Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

When disaster strikes, head to the cloud

16/09/2021

Imagine Communications Michael Rebel explains why replicating a primary playout centre in the cloud can helps broadcasters if disaster strikes

By Contributor

Published: September 16, 2021

Imagine Communications' Michael Rebel explains why replicating a primary playout centre in the cloud can helps broadcasters if disaster strikes

target=_blank title=Share on LinkedIn class=share-linkedin>

Every major broadcaster acknowledges that they have to consider disaster recovery. Apart from meeting audience expectations, if a channel is off air, it cannot transmit commercials. Without commercials, it has no income. Getting the station back on air-and broadcasting commercials-is clearly vital.

But, given today's very reliable technology, a large investment in replicating the primary playout centre could be seen as wasted money: a lot of hardware (and real estate) that will never go to air.

The question, then, is how to ensure business continuity through a disaster recovery site that gets the channel on air in the shortest possible time, that can be operated from anywhere, and involves the least amount of engineering support to launch? And the answer that broadcasters are increasingly turning to is the cloud.

On demand Start-up costs aside, it can be extremely cost-effective to keep a standby system in the cloud: ready to start when you need it; dormant when you do not. For many, cloud-based disaster recovery serves as a good, practical first experience of media in the cloud.

Whichever provider you choose, what you buy from them is access to effectively infinite amounts of processing power and storage space. We have worked extensively with AWS and other cloud suppliers, but AWS also offers some media-specific services (through their acquisition of Elemental) like media processing, transcoding and live streaming.

It is important to bear in mind that moving to the cloud is not an all or nothing, irreversible decision. The very nature of the cloud means it is simple to flex the amount of processing you put there, so if you should decide to back away it is simple to do so.

The cloud is an element within the IP transition-you decide when and how to make that transition, and when and how much to use the cloud. For many broadcasters, disaster recovery is an excellent way to try out cloud services.

Keeping it familiar With today's software-defined architectures, systems should perform identically whether they are in dedicated computers in the machine room, virtualised in the corporate data centre, or in the cloud. Consistent operation is especially important in disaster recovery deployments; if disaster strikes, the last thing you want is for operators to scrabble around trying to make sense of an unfamiliar system.

That does not mean that the primary system and the disaster recovery site must be identical. But with a well-designed cloud solution, you should be able to emulate the same user interfaces. This makes it easy for the operators to switch back and forth between the two different environments.

It also means you can set resilience and availability by channel. You might want your premium channels to switch over to disaster recovery in seconds, for example, while some of your secondary channels can be left for a while. That is a business decision.

Content is still king

One of the common misconceptions about cloud playout is that synchronising content between premises and the cloud demands a lot of bandwidth and potentially high costs. This need not be the case.

Faced with the imminent obsolescence of video tape libraries, and wary of the eternal cost of maintaining an LTO data tape library, many broadcasters are looking to archive in the cloud. You load the content once, confident that all the technology migration and maintenance will be carried out, flawlessly, by someone else.

You may have collaborative post-production by hosting content and decision lists in the cloud. Content-programmes and commercials-can be delivered direct to the cloud.

Playout, archiving, post and traffic may be managed as separate departments, but if you combine them content is only delivered to the cloud once. It is then available for playout without the high egress costs, and is securely stored at significant cost savings.

Outsourcing security Broadcasters have traditionally sought very high availability from the technology delivering premium channels. Five nines used to be regarded as the gold standard-99.999 per cent up time. Even that, though, is equivalent to about 5 minutes of dead air a year.

AWS offers its broadcast clients unimagined availability, up to maybe nine nines-effectively zero downtime. And it achieves that without any maintenance effort on your part: no disk replacement, no routine cleaning of air conditioning, no continual updates of operating systems and virus protection.

If the disaster is that your building has to be evacuated because of detected cases of a communicable disease, playout operators can work from home with exactly the same user interface and functionality as if they were sitting in the MCR.

If you want hot standby (complete parallel running in the cloud for almost instantaneous failover), then the technology allows it, if you choose to pay for the processing time. Alternatively, pick your own level of cold or warm standby, confident that, even from cold, loading and booting the channel playout instances can be accomplished in just a couple of minutes.

