Instruction manual

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KONA 3G Installation & Operating Guide — System Requirements
System Requirements
AJA Video recommends that your system meet minimum hardware and software requirements
to achieve a satisfactory level of performance when operating it. System requirements are
subject to change as new versions of operating systems, QuickTime, and workstations become
available. For the most up-to-date Minimum System Requirements see the AJA website at:
http://www.aja.com/support/kona/kona-system-configuration.php
Understanding Disk
Storage Methods
To ensure performance and quality, the disk storage system used with the MacPro or PC
computer must be able to meet the demands of the media.
For uncompressed SD, AJA recommends that at a minimum, the disk storage system must be
able to provide and maintain a consistent 50 MB/sec transfer rate from the computer to disk
(read/write). There are a variety of system configurations and peripherals that can provide this
level of performance.
For uncompressed single link HD, AJA recommends that at a minimum, the disk storage system
must be able to provide and maintain a consistent 200 MB/sec transfer rate from the computer
to disk (read/write). There are a variety of system configurations and peripherals that can
provide this level of performance.
For uncompressed dual link HD and 2K, AJA recommends that at a minimum, the disk storage
system must be able to provide and maintain in excess of 300 MB/sec transfer rate from the
computer to disk (read/write). There are a variety of system configurations and peripherals that
can provide this level of performance.
KONA 3G users wishing to configure a storage for a syste
m should also be aware that raw
benchmark numbers alone do not necessarily reflect the performance of a drive solution. Other
factors, like drive seek time and controller cache also affect performance especially with regard
to the bandwidth requirements of SD, HD, dual link HD and 2K files.
About RAIDs
Redundant Array of Independent Disks, or RAID, is a group of hard drives that appears to the
host computer as a single high-speed storage unit. RAID systems increase storage capacity and
provide the performance, reliability, and data protection needed for video production, that is
not be possible from a single hard drive. Drives inside the RAID array operate simultaneously,
increasing overall throughput. RAID configurations can be comprised of:
• Striping data across m ultiple drives for storage performance (RAID 0).
• Mirroring for redundancy (RAID 1).
• Parity for data protection (such as RAID 5).
Most RAID configurations, or RAID levels, combine these to provide a balance of protection and
performance.
Striping divides a drive into data blocks, or stripes, that are distributed across an array of
physical drives. Striping a set of disks improves performance because each drive operates
concurrently. However, striping alone, known as RAID level 0, offers no data protection.
Mirroring involves writing identical copies of all data to a pair of physical drives. This results in
very high data reliability: If one drive fails, the data is still available on the remaining disk drive.
However, it also results in a storage efficiency of only 50 percent, because two physical drives are
required to achieve a single drive's capacity. Mirroring alone is known as RAID level 1.
Parity provides data protection without requiring complete duplication of the drive contents. In
the event of a drive failure, parity information can be used with data on surviving drives to
reconstruct the contents of a failed drive. Parity data can be stored on a dedicated drive, as in
RAID 3, or distributed across an array of drives, as in RAID 5. Parity provides much greater
storage efficiency than mirroring-up to 85 percent for a set of seven drives.