probably has some baked Apple firmware on it. I'll try with a different disk later. However, I was able to mount iSCSI and NFS shares to test.

I was able to load up my Linux and Windows VMs with no hassle. Getting a OSX guest will take me some time to figure out. I converted a Fusion guest with the ovftool but was not able to install my guests. I will play with it more and report back.

Right now my Xserve only has 6GB of RAM so I'll need to max that out and try adding eSATA or SAS storage to the ESXi build. My Xserve has an internal 128GB  boot SSD so I may try re-installing on that or create a datastore on it.

interesting upcoming products: Sonnet Echo 15 Thunderbolt Dock and HengeDock

Now this looks like an interesting product coming out this summer. Sonnet will be releasing a Thunderbolt Docking station named the Echo 15 Thunderbolt Dock. It has up to 15 ports of expansion with the ability to add an internal 3.5" HDD along with an optical DVD or Blu-Ray drive.

I'm intrigued because it has all the ports I want in a docking station - eSATA, multiple USB 3.0, daisy chain Thunderbolt/MDP, Firewire and Gigabit. This will start at $400 and definitely be price competitive with Belkin and Matrox.

Link: http://www.sonnettech.com/product/echo15thunderboltdock.html


HengeDock also has an interesting traditional laptop docking system. It is a horizontal docking station for Macbooks with availability sometime in Q3 of this year. It has Ethernet, Firewire, audio, USB 3.0 and what looks like 3 mini display ports for 3 external video display.

Link: http://hengedocks.com/order_horizontal_dock.php


I'd personally get the Sonnet Echo 15. It is not tied to one particular device.

Elementary OS follow up Review

Four months ago, I gave a review of Elementary OS. You can read it here.
Now, here is my follow-up after four months of use.

Well, I've been running it well over four months full time as my workplace operating system on a 30" and now a 27" Dell. I installed it on an SSD and just started to work on a new project. I was already deep into my work so I stuck with the build. I didn't have time to muck around and re-install Debian, Ubuntu 12.04 or Linux Mint from scratch.  So, I had to endure the quirks of Elementary OS for over four months. My final install was a FX-8320 AMD 8-core CPU, 32GB of RAM and two Samsung 830 SSDs. So I definitely gave it more than adequate specs to run as a workstation.

Here is my follow-up report. The login screen is pretty. There is nothing else to rave about. My complaints in my initial reviews about dock items and short-cuts for my Java based apps was solved. I actually spent way too much time editing desktop.item short cut files and saving out icons so I can have a working dock. My presumptions still stands. End users shouldn't have to fiddle with all this nonsense.

I also got dual monitors working but the issues of apps and dialogs split in the middle is still annoying.

I never used the built in apps and opted to install alternatives.

Well, as my project is coming to a close, this is what I ended up doing:

 sudo add-apt-repository ppa:gwendal-lebihan-dev/cinnamon-stable  
 sudo apt-get update  
 sudo apt-get install cinnamon  

Yes. I got to a point where I could not stand it anymore. I like the concept of the OS but the file manager was crashing every hour. Copies would crash mid-stream. I dropped Pantheon and installed Thunar (an alternate file manager) and it was still crashing. Chrome/Chromium was having lock-ups. Pages with lots of hyperlinks would freeze the mouse. I ran updates, all the updates, purged and reinstalled my browsers.

All my problems were solved when I installed the Cinnamon Desktop Environment. Everything now works as it should. No more File Explorer crashes when I try to mount a volume or browse an external drive. No more browser lockups.

Conclusion

Well, I have to say it was my fault for running pre-alpha software for my main workstation. I must say, I did give it a good four month try. The File Manager needs serious work. I also have this installed on other machines for testing and the File Manager misbehaves all the time.

Lastly, I have to admit, I like the fact you can swap out DEs (Desktop Environment) just like that on any Linux distro.

Original Review: http://fortysomethinggeek.blogspot.com/2012/12/elementary-os-luna-beta-1-short-review.html

Anker 2.5 inch eSATA and USB 3.0 tool-less enclosure review

This is a short review of the tool-less 2.5" combo eSATA / USB 3.0 enclosure.
These currently retail for $28 on Amazon.

I needed something that could easily swap out drives without hassle. The enclosure fits 2.5 drives up to 12.5mm in thickness. eSATA is capped at 3Gbps and the USB controller is an ASMedia 2105.

There is no installation or screw. This is a clever tool-less design that allows you to popu-up your 2.5" drive. The spring mechanism takes up some space so this is definitely not a small enclosure. It is well built and made from sturdy aluminum.

eSATA and USB 3.0 ports adorn the back. This is an USB 3.0 bus powered enclosure. eSATA requires power and you simply use the USB 3.0 cable for power. If both plugs are connected, eSATA takes precedent.

Performance, I was getting close to 200 MB/sec from a Samsung 830 SSD with USB 3.0. This is the typical USB 3.0 mid-range enclosure speed. eSATA is capped at 3GBbps.

