Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1334761
STORAGE www.postmagazine.com 26 POST JAN/FEB 2021 edia and entertainment compa- nies derive significant recurring revenue through old content. From tradi- tional television syndication to YouTube uploads, this content can be distribut- ed and monetized in several different ways. Many M&E companies, particularly broadcasters, store their content in de- cades-old LTO tape libraries. With years of material, including thousands of epi- sodes and millions of digital assets, these tape libraries can grow so large that they become unmanageable. Deployments can easily reach several petabytes of data and may sprawl across multiple floors in a broadcaster's media storage facility. Searching these massive libraries and retrieving specific content can be a cumbersome, time-consuming task –like trying to find a needle in a haystack. Object storage provides a far simpler, more efficient and cost-effective way for broadcasters to manage their old video content. With limitless scalability, object storage can easily grow to support peta- bytes of data without occupying a large physical footprint. Moreover, the technol- ogy supports rich, customizable metada- ta, making it easier and quicker to search and retrieve content. Organizations can use a Google-like search tool to imme- diately retrieve assets, ensuring that they have access to all existing content, no matter how old or obscure, and can readily monetize that content. Here's a deeper look at how the two formats compare in searchability, data access, scalability and management. SEARCHABILITY AND DATA ACCESS LTO tape was created to store static data for the long haul. Accessing, locating and retrieving this data was always an afterthought. In the most efficient tape libraries today, staff may be able to find a piece of media within a couple of minutes. But even in this scenario, if there were multiple jobs queued up first in the library, finding that asset could take hours. And this is assuming that the tape that contains the asset is stored in the library and in good condition (i.e., it can be read and doesn't suffer from a jam). This also assumes the staff has the proper records to even find the asset. Because of the limitations of the format, LTO tape files do not support detailed metadata. This means that organizations can only search for assets using basic file attributes, such as date created or title. It's impossible to conduct any sort of an ad hoc search. If a system's data index doesn't contain the file attributes that a user is looking for, the only option is to look manually, an untenable task for most M&E organizations that have mas- sive content libraries. This won't change in the future, as tape cannot support advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to improve searchability. On the other hand, object storage makes it possible to immediately search and access assets. The architecture supports fully-customizable metadata, allowing staff to attach any attributes they want to any asset, no matter how specific. For example, a news broadcast could have metadata identifying the anchors or describing the type of stories covered. When trying to find an asset, a user can search for any of those attri- butes and rapidly retrieve it. This makes it much easier to find old or existing con- tent and use it for new monetization op- portunities, driving much greater return on investment (ROI) from that content. This value will only increase as AI and ML, which are both fully supported in object storage systems, provide new ways to analyze and leverage data (e.g., facial recognition, speech recognition and action analysis), increasing opportunities BY DAVID PHILLIPS PRINCIPAL ARCHITECT, M&E SOLUTIONS CLOUDIAN SAN MATEO, CA HTTPS://CLOUDIAN.COM OBJECT STORAGE M SNS'S CLOUD VPN SERVICE ENABLES REMOTE WORKFLOWS MARYLAND HEIGHTS, MO — Studio Network Solutions' (www.studionetwork- solutions.com) Cloud VPN service for EVO users is a fast, convenient and secure way to gain remote access to the company's EVO shared storage server from anywhere with an internet connection. The cloud-hosted virtual private network (VPN) is purpose-built for the company's EVO shared storage servers and acts as a tunnel through the inter- net, providing a secure, encrypted connection to the private network where a customer's EVO lives. Whether a user is connected to a public wi-fi hotspot, working remotely on a weekend or editing from home full-time, they simply need to authenticate to their SNS VPN service from any internet connection and then instantly and securely access the EVO server from anywhere in the world. Users can access EVO's entire suite of workflow tools when connected to the media server remotely. Remote access to the ShareBrowser media asset manager lets the team search, tag, comment and preview EVO's media files from anywhere. They can also automate backups and file transfers remotely with Slingshot, EVO's automations engine and API. Editors can also retrieve their auto-generated proxy files for a simple remote editing workflow with Nomad, EVO's remote editing utility. All of these software tools are included free with EVO and are accessible remotely when connected via SNS VPN. As a cloud-hosted solution, there is no additional hardware for a studio to deploy. To get started with a subscription, the SNS support team will install a small plug-in app onto the customer's EVO through a scheduled remote session. The process normally takes less than an hour. From there, the SNS VPN cloud service can be managed by an administrator through a user-friend- ly dashboard. For freelance team members, the administrator can add and remove users' remote privileges in realtime or on an automated schedule. BETTER MONETIZING CONTENT BY TRANSITIONING FROM TAPE