Hi all,

We're looking into the possibility of an FTP/temporary backup server for the studio and I was wondering if anyone might be able to help with a query.

As all our recording rigs are Mac-based, it has been suggested that we should go for an X-Serve system for the backup/FTP server (although NOT the X-Serve RAID as they have no RAID-controller redundancy so if u lose a single RAID controller you WILL lose up to 7 drives-worth of data) however personally I'm inclined to lean towards a Microsoft server because you get better value for money.

The only thing that's making me hesitate is that I know with Microsoft-based computers, there are certain characters that can't be used in filenames, such as question marks, exclamation marks etc. whereas you CAN use these characters on Macs.

Potentially that means that if someone creates a file on one of the recording rigs that has one of these "illegal" characters, the file either won't be recognised or might possibly be renamed if put on the server.

Does anyone have any info about this?

I'd like to know what kind of servers get used in other studios, particularly in the USA (as they generally seem to be a step ahead of our studios in the UK for most things technological) and whether or not this is an issue.

Do people just not use those characters when naming files, or does everyone use X-serves?

...or is there a piece of software that will allow illegal characters to be used on a Microsoft-based system?

Any help/info would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance,

Phil
Techy
Olympic Studios