Neil Stobart, vice president, Global System Engineering at Cloudian, on choosing the right storage foundation
Contributor 2 hours ago
Neil Stobart, vice president, Global System Engineering at Cloudian, on choosing the right storage foundation
target=_blank title=Share on LinkedIn class=share-linkedin> Neil Stobart, vice president, Global System Engineering at Cloudian, on choosing the right storage foundation
https://www.tvbeurope.com/features/how-to-unlock-the-potential-of-your-media-archives title=Share via Email class=share-email>
With media organisations having to manage more content, and larger file sizes than ever before, traditional disk and tape storage solutions can no longer meet evolving demands. What's needed is a more scalable, intelligent and cost-effective storage foundation - and one that doesn't just hold a media archive but provides anytime, anywhere access and a way to extract more value from this asset. As with many digital technologies these days, the ideal solution is to leverage the power of Cloud-derived technology while keeping the archive safely under the user's control.
A more challenging media environment
One of the key drivers of growing content volumes is the shift to higher-quality formats and resolutions. 4K is becoming more and more ubiquitous, and pixel counts are only going to get bigger with 8K and even 16K looming on the horizon.
Frame rates are also increasing. No longer is everything captured at 24 frames per second (fps). There are now productions at 48 fps and 60 fps, and they are likely to go as high as 300 fps. To put this growth in file size into context, one hour of standard definition (SD) film content equates to 112 gigabytes (GB) of storage space at uncompressed data rates; high definition (HD) adds up to 537 GB, and Ultra HD to 6,880 GB.
In addition, with so many distribution platforms available to reach new audiences, more versions of the same piece of content must be produced and managed to meet the unique delivery specifications of each service.
On top of this, artificial intelligence and machine learning applications provide opportunities to search, identify, tag and retrieve content more quickly and comprehensively than is manually possible. As a result, media organisations can extract more value from their content archives.
Traditional storage solutions fall short
Given this evolving media landscape, storage has never been more vital to the success of any organisation that works with content. However, the traditional SAN and NAS disk systems and tape storage that have been relied on for so long simply can't keep pace with the demands of today's media workloads. This is especially the case in the current do more for less' media environment where margins are continuously squeezed.
The cost of traditional disk-based systems becomes increasingly prohibitive at large scale, and tape storage entails management and latency issues, including the time it takes to retrieve content stored offsite.
What's needed is a way to seamlessly and cost-effectively scale to hundreds of petabytes without interruption or downtime.
Looking to the skies
Over the last several years, organisations across a range of industries have turned to the public Cloud to meet their storage needs. In a public Cloud model storage is delivered as a third-party service, freeing up internal time and resources and providing much greater scalability and flexibility than traditional storage. In addition, the low cost of storing data in the public Cloud makes it extremely attractive at first glance.
However, the costs of storing and accessing data in the public Cloud can quickly add up, and the time required to retrieve it can be significant, particularly in the case of large files. In addition, there are control and security issues that media organisations should consider before putting their valuable intellectual property in the hands of someone else.
In contrast, an onsite, private Cloud is specifically operated by an organisation for its own use, avoiding the access, control and security issues of the public Cloud. At the same time, however, private Clouds require internal infrastructure and management expertise.
Object storage - the best of both worlds
Developments in data storage technology, such as Cloudian's new HyperStore Xtreme storage offering, provide a much-needed solution to the public versus private Cloud conundrum for content owners and distributors.
With this type of solution, media organisations can experience the equivalent scale and flexibility benefits of the largest public Clouds such as Amazon AWS, Google Cloud and Microsoft Azure, but from within the walls of their own facilities. In addition, the underlying technology enables users to store, find and protect media seamlessly across sites, both onsite and in public Clouds, within a single, unified platform.
Organisations can scale their storage capacity up to an exabyte of data without interruption. And because of the unified management feature, content can be easily accessed whenever and wherever it is needed.
In addition, these new private Cloud systems meet criteria critical to media organisations. These include automated data protection, replication across facilities for collaboration and disaster recovery, and rich metadata tagging that facilitates Google-like search and AI/analytics applications. These benefits - coupled with seamless integration with one or more public Clouds and significant cost savings compared to public Cloud services - make these private Cloud offerings extremely attractive.
The secret sauce
So how does it work? The key is the use of an object storage architecture as opposed to more traditional approaches such as file or block storage. Rather than organising stored content into a hierarchy with directories
Europe Stories
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
02/06/2026
Musically intelligent soft synth gets upgraded
Scaler Music will be probably be best known to many for their music theory tools, but their product range al...
02/06/2026
Powerful new vocal-production tool announced
Described as a vocal performance station , Klevgrand's latest plug-in combines pitch-correction with harmo...
02/06/2026
Launched alongside Go Green sale extension
McDSP have just released the latest addition to their APB line-up, DC-2 Dual Compressor, and have also announced ...
02/06/2026
Create custom tools for Ableton Live 12 Suite
Ableton have just introduced a new open JavaScript toolkit that allows anyone to create their own custom tools...
02/06/2026
Now features full H90 algorithm library
Eventide have announced the upcoming launch of the H9 Harmonizer Gen 2, a new and improved version of their hugely p...
02/06/2026
Plus UAD Half Yearly Sale now live
The latest arrival to the Universal Audio range delivers a new native pitch-correction plug-in that's capable of deli...
02/06/2026
Rohde & Schwarz to present comprehensive performance, conformance and spectrum-m...
02/06/2026
BTL Laboratory becomes Taiwan's first test house with a CTIA Certification c...
02/06/2026
If you've kept up with this article series, you know by now where to start w...