Cyberattacks are becoming an all-too familiar headline. Other industries have seen crippling incursions and software systems held to ransom. Developing a business continuity strategy that protects from such attacks is paramount.

Again, the cloud is the right solution. A good cloud provider will deliver better data security than you can do yourself. AWS has thousands of staff with the word securi
LINK: https://www.tvbeurope.com/media-management/when-disaster-strikes-head-...
See more stories from tvb

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

07/10/2026

Dalet Flex LTS Delivers Smarter Media Operations from Ingest to Distribution

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...

06/09/2026

Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA World Cup 2026 in Germany with Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos

June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...

04/08/2026

Dalet Announces Commercial Availability of Dalia, Bringing Media-Aware Agentic AI to Enterprise Productions

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

29/07/2026

Brightline Unveils Compact, Suspended MOD1 LED Light

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

29/07/2026

NAB Meets With Trusty on Ownership Caps

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

29/07/2026

QuickLink To Feature New StudioPro AnywhereTally At IBC 2026

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

29/07/2026

HBO Max Launches Vertical Shorts to Improve Content Discovery

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

29/07/2026

New Tool Identifies Sources Of Fake Videos

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

29/07/2026

DNEG Migrates Editorial Workflows to Foundrys Hiero

Foundry today announced that Academy Award-winning creative studio DNEG has implemented Hiero to support its editorial workflows. Part of the Nuke product famil...

29/07/2026

QuickLink Unveils New StudioPro AnywhereTally Remote Tall...

The Latest Addition to the Brand's StudioPro Ecosystem Combines Simple Deployment, Cloud Control and Professional Grade Wireless Reliability QuickLink, a l...

29/07/2026

The Secret Master Adjustment Layer Hack in After Effects

The Secret Master Adjustment Layer Hack in After Effects Graham Quince July 28, 2026 0 Comments Trish Meyer (who literally beta-tested the original Af...

29/07/2026

Post Completed with Blackmagic Cloud for Shane Kosugi's Feature Film SEEK

Post Completed with Blackmagic Cloud for Shane Kosugi's Feature Film SEEK Brie Clayton July 28, 2026 0 Comments Cannes Indie International Film Fe...

29/07/2026

Isabeau Miller Named Chair of Berklee Songwriting Department

Isabeau Miller Named Chair of Berklee Songwriting Department The Berklee alumna, who previously served on the Songwriting faculty, will begin her new role on ...

28/07/2026

LiveUs World Cup Record: 1,700 Units Support Wide Range of Transmission Needs

LiveU, the pioneer in IP-video transmission and cloud-based remote production, today detailed its historic performance records set during the 2026 FIFA World Cu...

28/07/2026

Case Study: How the Dallas Cowboys Removed Bottlenecks in Off-site Content Production

The NFL franchise rebuilt their off-site content operation for an era when teams...

28/07/2026

A New Way To Watch': How Formula 1 and Sky Sports Are Pushing Race Coverage Into a New Era

Longtime partners expand viewer choice, data-driven analysis, access, immersive ...

28/07/2026

Grass Valley Op Ed: Seven Paradoxes Shaping the Next Era of Media Production

There is a unique moment before every major production. The audience never sees it. The cameras are ready. The talent is preparing. Directors review the final...

28/07/2026

The CW Network, ESPN Ink Streaming Agreement With Launch on Aug. 4

The CW Network and ESPN have announced their highly anticipated streaming agreement to bring CW Sports' live events to the ESPN App will officially launch o...

28/07/2026

Lawo Delivers Audio Excellence for Europes Largest Classical Open-Air Concert on Bastille Day

As more than tens of thousands of spectators filled Paris' Champ de Mars and...

28/07/2026

Appear Assists Chile's First Large-Scale 4K FIFA World Cup Viewing Experience

Appear's X Platform played a central role in Chile's first large-scale c...

28/07/2026

IBC 2026: Solid State Logic Highlights Transition to Software-Defined Production

Responding to the broadcast industry's shift to embrace more flexible production platforms, Solid State Logic (SSL) is evolving its comprehensive System T p...

28/07/2026

TNT Sports Goes to Greater Heights With New DUNKMAN League

Production leverages innovative camera technologies, AI, and data to capture the action in four-week inaugural competition The first-ever professional dunking ...

