Build an editing server

[wtwoods013]

So, I'm still relatively new to anything involving actually building computers and the like, but I'm looking for some tips (preferably in lamen's terms) on how to build and set up a network that I can edit on?

[ShadyHost]

4 minutes ago, wtwoods013 said:

So, I'm still relatively new to anything involving actually building computers and the like, but I'm looking for some tips (preferably in lamen's terms) on how to build and set up a network that I can edit on?

Are you using adobe premiere?

[tbroadwater2010]

Just now, wtwoods013 said:

So, I'm still relatively new to anything involving actually building computers and the like, but I'm looking for some tips (preferably in lamen's terms) on how to build and set up a network that I can edit on?

Welcome to the Forum!

 

First off you will be doing most of your editing on a PC, so that PC will have to be a beast machine (like 4 to 8 cores, 16gb RAM minimum, a good graphics card). And then a server that has a good amount of speed to the network cards.

 

Basically, in lamens terms, you will need a great PC to edit on (if your looking for speed for rendering and stuff), a fast network (gigabit at least, more if you can), and a server that supports RAID.

 

This is a typical (more high end) solution to editing on a network. Naturally there are many solutions, which include no server and RAID on the PC itself. It depends on what your willing to put into the build and how accessible you want your data, as well as how safe. You can do all the above on a single PC with no issue. Or you can set it up on a server so you can access it any time, and have good RAID redundancy.

[Enderman]

How much money are you planning to spend?

is this your daily job?

[Blucyrik]

If you're using Adobe Premiere there's a very simple way you can go about this: Network Rendering.

 

Basically Adobe Premiere can transfer the rendering workload over multiple systems to process the final video faster. You can google some tutorials on how to set it up (it's not really that hard to set up fortunately  )

 

As for a system in network rendering... Your best option is probably with some large high-core-count Xeon CPUs, as video rendering is primarily CPU-bound. You can pick up some cheap 8 core Xeon E5-2670's on Ebay for REALLY cheap (with a used X79 Chipset motherboard), and you can build the system from there to your own liking. Hope this helps!

[wtwoods013]

I currently have two PCs that both my business  partner and I use actively to edit on, but we were looking for more space to store things. 

Here are the specs

 

PC 1

 

Processor	Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-5820K CPU @ 3.30GHz
Manufacturer	Intel
Speed	3.5 GHz
Number of Cores	6
CPU ID	BFEBFBFF000306F2
Family	06
Model	3F
Stepping	2
Revision

Video Card	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti
Manufacturer	NVIDIA
Chipset	GeForce GTX 980 Ti
Dedicated Memory	6144 MB
Total Memory	6144 MB
Pixel Shader Version	5.1
Vertex Shader Version	5.1
Hardware T & L	Yes
Vendor ID	10DE
Device ID	17C8
Plug and Play ID	VEN_10DE&DEV_17C8&SUBSYS_11511028&REV_A1
Driver Version	10.18.13.6143

Memory

32 GB

Operating System	Microsoft Windows 8.1 (build 9600), 64-bit
Service Pack	0
Size	64 Bit
Edition
Version	6.3.9600
Locale	0409

BIOS
Version	Alienware A03
Manufacturer
Date

Display Maximum Resolution

1920 x 1080

Sound Device 1	Sound Blaster Recon3Di
Driver Version	6.0.101.1027

Sound Device 2	NVIDIA High Definition Audio
Driver Version	1.3.34.4

Sound Device 3	Avid Fast Track Duo
Driver Version	6.3.9600.16490

Sound Device 4	NVIDIA Virtual Audio Device (Wave Extensible) (WDM)
Driver Version

Sound Device 5	HD Webcam C615
Driver Version	13.80.853.0

Sound Device 6	XSplit Stream Audio Renderer
Driver Version

DVD	HL-DT-ST DVD+-RW GS40N

CD	HL-DT-ST DVD+-RW GS40N

Drive 1
Size	1.8 TB
Free	694.6 GB

Drive 2
Size	931.5 GB
Free	533.2 GB

Drive 3
Size	117.9 GB
Free	103.6 GB

Browsers
Internet Explorer	11.0.9600.18161
Chrome	48.0.2564.109
Firefox
Safari

Software
Java
Flash	20.0.0.272
DirectX	11.0
.NET	3.5.30729.4926
QuickTime
Adobe PDF Reader

