Macbook Pro - Make the most of your I/O Options

Gents, I'm trying to get the %100 best setup possible out of my macbook pro 17'' with protools. I have the following questions, some of which I've found comment/threads on on this forum, but I'm trying to summerise it and get all the info lined up. (I'm trying to do this %100 official/supported by digidesign) 1.) Firewire 800 - my macbook pro has a firewire 800 socket, I've read that this is not supported by digidesign is this the case ? is running recording/sample disks on the firewire 800 port %100 not supported (I believe the 400/800 socket runs of the same bus, but I'm not sure. I can see how this would be a problem) 2.) 3/4 Express card socket. The Mcbook has a micro express card slot, I could put a firewire card in this socket. Is it recommended to do this for the disks or the the rack 003 I use ? 3.) I'm currently using 2 firewire 400 disks daisey chained together into the PC, then digidesign rack 003 is then hung off the 2 disks as suggested by digidesign. I'm considering putting another one or two disks onto this system for mirror backups which would potentially make 4 daisy chained disks before the rack 003, surly this is not the best possible solution as the more disks in the chain the greater the effort to move data around. If the above two solutions (1 and 2) are not supported advisable, what is the best way to put the 2 extra disks on the system for backups, I'm assuming using the firewire 800 port (if it's not on the same bus as the 400) or the 3/4 express card would be acceptable to host them, or failing that, just use the USB socket with a USB hub as performance isn't a big deal for backups, but it is a big deal if it effects real time system use when using pro-tools. thanks.

if you're looking to do it "by the book", go the express card route. then run the 003 into the hard drive(s) and then into the express card. you can use fw800 drives with the 003/002. you just cant use fw800 with an mbox2 pro. if you're using 2 more drives strictly for backup, i would just connect them when PT is off and you can just back them up with carbon copy. you could use USB strictly for backup when PT isn't running, but fw is much faster.

interesting input, and yes, I am looking to do this buy the book. I have a Rack 003 - so how would that work. Connect the disks on the FW800 and the Rack 003 on FW400 ? What about the express card, so I use that for the disks, then use the onboard firewire bus for the 003 ? what would be the best way to hook it up.

why not use the firewire port that's on the mac ? eg: I don't need a firewire card to do it that way, I was only thinking of getting a card if there was a benifit in splitting the disks and the rack 003. eg: disk 1 -> disk2 -> express firewire card rack 003 -> onboard macbook pro firewire bus as it stands I currently use disk 1 -> disk 2-> rack 003 -> macbook pro firewire port

it would be mega to get a comment from digidesign official support as I'm leaning on getting the disks, but I want to know exactly how many disks of which connector to get to get the best out of my pro-tools setup.

To get the most throughput, get the expresscard (I use the ) and connect your drives to that if they're FW400, or to the FW800 port on the Mac if they're FW800 drives, then connect your 003 to either the card or the FW400 port on the Mac, whichever isn't being used by the drives. So, again either: Drive to Expresscard and 003>FW400 port on Mac or Drives to FW800 port on Mac and 003 to Expresscard

great this is what I needed, so there is a benefit to splitting the disks and the 003 onto seperate firewire ports. I guess my real question now is to buy FW400 disks or FW800 disks for recording onto - are the FW800 disks supported as "recording disks" ? is there any benifit/negatives as to using the FW400 express card over the onboard FW800 port (keep in mind the onboard FW400 port is in use connected to the 003) Thanks, Matt

This is really the best solution possible, I have had no issues using the FW800 express card for the hard drive and the FW400 on your mac for the Digi-rack, at least you are not using the same Firewire buss on the mac, I am able to play drums live with no latency issues using BFD 2, with no error messages at all, and keep going for hours on end constantly loading new kits, and having no drop outs. Russ

so you would advocate using the on board FW400 port AND the express card, rather than the FW400 port and the FW800 port