I benchmarked the eSATA from my Thinkpad running Ubuntu 12.04. With eSATA, I was getting  220-230 MB/sec.

With standard HDD, your speeds will be much slower.

Conclusion.  Overall, it is a decent enclosure that is extremely flexible. The quick-release is a nice touch.


Amazon Link: http://www.amazon.com/2-5-Inch-External-Enclosure-Tool-free-Installation/dp/B005B5G4S6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1364871328&sr=8-1

Thunderbolt vs USB 3.0 ( vs Firewire 800 ) from a user perspective

Today, I am going to blog about consumer I/O technology from an end-user perspective.

I was reading comments today from some mac purists who still extols the virtues of Firewire 800. Well, FW 800 is pretty much dead in my book. In rare circumstances, FW800 beats out USB 3.0 in specific use cases. And those use cases are rare. Generally speaking, USB 3.0 is the cheapest I/O technology that will out perform FW800 in the other 90% use case scenarios.

Thunderbolt vs USB 3.0 is a bit more interesting to debate. I'll happily concede that 80% of the population are perfectly addressed with the cheaper USB 3.0. Yes, it is cheaper. In every use case, it is cheaper than Thunderbolt. However, cheaper does not mean it is better technology. It simply means it is more convenient.

Thunderbolt is still an early adopter technology. The cables themselves are expensive. They used to cost $50 but have been dropping in price to as low as $25 for .5 meter cables. Just getting the extra cables mean this is already a hassle for most users. The only Thunderbolt device I bought that came with cables was my Drobo  5D. For everything else, I had to buy the cables.

So what do I like? Well, I prefer Thunderbolt but in most cases, USB 3.0's cheaper price differential means I play in both camps. I don't hold allegiance to anything so I can't tell you which one is better. Simply, I can share some of my experiences.

First of all, I really like the idea of daisy chaining. As seen below, I have three Thunderbolt devices chained. In the next picture, I have a DVI-D monitor chained to a Seagate STAE129 Thunderbolt desktop adapter.

This is a big selling pitch in theory and in the benefits are tangible in the real world.
My iMac 27" has two Thunderbolt ports and it is pretty clean to chain, chain, and chain devices; including extra monitors. I like this idea so much, I am thinking of splurging on either the new Matrox or Belkin Thunderbolt hubs. Yes, they're pricey. But I definitely see the advantage of having just one cable connected to my Macbook and everything else hidden from view.

Now, I've thought, those Matrox and Belkin Thunderbolt hubs are indeed very pricey. Very pricey. But I started to look at USB 3.0 alternatives. I looked at many of the different USB 3.0 DisplayLink hubs that have integrated DVI and Gigabit. And those are pricey as well.

These USB 3.0 DisplayLink hub usually carries a DisplayLink DL-3000 controller. They are specced to go as high as 2560x1600 but all the ones I've seen on sale usually only supports 1080p or 2048x1152. DisplayLink, despite how convenient it is, is still laggy for me. I recently got a USB 3.0 DisplayLink HDMI adapter and it was slow (even in Windows). They would suck CPU cycles as much as 40%.


Thunderbolt uses my GPU's capabilities to drive external monitors by routing it via Displayport. You won't be suffering CPU hogging spikes as you try to display hi-res video. With Thunderbolt, chaining monitors is simply up to your GPU's capabilities.

So forgot about chaining video with USB 3.0. It is gonna be slow. Still, I need multiple (extra NICs) and storage. I could use a USB 3.0 hub like this one pictured below. But as you can see with just two extra USB 3.0 cables, it is starting to look cluttered. USB 3.0 hubs are cheap and I'll give you that. I can probably hide it in the back and use some sort of tidy cable management.

So this boils back to the idea of a single cable. In reality, I would still have to connect a video cable to my Macbook. I would also probably still need to plug in an ethernet because most USB 3.0 gigabit solutions are not reliable or that great. So even with a USB 3.0 hub, my Macbook will still look like this.

Now lets talk about storage. A good majority of my blog posts revolve around storage. USB 3.0 by a longshot is a cheaper solution for a good majority of the population. And that is the major compelling advantage. It is simply cheaper and I buy USB 3.0 devices for that very reason alone.

USB has two type of Mass Storage implementation. B-O-T (Bulk only Transport) and UAS (USB Attach SCSI Protocal). If you don't know what it is, google it or read it on my blog archives. Very few devices support UAS (also UASP). 99% of the USB 3.0 devices you buy in the store will be B-O-T. You will only get UAS/UASP if you actively look for it. Your device (PC/Laptop) also needs to support it. If you are not running a 2012 and newer MacBook, you most likely don't have it.

UASP enables SCSI like storage transport. It will behave more like a real storage interface than something added with middleman layer that has plagued USB for over 10 years. FW800 smoked USB 2.0 because it was generally more efficient. UAS fixes this. I've seen in some cases, certain UAS devices outperforming certain Thunderbolt devices but that is the exception and not the norm.