[wtwoods013]

And this is PC 2

 

Processor	Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4790 CPU @ 3.60GHz
Manufacturer	Intel
Speed	3.6 GHz
Number of Cores	4
CPU ID	BFEBFBFF000306C3
Family	06
Model	3C
Stepping	3
Revision

Video Card	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970
Manufacturer	NVIDIA
Chipset	GeForce GTX 970
Dedicated Memory	4096 MB
Total Memory	4.0 GB
Pixel Shader Version	5.1
Vertex Shader Version	5.1
Hardware T & L	Yes
Vendor ID	10DE
Device ID	13C2
Plug and Play ID	VEN_10DE&DEV_13C2&SUBSYS_39793842&REV_A1
Driver Version	10.18.13.5887

Memory

8.0 GB

Operating System	Microsoft Windows 10 (build 10586), 64-bit
Service Pack	0
Size	64 Bit
Edition
Version	10.0.10586
Locale	0409

BIOS
Version	American Megatrends Inc. F1
Manufacturer
Date

Display Maximum Resolution

1920 x 1080

Sound Device 1	High Definition Audio Device
Driver Version	10.0.10586.0

Sound Device 2	NVIDIA Virtual Audio Device (Wave Extensible) (WDM)
Driver Version	1.2.34.0

Sound Device 3	NVIDIA High Definition Audio
Driver Version	1.3.34.4

DVD	HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GH24NSC0

CD	HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GH24NSC0

Drive 1
Size	931.5 GB
Free	671.7 GB

Drive 2
Size	930.1 GB
Free	195.3 GB

Browsers
Internet Explorer	11.63.10586.0
Chrome	48.0.2564.109
Firefox
Safari

Software
Java
Flash	18.0.0.203
DirectX	11.0
.NET	3.5.30729.4926
QuickTime
Adobe PDF Reader

[wtwoods013]

Oh. On PC 1 I have an SSD, but I've no idea what an SSD does or how to even use it. Like I said, I'm extremely new, so I greatly appreciate any help you guys are offering!

 

I'm more curious if it's worth it to build a server to store a bunch of data on or if I should just use the local network and add hard drives to my PC's

 

And I'm currently using all of Adobe's CC

[Blucyrik]

2 hours ago, wtwoods013 said:

Oh. On PC 1 I have an SSD, but I've no idea what an SSD does or how to even use it. Like I said, I'm extremely new, so I greatly appreciate any help you guys are offering!

 

I'm more curious if it's worth it to build a server to store a bunch of data on or if I should just use the local network and add hard drives to my PC's

 

And I'm currently using all of Adobe's CC

Quite honestly, I think just adding a bunch of new hard drives to the new system would be more cost-effective and more practical in your case. Since you already have 2 systems up and running, you could still utilize the network rendering feature Adobe has in their CC suite when one of the systems isn't being used.

 

Oh and an SSD is basically a that uses flash storage (like a USB thumb drive) and is MUCH faster.  

[wtwoods013]

So I just do research on how to network render and add some storage in?

 

Im more curious as to why I can't access my SSD in any way, though. It's got my OS on it but I can't locate it to put anything on it

[brwainer]

43 minutes ago, wtwoods013 said:

So I just do research on how to network render and add some storage in?

 

Im more curious as to why I can't access my SSD in any way, though. It's got my OS on it but I can't locate it to put anything on it

If you're OS is on it, it's usually your C drive. you can also identify it based on size - say you have a 512GB SSD and a 2TB hard drive... you'd be able to tell pretty easily which is which. The only other possibility I can think of is that your SSD and HDD might have gotten "merged" using Intel Rapid Storage Technology, which uses your SSD as a cache for your HDD, making the HDD appear to be as fast as an SSD (or close to it).

 

Based on the drive sizes, I would guess your SSD is that "Drive 3" in the PC1 specs. It says you've only used 15GB, which is pretty low for it to be your boot drive.

 

If you can't see your SSD as a drive letter, try to launch "Rapid Storage Technology" if it's installed on your computer and look around in there. Failing that, the next place to check is Disk Management.