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Storage Supplement 2017

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10 STORAGE SOLUTIONS MARCH 2017 STORAGE SOLUTIONS IBM), Google Media Services, DataDirect Networks, Dell/EMC, Fujifilm, Imagine Communications, Oracle, NetApp, Quantum, SAN Solutions, Scality, Signiant and Zadara (to name only a few). Amazon and Google are both vying to provide cloud storage for the media and entertainment in- dustry. Last year at NAB, Avere Systems teamed with Google to deliver data processing and storage in the cloud. In addition to various tiers of cloud-based storage, Google also offers its Zync render platform for content creators. Amazon Web Services has its own rendering service. Amazon has been used by media and entertainment professionals for several years for digital storage and other services. Many companies use hyperscale data center storage as part of their offerings or private or hybrid cloud-based architectures, including the big storage vendors, as well as companies such as Zadera, Edit- Share, Facilis and Xendata. EditShare announced that its AirFlow editing utilizes on-premise storage al- ready used for high-bandwidth workflows to provide secure access to media from anywhere in the world with a basic Internet connection. At the 2016 NAB Show, EMC, Pixspan, Aspera and Nvidia demonstrated bringing uncompressed 4K workflows to IP-based IT infrastructures, advancing digital media workflows with full-resolution content over standard 10GbE networks. Because Internet accessible stored content (private or public cloud storage) has higher latency than either local (direct attached) or local network storage, we project minor contribution from cloud storage to true post production operational storage (although not in the role of supporting storage to enable collaborative workflows) for the next few years. Note that local (in facility) storage is generally either block or file based, although object storage is becoming more popular, particularly for long-term data retention. THE GROWTH OF CLOUD STORAGE IN MEDIA AND ENTERTAINMENT Figure 2 plots the projected annual demand in total storage capacity for post, including NLE, breaking out direct attached, network attached post storage capacity and cloud storage capacity to 2021. The in- credible growth in storage is driven by work on 4K and 8K higher-dynamic range content, as well as expected growth in 360-degree video for augmented reality and virtual reality experiences. Also, with decreasing costs for cameras, content creators are using more cameras at once so they can pick and choose what content they want to use. All of this content requires storage to capture and edit and then to store the resulting content for delivery and future use. The majority of the cloud storage used in NLE is used to support collaborative workflows as well as storage for specialized operations performed in the cloud, such as rendering, transcoding, etc. However, once content is in the cloud, it is easier to continue to operate in the cloud. This is often a great way to lock in customers for multiple services, but there are companies who are looking to provide cloud storage that is tied to but independent of the large Internet services providers and may use equipment in data centers owned by the customer. With the growth of Internet-based content distri- bution, much finished content eventually ends up in the cloud where it can be transcoded and sent out over Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) or other distribution technologies to customers. Storing and delivering content across the Internet is one of the biggest uses of cloud-based storage. Companies such as Encoding.com and Content- Bridge offer transcoding services for the 300 or more distribution formats now in use. Companies such as Aspera, Signiant and BitSpeed provide ser- vices to accelerate Internet content delivery. Other companies, such as Pixspan, offer greater than 50 percent loss-less compression technolo- gies to reduce the total bandwidth requirement to transport content. Some companies, such as Harris, use the RDMA technology originally developed for Infiniband for high-speed Internet transport. Com- panies like Imagine Communication have provided global programming playout, delivery and network operations with an IP cloud architecture One of the biggest applications for cloud storage is to provide a digital library of content as well as an active archive. Because of the variable latency re- quirements in cloud applications, every type of digital storage technology can be used, from flash memory, to hard disk drives to magnetic tape and even optical discs. The choice for the storage media depends on trade-offs between performance and cost. Com- panies such as Fujifilm offer services like magnetic, tape-based cloud storage in their Dternity offerings. Although larger studios and other content owners usually keep their own content archives, there are efforts underway to enable very long-term data Figure 2

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