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This topic comprises 9 pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
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Author
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Topic: I have crossed over to the Dark Side...My first D-Cinema install
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Brad Miller
Administrator
Posts: 17775
From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall)
Registered: May 99
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posted 01-08-2012 12:13 PM
Don't worry Tony. That was Mark's best shot. Since he is going to play that game, here is one from the collection of mine. At least you don't have to worry about having a server where the entire operating system and critical media block information relies on ONE regular sata hard drive with no form of RAID or anything. In fact I can hear that conversation now.
quote:
"What do you mean we can't run the show? This is an important show!"
"Sorry Sir, the server's hard drive failed. It'll be a few days to buy another from the manufacturer that is specific to this serial number machine and have it overnighted in."
"But the server has a RAID in it. Isn't the OS on the RAID, or a flash memory chip or something?"
"No Sir. It was probably done that way to cut all corners possible in the name of profit."
"Well THAT'S a really stupid design!"
"I agree, but you were the one that listened to Mark Gulbrandsen when you ordered it."
"Can't you just grab a drive from a local store and re-install it to save the show?"
"No sir, only Dolby servers can do that."
FACT: ALL hard drives fail. The typical lifespan is 3 years, although most hard drive manufacturers are changing that to only 1 year.
FACT: Dolby and Doremi do not rely on a single non-RAIDed hard drive for the OS.
FACT: If for whatever reason you wanted to, with the Dolby server you can put an install CD in it and 15 minutes later it is just like a brand new machine! Of course whenever a drive does die, you can simply hot swap it and it will rebuild on its own.
FACT: Both Dolby and Doremi are the cheapest servers out there to purchase, but any IT professional will be able to compare them to Mark's server and be able to point out that shortcuts were not taken in the hardware quality and design.
I'm sure Mark will be back with some more words of wisdom from his ass.
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Brad Miller
Administrator
Posts: 17775
From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall)
Registered: May 99
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posted 01-08-2012 03:00 PM
Tony, with digital cinema just like servers, it is turning the things on and off that seem to do the most damage. Regardless there are a few simple rules to follow on the big 3:
DOLBY - keep a spare drive of the same size handy (and preferably same make/model, but it isn't a requirement) for when one dies. (Their OS is stored on the raid, so there is no other concern.)
DOREMI - keep a spare drive of the same size handy (and make/model as they are pickier about the RAID being matched) for when one dies. It is also recommended you keep one OS flash memory chip in each complex in case one fails. (Although failure of these is rare, it does happen as flash memory isn't perfect.)
GDC - keep a spare drive of the same size handy (like Doremi, same make/model) in case one dies. If you care about uptime, it is also just about mandatory to purchase a spare pre-configured OS drive for each server (as they are all specific to that particular server) to keep on the shelf for when the non-protected OS drive fails.
Steve, I begged GDC at the first of this year to mirror their OS drive, but they aren't interested, despite it being in the end user's best interest.
I'm surprised Mark's ass hasn't posted yet. ![[Razz]](tongue.gif)
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Brad Miller
Administrator
Posts: 17775
From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall)
Registered: May 99
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posted 01-08-2012 07:57 PM
Oh Mark, so many things wrong here.
quote:
Actually(and I quote S.Guttag himself) "the DSS-200 can take as long as 8 min to boot". I've seen ~6 min. being the average. Plenty of time to go get a cup of coffee... That's also why you need to have it on a UPS!!
I agree with the 6 minutes average boot time, but anyone who installs servers without a UPS is just nuts so I don't see this as a problem.
quote: Mark Gulbrandsen
and Brad in all fairness I had a GDC die in Southern Utah this past week. Something with the motherboard, (the same Super Micro MB that Dolby uses).
Yet the GDC has a 10/100 nic on that "same" motherboard vs gigabit on the Dolby.
quote: Mark Gulbrandsen
Yes, the server had been installed last July and GDC same day'd a brand new server to replace that one at no cost.
