nership put it this way, “The safe, cheap, simple storage and retrieval of file-based video assets is the single greatest need of any producer heading into the tapeless future.”1 A storage platform must deliver some basic requirements if it is to meet the needs of digital broadcast workflows. First, the storage platform should be file-based. Production teams generate content in files and post teams and editors work with files, but paradoxically many IT-oriented storage providers sell block storage (a proverbial round peg in a square hole problem). high PeRfoRmanCe foR mixed WoRkloads

Storage solutions for digital broadcast need to deliver the best available performance and the flexibility to add capacity as needs grow. Beware of products where perfor-mance slows down as capacity is added. The best solution will scale both perfor-mance and capacity linearly. Scaling perfor-mance means being able to offer the same fast delivery of files (in raw, in post, or in distribution) regardless of whether thou-sands of files are in active use or just a few dozen and whether the files are enormous terabyte-size monsters or small but equally important metadata files.

Metadata for digital assets is one of the new concepts emerging with tapeless work-flows. Metadata is typically used to mark up and describe video footage so that the right content can be easily found, especially important in a large archive. Relative to video files, metadata files tend to be small and put additional demands on the storage solution. This makes hybrid SSD/SATA-based systems a good choice if the SSD storage can be used to speed small file access. Reliability

The right storage solution will have a reli-ably effective method of protecting digital content. Avoid storage arrays based on legacy hardware RAID designs as these protect data at the block level and tend to be slow and risky in the event of a hard drive failure. Instead, look for more sophis-ticated content and asset protection.

The optimal storage solution should also be capable of “banking” completed and catalogued programs, serving as an archive of footage available for reuse and content for sale. Storing older, less frequently used material is commonly referred to as “disk archiving” in the IT world and it requires the storage solu-tion to scale capacity to terabytes or even petabytes. A storage solution that is easy to manage should also be a requirement. A simple, intuitive management interface means no wasted time setting up, tuning, or fixing the foundation of the workflow. Finally, the ideal storage platform will be a springboard for fast content delivery.

AccelerAting DigitAl WorkfloWs for MeDiA AnD entertAinMent

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P o s t P r o d u c t i o n P r o c e s s i n g | V i d e o / c g i / 3 d e f f e c t s | n o n - l i n e a r e d i t i n g | r e n d e r f a r m r e a d y

1.888.PANASAS | www.panasas.com

the Changing faCe of media

The modern world of Media and Enter-tainment is rapidly moving to tapeless digital workflows. Unlocking creativity, im-proving production quality, obtaining bet-ter control of digital assets, and surpassing viewer expectations without attendant cost increases are some of the reasons for that move. HD and 3D are now required capabilities along with delivering content in DVD and mobile formats.

Many variables must be considered care-fully to optimize a tapeless digital workflow in order to leverage the best possible imple-mentation. But after the production plan-ning and the workflow design are done, after the cameras and codecs and edit tools have been selected, after the workflow is documented, and after file naming and metadata conventions have been deter-mined, what then? Choosing the Right stoRage

One of the most important decisions left to make is choosing the right storage plat-form. The right platform will set the stage for fast, efficient delivery of high quality programming. The Digital Production Part-

extreme Performance with ssd/sata tier Lightning-fast response time and paral-lel access for massive throughput. High-speed SSDs for fast access to metadata and small files and high capacity SATA for large file performance.

scalability System scales to 8PB and 150GB/s, or 1.4M IOPS of aggregate perfor-mance, accessed by as many as 12,000 clients. Performance scales near-linearly with capacity.

easy management Single point of management via GUI or CLI. Capacity expansion without downtime. System set up in under ten minutes.

Unsurpassed data Protection Object RAID delivers high reliability and the fastest RAID rebuilds available.

Compelling tCo Outstanding price/performance, invest-ment protection, utilization rates and simplified management.

solUtion highlights

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© 2013 Panasas, Inc. All rights reserved. Panasas, the Panasas logo, ActiveStor, PanFS and DirectFlow are trademarks or registered trademarks of Panasas, Inc., in the U.S.

and/or other countries. All other trademarks, registered trademarks, trade names, company names and service marks are the respective properties of their holders.

Panasas Parallel file system

The integrated PanFS parallel file system delivers performance by spreading I/O across all of the available resources, and when new storage is added, PanFS auto-matically distributes the workload over the new, larger pool. In this way ActiveStor is able to easily grow both performance and capacity linearly as requirements dictate.

data Protection

Asset protection is at the heart of PanFS, safeguarding files with object RAID where files are stored as objects, distributed across all of the hardware elements. PanFS uses multiple techniques to avoid the per-formance degradation and risk to content in the event of a component failure.

content distribution

Combine the ActiveStor platform with Panasas content distribution software to accelerate secure file transfers. The tech-nology is capable of fully using all avail-able bandwidth on local or long distance networks or between two local storage units. no more removable hard drives. no more couriers.

Panasas ActiveStor is a file-based, high performance, scale-out nAS solution that optimally supports tape-less digital workflows. ActiveStor 14 intelligently combines high performance Solid State Drives (SSDs) and cost-effective hard disk storage to deliver a solu-tion that is fully optimized for the mixed workloads so often found in media and entertainment. It provides high streaming throughput for large files and high performance for small files, critical to a smooth and efficient workflow. ActiveStor is equally strong in ease of use and management, with initial installs and online scaling of capacity and performance taking under 10 minutes.

PAnAsAs ActiVestorTHE WORLD’S FA S TE S T HP C S TOR AGE S YS TEM

1 The Reluctant Revolution, Breaking Down the Barriers to Digital Production in Television: A report for the Digital Production Partnership by Mediasmiths International, page 5. Taken from http://www.digitalproductionpartnership.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/DPP_Bloodless_Revolution.pdf on 3 March, 2013

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