Category Archives: Edge Storage and Archiving

If a few bits disappear, the oil company has to take tons of equipment back to the source and measure the sub-terrain again. The same production and post…except you ain't gonna get Clark Gable back to the shoot again.

LTO-5 Basics

 

LTO 5 Evolution Chart

Questions remain about usability for small and medium sized businesses who wish to maintain their own back-up systems. Maintaining a library of tapes doesn’t have the same drag and drop ease as hard-disks. It is absolutely mandatory, for example, that the tapes must not be allowed to just sit on the shelf for long lengths of time, but rather must be run through the hardware on a regular basis (which also has the advantage of finding repairable errors.) On the other hand, 1 x 1017 error rates are enticing.

Researchers are developing systems to assist with making tape an easy part of the workflow: The Linear Tape File System (LTFS). LTFS is available to LTO-5 because if its new method of streaming data to the tape in a manner that allows partitioning. This is an evolving issue that should be monitored, or better yet, brought up in industry association meetings to share experiences and problems. See: LTO-5 and LTFS: Shaking the Pillars of Heaven

This is a good place to also mention the Pergamum project, which attempts to build an archive system from low-cost drives. They have exhibited at the last 2 NAB conventions. UCSC computer scientists develop solutions for long-term storage of digital data – UC Santa Cruz

Previous articles on the subject of Archiving:

IEEE (MSST2010) Symposium on Massive Storage Systems Papers Available

IVC/Point.360 Archive Development

Editshare Storage At IBC

Attached are some basic white papers and datasheets.

IVC/Point.360 Archive Development

FilmLight announced at IBC 2010 that they will serve as the distributor of the process (given their relationship with Aaton) outside the US.

The next public presentation will be at the ACVL (Association of Cinema & Video Laboratories) of the Library of Congress on 8 October 2010, and at the SMPTE Annual Technical Conference and Expro on 26 October 2010.

 

See the White Paper (attached) and a few of the sample .jpeg and .dpx files. More are available by writing the author.

Two .dpx files can be downloaded at:

4K_Visionary_ColorCorrected.dpx

4K_Visionary_noColorCorrection.dpx

You will also notice a zip file of JPEG shots can be downloaded in addition to the White Paper.

Editshare Storage At IBC

“Ark 2.0’s tight integration with Flow creates a unique and powerful media asset protection environment at your fingertips. As you backup or archive clips, they are added automatically to the Flow database and proxy files are generated during backup if they don’t already exist. Now searching for and previewing archived or backed-up clips through the Flow Browse front end is as simple as ever. When you find what you’re looking for based on proxy files, you can start organizing clips into a sequence and then just drag them into a Restore Job. Within minutes, the full-resolution clips appear in the designated EditShare Media Space,” says Andy Liebman, Founder and CEO, EditShare. “Ark 2.0 has the intelligence to grow and expand as customers’ storage and workflow needs change. If your main storage system fails, you can activate Ark Disk 2.0, which then becomes a temporary, full-blown EditShare storage system. We are thrilled to ship Ark 2.0 at IBC 2010 and to present this remarkable asset protection system to the European market.”  

 

When combined with EditShare’s ingest, playout, storage, and asset-management products, Ark 2.0 provides the backup and archiving component of a seamless set of workflow tools that can meet the needs of virtually any broadcast, entertainment, or post-production environment. 

NEW Highlights of Ark 2.0 – Protecting Your Media Assets

• Integration with Flow for Complete Backup – Integration between Ark and Flow ensures that all archived clips now have a record in the Flow database prior to being copied to Ark. Flow scans all clips to ensure that proxy files have been created. Ark updates the Flow database to keep a record of exactly where each archived clip is located. Flow users then can search and browse all clips stored on Ark. 

• Integration with Flow for Complete Restoration of Files – Having a record in the Flow database of all archived or backed-up clips makes restoring files from Ark easier than ever. It is now possible to search or browse for clips even though high‐resolution versions are “offline” and stored only on Ark. Through Flow Browse, users can play low‐resolution proxy versions, incorporate them into sequences, and then restore the desired high‐resolution versions to any EditShare Media Space. From within Flow Browse, authorized editors can set up Restore jobs to occur instantly or at a later, scheduled time. 

• Support for Multi‐Drive Tape Libraries – Ark 2.0 supports a wide range of tape autoloaders and tape libraries that use standard LTO-4 and LTO-5 tapes. Autoloaders and libraries with multiple tape drives now can be used. 

• Activation Feature for Ark Disk – A new activation feature allows customers to utilize their Ark Disk system as a rapid failover if one of their main storage systems fails. An Ark Disk system can be used as a substitute EditShare storage system until the main system is back up and running again.  

• Improved Tape Management – The new Ark user interface graphically shows which tapes currently are loaded into a Tape Library and in exactly which slot they can be found. 

Core EditShare Ark Benefits:

• Media Asset Tracking – Archive media, bins, and sequences with metadata intact, ensuring quick searches for online and near‐line archives.

• Multi‐format Support – Backup or archive P2, XDCAM, and other file‐based media.

• Automated and Manual Backups – Schedule backups to occur in the background or during off‐peak times.

• Turn into EditShare – In the event of a main storage system failure, Ark Disk can be activated into a high‐functioning EditShare Storage Series system.

• Selected File Restore – Browse backed-up and archived clips in Flow Browse, preview their proxy files, and then restore only the high‐resolution clips you need.

EditShare will be exhibiting the new Ark solutions at the 2010 IBC Exhibition on stand 7.E20. A press briefing will be held at the booth on Sunday, September 12th, from 16:00 to 16:30.

IEEE Symposium on Massive Storage Systems Papers Available

The recently completed 26th IEEE (MSST2010) Symposium on Massive Storage Systems and Technologies Conference has made the papers available.

Anyone interested in storage can benefit from one or more of these. [Your editor’s favorite is a proposed Linear Tape File System. Wouldn’t it be great to have an open standard in the LTO5 mechanics space, with attached RAIDs?]

See the site: 

 

26th IEEE (MSST2010) Symposium on Massive Storage Systems and Technologies

Presentations and Papers