Absolutely. Every company has a dud leave the shop every so often. We can't fault GDC for that, but I've had a Dolby server fail out of the box and Dolby did the same thing, so it really isn't anything all that special to boast about (unless Doremi wouldn't do it, but I would assume that they would).
quote: Mark Gulbrandsen
Interestingly the same site has a single DSS-100 with a diagnosed by Dolby bad raid card which Dolby is not even sure can be repaired.
We need to keep the discussion fair. GDC hasn't been around that long whereas the DSS-100s have. (That being said I was never a big fan of the DSS-100. You know that as you were in the same class that I was.)
quote: Mark Gulbrandsen
Oh, and I'm still awaiting my first OS drive failure and with 70+ GDC's I have in the field it will no doubt happen but as with all other GDC related issues it will be no big deal and won't even require a KDM to reload the OS. It can literally be back up and running in 10 min.
Bullshit. Do you keep spare GDC OS hard drives pre-configured which are specific to each server at all 70 of your sites? No of course you don't. You will have to call it into GDC and have them make you one special. Don't try and bullshit me, I've spoken to the tech guys at GDC and that is the procedure. That is the #1 issue I have with the GDC server. As long as the customers are ok playing that gamble, then I can sleep well at night selling them GDC and be perfectly fine with it.
As far as having a KDM to reload the OS, you imply that Dolby requires it, but that again is more Mark bullshit. Any OS reload is just a CD in the drive away.
quote: Mark Gulbrandsen
Now you probalby think I hate Dolby... not at all the case... it's totally my customers preferences speaking for themselves after using both brands.
I have yet to talk to anyone that has used both and didn't think the GDC interface wasn't a total disaster. Regardless, if that is what a customer wants, that is what they should get. We just installed a few last month and I am sad to say, they did not perform well. There were stuttering issues during playback that according to the GDC techs was caused by the booth being excessively hot and the media block overheating. We sent one of our techs to the site who reported it was no more than 70 degrees in the booth and he felt the entire server during operation and it was cool to the touch all over. No content was loading, pushing or pulling either when playback was stuttering.
Now in fairness, we gave GDC remote access to the machine (the same day we sent one of our techs to check the temperature) and their techs claimed they did nothing, but miraculously and immediately afterwards all of the playback problems stopped and have not re-appeared for the last few weeks since. Coincidence? Or did they fix some bug they didn't want to admit to? I will never believe coincidence (because they claimed they did not alter or do anything to the servers), but whatever, because at the end of the day as long as the servers operate without causing playback issues they can keep their little secret.
quote:
Watch for GDC's new IMB blah, blah, blah
Yeah whatever Mark. Christie has the same thing and others will too.
quote:
The present GDC servers will probably also see a SSD upgrade some time next year as well. That should shorten it's boot up time to less than 40 seconds and basically make the single drive system failure proof,
Blah, blah, blah. There you go on your GDC crusade again. Seriously though, what is your fascination with boot time? What idiots are turning off the server between every show???
Anyway to get to your point, yes a SSD would in theory help the reliability factor, but it would NOT make it failure proof. In the last 3 years I have owned 5 SSD drives. 4 out of those 5, all from different manufacturers mind you, have failed. Outright failed dead! How is that better? Oh yeah, it isn't. Personally I'm done with SSD drives until more time passes and they are able to get it right. If GDC starts putting SSD drives into their machines, that will not impress me at all. They need to setup a RAID 1 on their OS and go to a 4 drive content raid. Then I will consider joining you on some of your crusades for GDC.
To end this on an upnote, I can currently report all of our sites are running perfectly (now that GDC did whatever they did to their servers). So do I hate GDC? Nope. Was the server hardware designed well? Nope. Is their user interface a disaster? In my opinion and everyone outside of you I have spoken to, absolutely. Does the server work? Yup. Is it as reliable as Dolby/Doremi? From a design standpoint, the design dictates that it won't be, but let's keep it fair and say time will tell.
Please keep your comments fair in the future and not misleading.
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