In a nutshell, this is how BOT and UASP works. 99% of your USB drives (aka BOT) will wait for a command from your PC. It then replies back in a series of sequence. UASP sends command and receives responses in parallel. Notice in the graphic below, a single transfer takes up a considerable amount of time vis-a-vis in comparison to UASP.

In short form, BOT hard drives wait for a set of instruction from the host computer. Once it gets those instruction, it has to process and reply back to the host. This happens every 64K. So there is a bottleneck right there as USB devices have to wait and queue.  With UASP, newer versions of USB acts more like SCSI.  Hence,the improved performance.

Now, Thunderbolt doesn't have to deal with this. It acts like a native AHCI SATA device. There is basically no translation layer. Thunderbolt behaves like PCIe devices connected to your mobile laptop.

Generally speaking, you won't notice a difference when using regular rotating platter hard drives via Thunderbolt. The HDDs will be the bottleneck and not the connection.

Even with HDD, in most cases, Thunderbolt performs still perform better in a mix-load. Booting OS and transferring small, medium size files. Thunderbolt will act and perform as an internal drive or an eSATA drive. For example, the same 4TB Seagate Hitachi Backup Plus drive will take 1 minute 45 seconds to boot Mountain Lion using USB 3.0. Using Thunderbolt, it takes 40 seconds. Running a full OS and taking it through its paces, you definitely notice how USB will lag here and there. Thunderbolt, it feels like an internal drive.  In addition, copying small, random 4K files will be exponentially faster with Thunderbolt. However, copying large files like DVD rips, both USB 3 and Thunderbolt perform the same.

My general advice is USB 3.0 for standard, cheap HDD external drives. But for RAIDS, high-performance, or SSDs, I recommend Thunderbolt by a large margin.

First of all, a majority of USB 3.0-SATA controllers are still only SATA I/II supporting only 3.0 Gbp/s. Dropping a high performing SSD in to a cheap USB 3.0 enclosure may only give you 200 MB/sec. You will need to research carefully, test various USB 3.0 enclosures to see what perform the best. Then you need to see if those enclosures, devices, and docks support UASP. There are too many variables at play here. Then there is the issue of incompatibility between (host) controller to chipset (device). An example of this is some JMicron chipsets on many of the $200 eSATA/USB 3.0 external multi-bay RAID boxes. What does this incompatibility mean? Intermittent dropped connections and sleep issues that is evident in numerous negative 1 star customer reviews on Amazon or NewEgg.

Thunderbolt, in most cases are seen as SCSI and AHCI SATA devices. They respond to SMART diagnostics and generally act and perform like normal internal hard drives.

You even get SMART access.

And compare to USB 3.0

In terms of RAID, Thunderbolt wins by a large margin. There is simply no shipping USB 3.0 RAIDs that can perform on the level of a Pegasus R4/R6 or LaCie 5big.

USB 3.0 has a theoretical 5.0 Gbp/s limit. In other words, 640MB/sec. Then you have to factor in overhead. The highest you will get in the real world is closer to 500 MB/sec. And this is with a UASP device and a single SSD. Trust me, I've tried to hit the limit on several occasions. I've even gone as far as striped SSDs in RAID 0. Two striped SSDs in USB 3.0 was no match for two striped 7200 rpm drives in RAID 0 using Thunderbolt. Trying and experimenting different USB 3.0 has been costly for me. I'll say it now, most external RAID enclosures supporting USB 3.0 is pretty much bleh. They're unreliable and do not perform as well. I'd rather stick to eSATA.

Thunderbolt has twice the bandwidth and I've seen over 1 Gig/per second using Thunderbolt. So, there will be no high performing USB 3.0 RAID boxes ever that will match the likes a Promise RAID. With Thunderbolt, you can get SAS adapters to connect to large enterprise 20-24 bay RAID enclosures.  Overall, working with Thunderbolt is a pleasure. It works great in theory and in the real world. USB 3.0 will never see these type of benchmarks.

However, I need to end my lengthy article.

USB 3.0 wins in mass adoption and price. There is no denying it. I'll recommend it for most use cases. If you need a large 4 TB drive to store your iTunes music or backup your movie files, go with USB 3.0.

However, if you want reliable, optimal performance with potential, there is no denying Thunderbolt is superior. For example, I would never boot and run a full OS full time with USB 3.0. Sure, I may run a test distro, live disk USB install, or something like ESXi/FreeNAS with USB. But for any major desktop OS, I would prefer Thunderbolt. Likewise, if my backups consisted of synching source code (lots of small 4K files), I would never use USB. Another example would be Lightroom. Thumbnail generation is much, much faster using Thunderbolt than any USB 3.0 device.


Superior technology doesn't necessarily win. Just look at the Betamax vs VHS example. There is also no denying that Thunderbolt is expensive.