Centralizing project files...

[purpleduck]

Am I correct to assume that it's NOT a good idea to directly edit project files (Ableton sets but also Photoshop and Illustrator files) from this Firewire hard drive that has no cooling whatsoever, gets very hot when used and has 6 years of life?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/LaCie-Little-De ... B001P5C9SA

if I want an external drive to edit files from, do I have to forget a bus powered one as I have found no bus powered one that has proper cooling? Do I have to go with a power supplied one?

I have tested Gigabit Ethernet and it seems to me to go slower than Firewire (by the way, I have Thunderbolt only on one of the two computers so I'm going with Firewire). I am looking for a way to access a centralized project from both of my computers, without having to move files back and forth. I was hoping to get a NAS or connect to the main computer via Ethernet and work on files this way. But using a Cat5 cable, the Firewire drive won. So I suppose Ethernet is slower than Firewire and not good to edit files?

Aside from an external drive, do I have other options to avoid transfering files back and forth and directly edit them from a single source on two computers (one at a time)? Of course I don't have the money to set up a SAN network, which seemed to be the most pro solution. Do I have to forget Ethernet and network? I was hoping to not have to bring a drive + power supply to bring around, but I guess that's not too bad and better than uploading files on Dropbox considering my internet connection is pretty slow. I've heard Dropbox and such can be used over local LAN network as well, maybe then the sync would be fast enough to not have to bother with an external drive. But again, a simple Ethernet transfer I tested between my two computers was slower than Firewire.

What would you do to centralize data in my case? Should I go with the properly cooled external hard drive to use with both my computers, or use Dropbox or similar service over LAN? How to avoid transfer data back and forth? I have read a bit on networks and SAN and am a bit confused...too many options. I have restricted them to external hard drive and sharing service over local network, which I hoped would be fast enough for editing files, but it does not seem to be.

[Pasha]

Am I correct to assume that it's NOT a good idea to directly edit project files (Ableton sets but also Photoshop and Illustrator files) from this Firewire hard drive that has no cooling whatsoever, gets very hot when used and has 6 years of life?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/LaCie-Little-De ... B001P5C9SA

if I want an external drive to edit files from, do I have to forget a bus powered one as I have found no bus powered one that has proper cooling? Do I have to go with a power supplied one?

I have tested Gigabit Ethernet and it seems to me to go slower than Firewire (by the way, I have Thunderbolt only on one of the two computers so I'm going with Firewire). I am looking for a way to access a centralized project from both of my computers, without having to move files back and forth. I was hoping to get a NAS or connect to the main computer via Ethernet and work on files this way. But using a Cat5 cable, the Firewire drive won. So I suppose Ethernet is slower than Firewire and not good to edit files?

Aside from an external drive, do I have other options to avoid transfering files back and forth and directly edit them from a single source on two computers (one at a time)? Of course I don't have the money to set up a SAN network, which seemed to be the most pro solution. Do I have to forget Ethernet and network? I was hoping to not have to bring a drive + power supply to bring around, but I guess that's not too bad and better than uploading files on Dropbox considering my internet connection is pretty slow. I've heard Dropbox and such can be used over local LAN network as well, maybe then the sync would be fast enough to not have to bother with an external drive. But again, a simple Ethernet transfer I tested between my two computers was slower than Firewire.

What would you do to centralize data in my case? Should I go with the properly cooled external hard drive to use with both my computers, or use Dropbox or similar service over LAN? How to avoid transfer data back and forth? I have read a bit on networks and SAN and am a bit confused...too many options. I have restricted them to external hard drive and sharing service over local network, which I hoped would be fast enough for editing files, but it does not seem to be.

I have the previous version with FW800 and USB 2.0 and it runs ok.
Today with more speed and connection options: http://www.g-technology.com/products/g- ... hard-drive

Best
Pasha