Do i or dont i ?

Ok so as you already know i own a Mac Pro 1,1 with Quad Core 2.66GHz Xeon 5355 Processor.
Nice but for my needs will it take me to where i want to be ?

As you may already know is my reason to own a Mac Pro is purely for a iTunes Server for my Apple TV 3rd Gen around the home.

Problem I'm having and I'm not sure is this i own 4 x 1TB Drives Great no problem. But my on going problem is the RAID card finding an original and a realistic price but everyone is selling at stupid prices £300 + , So this is where i think do i sell my Mac Pro 1,1 and buy a slightly newer model like a 4,1 2008/09 Model.

As i can see if i buy a raid card for this great vintage I'm spending money on old hat or am i ?

Is this the way forward for me so i can join all 4 Drives and make Raid 5 Drive set or should i sell the Mac Pro 1,1 ?

Other Question is if i should sell could i remove the drives 1,2,3 and 4 and put them straight in to a Mac Pro 4,1 then if i wanted upgrade to Maverick 10.9 would it work where at the Moment its stuck a OSX Lion

Your thoughts are always appreciated

Adam (SimplyMac2013)

SimplyMac2013 said:

As you may already know is my reason to own a Mac Pro is purely for a iTunes Server for my Apple TV 3rd Gen around the home.

Click to expand...

Is there any reason that you need that much horsepower for a simple iTunes server? It seems like a much simpler and manageable solution would be a Mac Mini with externals or a non-Apple PC using either iTunes or a third party solution.

HI Vansmith,

I know where your coming from on this but i have been down the PC Route and they are so rubbish and hard work actually thats why i bought the Mac Pro1,1 really for reliability and love mac.

So do you think its a good idea to invest in a Apple Raid Card? for what i want ?

SimplyMac2013 said:

Ok so as you already know i own a Mac Pro 1,1 with Quad Core 2.66GHz Xeon 5355 Processor.
Nice but for my needs will it take me to where i want to be ?

Click to expand...

Actually (from what I remember)...it's an upgraded 8-core 2.66mhz (2 x quad-core) Mac Pro 1,1.

FYI...I'm pretty darn sure iTunes is not written to take advantage of 8-cores. So an 8-core Mac Pro is WAYYYY over-kill for an iTunes server.

- Nick

It helps with the ripping of my DVD's for the iTunes library cuts times by half than the Dual Core

SimplyMac2013 said:

It helps with the ripping of my DVD's for the iTunes library cuts times by half than the Dual Core

Click to expand...

You are absolutely correct. When you mentioned "iTunes Server"...I was only thinking of music.

- Nick

I use a second generation Drobo over FW800 as a form of RAID storage and do simple video and audio transcoding and a bit of photo work on it from my iMac 21.5". The Drobo devices are a separate conversation, which many of the more technically proficient members of this forum might hate, but it works absolutely brilliantly for me. The I/O of my devices aren't as wicked-fast as the USB 3.0 or Thunderbolt of the newer machines or external storage arrays, but for my limited uses, it works perfectly fine.

In this respect, I would combine my answer with some of the others:

1. Save the money on an Apple RAID card, get a Drobo or other external RAID device, pop your HDDs in that.
2. Ensure a larger HDD to periodically back it up to. For example I have three 2TB drives in my Drobo and I backup the data monthly to a 3TB drive I keep offsite.
3. Buy a Mac mini with USB 3.0/ Thunderbolt, and run it through that. I imagine these current Mac minis probably benchmark quite well compared to a Mac Pro 1,1.

My solution works well for me, but it isn't my livelihood, just a hobby, so it certainly isn't the best setup or bulletproof, but the compromise works for me! Hope you find what you're looking for!

Only for an iTunes server - agree with 613.

I use a home built Win box that runs 24/7 and an external hardware RAID connected via eSATA to the box. If I were to use OS X (which ain't happ'nin' for an iTunes server), it would def be with external hardware RAID via thunderbolt.