02/06/2026
With new DSP configurations and flexible licensing options, Calrec is removing the barriers to virtualised audio, giving broadcasters the freedom to scale produ...
02/06/2026
02 Jun 2026
VEON Closes USD 1.4 Billion Bond Offering, Refinancing 2027 Notes A...
02/06/2026
Praise for series three:
The Times - sun-dappled pleasure
The Daily Mail - The Homes Counties' Charlie's Angels
The Sun - 4* this [is an] enjoya...
02/06/2026
Wuppertal June 2, 2026
Gudrun Scharler Appointed CEO of Riedel Networks The Riedel Group today announced the appointment of Gudrun Scharler as CEO of Riedel N...
02/06/2026
Trust has become a commercial issue With global advertising spend forecast to exceed US$1 trillion this year*, the commercial consequences of weak governance co...
02/06/2026
June sees Ireland's cultural calendar in full bloom, as RT Supporting the Arts showcases a vibrant and wide-ranging programme spanning music, theatre, visu...
02/06/2026
After The Traitors Ireland launched in 2025, Irish audiences proved to have a taste for the global hit reality show. This Bank Holiday Monday fans can indulge e...
01/06/2026
Category line-up & sponsors announced
Photo: Paul Clarke
The Production Music Awards (PMA) have announced that submissions are now officially open ahead of...
01/06/2026
New hybrid sample/synthesis instrument revealed
Excite Audio have just released the latest instalment in their Evolve series, which has been developed in co...
01/06/2026
Latest TONEX expansion captures three rare vintage amps
The newest addition to IK Multimedia's ever-growing TONEX line-up introduces a set of three incr...
01/06/2026
Musically intelligent soft synth gets upgraded
Scaler Music will be probably be best known to many for their music theory tools, but their product range al...
01/06/2026
Rohde & Schwarz Satellite Industry Days 2026 guided by the motto From Earth to ...
01/06/2026
Luxembourg, June 1, 2026 - SES, a leading space solutions company, and Viva, Mexico's ultra low-cost airline, launched fast and reliable multi-orbit satelli...
01/06/2026
Mardi 2 juin 14h00
FilmLight (ARRI), 10 rue Ren Boulanger, 75010 Paris
Rejoignez-nous pour d couvrir comment FLAPI (l'API FilmLight) peut transformer e...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
29/05/2026
The days are getting longer, the temperatures are rising, and playlists are filling up for the season. With summer around the corner, Spotify's global edito...
29/05/2026
New retro-inspired MPC announced
There are few devices that have gained the status held by Akai Pro's MPC range, and in recent years, the company have s...
29/05/2026
Save up to 30 on acclaimed titles
Following a successful launch at Superbooth 2026, Bjooks have revealed that they will be continuing the Kickstarter campa...
29/05/2026
Binaural monitoring application improved
Genelec have just released an update that brings some powerful new features to their HRTF-based binaural headphone ...
29/05/2026
6 June 2026 at SAE Institute, London, UK
IMSTA FESTA 2026 is almost upon us, with some of the biggest names in pro-audio set to descend upon SAE Institute i...
29/05/2026
cetecom advanced certifies Rohde & Schwarz test solution for hybrid and Next Gen...
29/05/2026
May 29 2026, 09:00 (PDT) Dolby and rednote Bring More Immersive Storytelling to...
29/05/2026
Youtube exclusive special drops today
Watch now
UKTV today announces another e...
29/05/2026
Genelec announces V2.1 for Aural ID binaural headphone monitoring application posted: 29/05/2026
Aural ID 2.1 enhances binaural monitoring for stereo and ...
29/05/2026
At just 20 years old, Sean Melia from Summerhill Co. Meath has been revealed as the winner of Super Garden 2026. Sean is the youngest ever contestant and winner...
28/05/2026
Thomsons Climate Crisis Toolkit is already being put to work, helping journalist...
28/05/2026
A little refresh can go a long way. We've been making behind-the-scenes upda...
28/05/2026
Since early last year, our quarterly Creator Milestone Awards have celebrated podcasts from around the world that hit major streaming milestones on Spotify. Tod...
28/05/2026
New software-based MIDI multi-clock announced
Rapid Flow have just announced the launch of a new MIDI utility plug-in that aims to solve one of the most per...
28/05/2026
Company introduce most affordable interface yet
SSL's range of audio interfaces has just gained its latest, and smallest member, the SSL 1. Designed to ...
28/05/2026
New compact drum machine & sampler announced
The latest instrument from Sonicware sees the company kick off an all-new Deconstruct series with a compact dru...
28/05/2026
Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority modernizes nationwide ATC voice communications...
28/05/2026
Comscore Announces Appointment of Matt McLaughlin as Chief Executive OfficerJon Carpenter to remain as Senior Advisor to the Board and CEO
Global business lead...
28/05/2026
Wuppertal May 28, 2026
Berliner Ensemble Upgrades Backstage Infrastructure With Riedel Stage SystemsRiedel Communications today announced that Berliner Ensemb...
28/05/2026
Harmonic's Software-Based XOS Advanced Media Processor Powers Cost-Efficient 24/7 Channel Origination and Direct-to-Consumer Delivery
SAN JOSE, Calif. - M...
28/05/2026
RT presents Wild Conamara, a two-part natural history documentary that brings a...
27/05/2026
Spotify already brings together listeners' favorite music, podcasts, and audiobooks in one place. Now, we're trialing a new format that expands the cont...
Neil Stobart, vice president, Global System Engineering at Cloudian, on choosing the right storage foundation
