Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/426320
n o v e m b e r . d e c e m b e r 2 0 1 4 c g w 2 3 Ethernet LAN at each of its two offi ces in the UK (Soho and Brixton) along with a dedicated 1 gb line connecting the 30 km between the two. And the company chose Exponential-e's Layer 2 low-latency network to deliver round-trip response times fast enough that users can't tell their computer is not at their desk, but rather miles away in some backroom server. Cloud-hosted desktops can de- liver breakthroughs in effi ciency and workfl ows, but only with a network that can handle it. Hand-wave the details, and it will deliver creators an unusable experience they'll never forget. T O M O R R O W ' S O P T I M A L D M E C L O U D S O L U T I O N Despite the incredible advanc- es in productivity aff orded by the digital age, meaningful and effi cient collaboration in the digital media and enter- tainment industry remains a daunting challenge. More elab- orate workfl ows, mushrooming data size, and dynamic, global staffi ng have conspired to build roadblocks that waste time and money, pushing up bud- gets and sliding back comple- tion dates. Should the industry plod down the same, beaten IT path it has been on, that chal- lenge will only grow. The new paradigm that is DME creation needs new IT solutions, and the cloud represents several compelling ones. Workspaces and compute-acceleration in the cloud are here, and the alternative of hosting creators' machines in the cloud is coming on strong, now supported by a capable infrastructure of prod- ucts and technology. But the cloud continues to evolve, and the somewhat disparate models of today aren't likely to remain as distinct mov- ing forward. There's simply too much synergy in work spaces, computation, and creation in the cloud, and eventually all are likely to converge into one. Natural video will stream straight from cameras to the cloud, and creators will develop synthetic content in the cloud, and there will be no need to ever bring data back down. Conversely, there will be plenty of good reasons – terabytes worth, actually – to keep it all up there. Create CGI and impart visual eff ects without leaving it, leverage more capable and scalable compute and storage resources to speed workfl ows on the same size projects of the past, or use it to provide a feasible path to deal with the terabytes and eventual peta- bytes that will come with the inexorable growth in resolution (Is 4 k already passé?) and color precision. Stream natural video directly from cameras up to the cloud, eliminating much of the waiting in upload. In a way, the computing norm is coming full circle – from the mainframes and dumb terminals of years ago, to heavy-li ing workstations and PC clients on desks and laps, and now back to an- other centralized server-side approach in the form of private data centers and outsourced clouds. No, deskside work- stations are not going away anytime soon, and there will likely always be a use for ca- pable horsepower on the desk. But thanks to advancements in silicon and network infrastruc- ture, the digital media cloud is now ready for prime time. ¢ ILM CASE STUDY: GO TO EXTRAS IN THE NOVEMBER.DECEMBER 2014 ISSUE BOX C G W. C O M Alex Herrera, a longtime engineer and consultant in the areas of semi- conductors and computer graphics, is a senior analyst with Jon Peddie Research and regular columnist for Cadalyst magazine. He can be reached at alex@jonpeddie.com. TODAY'S DISCRETE CLOUD SOLUTIONS WILL INEVITABLY EVOLVE INTO ONE. THE NOT-TOO-DISTANT FUTURE? UPLOAD ONCE, CREATE IN THE CLOUD, AND STREAM THE FINAL PRODUCT.