The phenomenal growth of unstructured data continues to be a big concern for many in the information technology world. At StorageDNA, with our focus being on the media and entertainment industry, we are no strangers to huge amounts data. With the transition to digital workflows, our customers deal with the challenges of migrating massive volumes of content to file-based pipelines. The key issues media professionals face include how to take all of this digital content and protect it long-term, easily search it, find it and quickly bring it back when they need to access it. This is no small task.  

In looking for solutions, we find that Storage Area Networks (SANs) and disks arrays may offer short term solutions because they enable direct access to the data, however, in the long run these solutions prove to be very costly. In addition, hard drives are not designed to be put on a shelf as durable, reliable long-term storage. On the other hand, Linear Tape Open (LTO) tape media storage is very cost-effective and holds up long-term with a 25 year shelf-life, yet it does not enable the direct access to data. Neither is ideal.  

Enter Linear Tape File System (LTFS). This technology, sometimes called “Tape NAS”, has emerged as a new hybrid that combines the best features of LTO and the direct access benefits provided by disks.  Developed by the LTO consortium, LTFS is the first standard that defines a file system for tape. Much like disk-based systems, LTFS defines an open format for how it writes content to tape which gives it the power to unlock the power of LTO. We know firsthand the incredible power of using LTFS to capitalize on the benefits of direct disk-like access while providing a reliable and cost-effective workflow solution that is ideal for long-term archiving. As LTO with LTFS technology advances and accelerates, it will become a widespread storage solution for the film, video and broadcast industry.

Long-term Storage: Hard Drives vs. LTO Tape Media

Why is LTO tape media better than hard drives on a shelf?

In October at Broadcast India Show 2012, The Bridge unveiled their innovative on-set workflow powered by a Thunderbolt™ LTO LTFS solution for Anurag Kashyap’s upcoming feature film, The Lunchbox. The Bridge is using a MacBook Pro®-based LTO LTFS solution because it’s portable enough for shoots in difficult locations like streets and trains. Check out the photos to see the small size of their on-set field unit.

“Anurag’s company has produced and directed some remarkable films. Behind the scenes, they have struggled with backups and lost precious data due to hard disk drive failure,” explained Sidharth Meer, CEO of The Bridge. “We used the DNA Evolution Thunderbolt LTO LTFS field system to protect their assets for The Lunchbox, and to streamline their post production workflow.”

The high-resolution content for The Lunchbox will reside on LTO-5 tape versus HDD, giving The Bridge’s client peace of mind, and enabling storage cost savings. The Bridge has a unique, efficient, and complete LTO LTFS workflow from camera source media to the finishing process: the EDL/AAF from the editor in New York will be used to conform directly from LTO-5 tape, then the high-resolution content is sent to Paris for digital intermediate (DI).

http://www.the-bridge.in/#

In this brief video demo, learn how easy it is to archive camera masters, such as P2, XDCAM, and ProRes, with the DNA Evolution LTO-5 LTFS workflow solution.

The version 2.0 release of DNA Evolution™, LTO LTFS archive and retrieval workflow solutions, is shipping on June 30. DNA Evolution 2.0 will be available as a free upgrade for existing customers with a support contract.

In response to customer feedback, this release includes significant feature enhancements for improved media asset management, broadcast integration, digital camera masters and Thunderbolt™ support for PCIe expansion devices. See below for the complete list of version 2.0 features.

For more information, please contact your reseller, or contact us directly at sales@storagedna.com.

DNA Evolution Version 2.0 Release Features (June 30, 2012)

miniMAM™

Version 2.0 gives DNA Evolution its first set of miniMAM features including:

• Clip view
  • Enhanced web view that virtualizes a set of files in a file-system to a clip view; for example, when archiving an Avid MediaFiles folder with a number of files, DNA Evolution will present an enhanced virtual view that presents clips rather than the underlying file structure; this clip view will match what the editor sees in Avid^® Media Composer^®, and will also enable searching on clip names to quickly find what is needed
  • Clip-name extraction support for the following file types (P2 Op Atom MXF, Avid Op Atom MXF, MOVs, Op 1a MXF)
  • Clip-name extraction extended to other file-types (such as, XDCAM) post-version 2.0
• Proxy view
  • DNA Evolution will be able to play proxies tied to clips
  • Proxies will not be auto-generated by DNA Evolution, however, DNA Evolution can be configured to point to a proxy directory and it will index and link the proxy to the hi-res; proxy to hi-res link is maintained by looking for a partial name match of the hi-res in the proxy directory
  • The proxies are web playable via a QuickTime^® player; as long as the proxies are playable in QuickTime, they will be viewable

Enhanced bin/sequence archiving and restore for Avid^®, FCP 7, Adobe^®

• DNA Evolution will feature a fully automated mechanism for editors to archive and restore their bins and sequences, without the need for IT help
• The mechanism will allow an editor to export a bin/sequence in a watch folder via AAF/XML
• Once exported, DNA Evolution will process the bin/sequence for archive or restore and manage the process transparently
• Editors will be able to view the progress via a web URL
• Supported types:
  • Avid AAF for AMA and non-AMA media
  • Final Cut Pro^® 7 XML
  • Adobe^® Premiere^® AAF/XML

Avid^® Interplay^® support

• DNA Evolution integrates with Avid Interplay as an archive engine to transparently archive and restore content from the Interplay Access/Media Composer interface
• DNA Evolution integrates into Avid Interplay via web services, eliminating the need for an additional archive database

CatDV support

• DNA Evolution integrates with CatDV as an archive engine to archive and restore content from the CatDV interface
• DNA Evolution integrates with the CatDV worker node and provides a native way for CatDV users to archive, delete, move, and restore content

Queuing

• DNA Evolution supports queuing on the autoloader/library models
• Queuing allows multiple jobs to be initiated to the same autoloader; DNA Evolution can then queue the jobs and also enables prioritization of the jobs

Support forThunderbolt™ PCIe expansion devices

• A Thunderbolt version of DNA Evolution, designed to offer “true” desktop/laptop archiving to LTO, will be released
• This version of DNA Evolution can be installed on any Mac^® laptop with a Thunderbolt port for field or standalone archiving and restores

Tape verification

DNA Evolution features a rapid tape verification function:

• Before source content is deleted, DNA Evolution can perform a verification and checksum of the content written to tape; the verification will perform LTFS tape health checks and content checks ensuring complete tape and content integrity