Tape may
be one of the most 'old school' storage technologies, but that doesn't mean it
can't play nice with the newest kids on the block. But don't take my word for it. This week, HP published a new tape
testimonial from a very interesting and exciting source. Because when it comes to video production and
multimedia, it doesn't get much more cutting-edge than the advanced 4K digital
film making projects created by Brain Farm Digital Cinema.
You
might think that when it came to completing their digital workflow, the last
solution a state-of-the-art video company would turn to is tape, specifically
the HP StoreEver MSL6480 tape library.
But as
Brain Farm's post production supervisor, Danny Holland, says:
"Estimates
indicate that our storage cost per terabyte is 86 percent lower with the HP StoreEver MSL6480 solution compared
to an equivalent SAN disk array. The lower total cost of ownership of the
MSL6480 tape library delivers affordable storage technology, providing us with
a competitive edge in the digital media market."
So HP
StoreEver tape is not just a means of storing data. It is a key enabler that makes Brain Farm a
more successful company. In this blog, I
want to take a closer look at why this is the case.
Brain
Farm Digital Cinema is at the forefront of video production and its recent
National Geographic "Great Migrations" documentary series won the
company a prestigious Emmy award for cinematography. The team has a reputation for creating
breathtaking images in locations where few dare to go, especially in the fields
of action sports and aerial photography.
Brain
Farm often shoots several films simultaneously at 4K resolution with multiple
cameras, each creating an uncompressed storage requirement of about 200 GB per
minute. Moreover, a single project frequently involves a 100-day filming
season, generating many petabytes of content.
The
challenges faced by Brain Farm can be summarised:
- storing massive output volumes.
- inefficient labor-intensive stand-alone tape drive backup and archiving processes.
- an inappropriate disaster recovery capability to safeguard clients’ valuable assets.
- insufficient scalability to support growth.
HP'sMSL6480
tape library meets these challenges directly:
- Each unit offers up to 560 slots, storing up to 3.5 PB in a single rack, with 81 TB density per 1U of rack space
- It can easily be expanded with extra drives, slots and cartridges, including future generations of LTO Ultrium for even higher capacities.
- The automated process is 10X faster than the old workflow and 86% cheaper than using a SAN disk array for this purpose.
- HP StoreOpen for Automation, HP’s LTFS solution for MSL6480, makes sharing and accessing data simple.
- HP TapeAssure Advanced software makes the MSL6480 easy to manage from any location.
In the
words of Danny Holland:
"The
nature of the digital cinema business makes scalability extremely important.
The HP StoreEver MSL6480 Tape Library design allows us to easily add extra
drives, media slots and expansion modules as required, delivering a
non-disruptive scalability model that’ll generate significant savings over the
years.”
So next
time anyone scoffs that tape is dead or for companies that haven't yet embraced
innovation in storage, invite them to learn about Brain Farm Digital
Cinema. I think it's a great endorsement
that such a successful and pioneering company sees a clear role for tape in its
digital workflow. Such companies do not
use technology out of sentiment. It's
because they feel the core benefits of tape are the best solution for their
cutting-edge needs!
Andrew
Dodd
Worldwide
Marketing Communications Manager
HP
Storage Media
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