28/07/2026

Rogers, Prime Video Ink 12-Year Sublicensing Deal for NHL Rights in Canada

Prime Video to exclusively broadcast Wednesday night national NHL regular-season games in Canada...

28/07/2026

CBS Sports Snags U.S. English-Language Rights for CONCACAF Champions Cup

Every match will stream live on Paramount+ beginning in February,...

28/07/2026

TK Audio unveil the TK-Lizer 3

Baxandall-inspired hardware EQ overhauled TK Audio's Baxandall-inspired hardware EQ unit has just made a return, bringing the popular unit back into the...

28/07/2026

Asparion reveal the D700 Rack

D700 system gains new live-focused rackmount surface Asparion have just announced an expansion of their D700 control surface range, introducing a new model ...

28/07/2026

Six NFVF Presidential Employment Stimulus Programme (PESP)-Funded Films Selected for the 47th Durban International Film Festival (DIFF)

27 July 2026, Johannesburg - The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an a...

28/07/2026

Nielsen Launches Ad Intel AI: the Only Product of its Kind that Transforms Fragmented Ad Data into Actionable Intelligence

Ad Intel AI is Nielsen's first in a new generation of AI products built to t...

28/07/2026

aconnic is ramping up supply for the new ACCEED 1444 fiber migration

Contribution to Europe's technological autonomy in the key industry telecommunications aconnic AG (ISIN: DE000A0LBKW6), Munich, starts commercial shipments...

28/07/2026

The Tow Foundation Awards PMVP $400,000 Grant

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

28/07/2026

LiveU's World Cup Support Breaks Company Records

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

28/07/2026

Encompass Selected by Channel 4 to Deliver Managed Linear...

Encompass Digital Media has been selected by Channel 4, one of the UK's public service broadcasters, to deliver managed linear playout services as part of a...

28/07/2026

Cinegy partners with SAMA Digital Media Solutions to sati...

Cinegy GmbH, the premier provider of software-defined television technology, has confirmed a new partnership with leading Korean systems integrator and distribu...

28/07/2026

Limecraft Adds Multicam Player and Audio Fingerprint-Base...

Limecraft today announces version 2026.5 of its AI-powered production platform. Limecraft 2026.5 https://(www.limecraft.com/limecraft-2026-5-multicam-quad-view-...

28/07/2026

Appear powers first large-scale 4k FIFA World Cup viewing...

X Platform technology enabled a premium UHD viewing experience through a hybrid ground-to-cloud architecture developed with Chilevisi n, ClaroVTR and Pixop App...

28/07/2026

LiveU Delivers Record-Breaking LIQ and Cloud Service Depl...

LiveU, the pioneer in IP-video transmission and cloud-based remote production, today announced it has set historic performance records during the 2026 World Foo...

28/07/2026

DHD Releases New Firmware and Options for its Audio Produ...

dhd.audio announces that its latest generation firmware, Version 10.4, is now available to DHD customers. Version 10.4 introduces expanded configuration capabil...

28/07/2026

Study: TV Operating Systems Gain Influence Over Viewing

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

28/07/2026

Maryland Public Television Promotes Ling Ling Sun to CTO

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

28/07/2026

NUGEN Audio Helps Mix Technician Blake Bunzel Deliver Rel...

Brand's Intuitive Metering and Dialogue Tools Improve Efficiency and Maintain Clarity Across Projects Ranging from Sitcoms to Effects Heavy Fantasy Series ...

28/07/2026

TAG Video Systems Accelerates the Move to Cloud and Virtu...

TAG Video Systems, a leader in 100% software-based realtime media monitoring, multiviewing and quality control (QC), today announced the latest innovations to i...

28/07/2026

Harvard Athletics Transforms Collegiate Sports Storytelling with AJA Gear

Harvard Athletics Transforms Collegiate Sports Storytelling with AJA Gear Brie Clayton July 27, 2026 0 Comments Between the maturation of IP and remot...

28/07/2026

New Live Action Projection Mapping Film Captured with URSA Cine 12K LF

New Live Action Projection Mapping Film Captured with URSA Cine 12K LF Brie Clayton July 27, 2026 0 Comments Large format sensor allows Texas Legacy ...

28/07/2026

NVIDIA Agent Toolkit Expands With New Omniverse Libraries, Putting AI Agents to Work Building Simulation-Ready Worlds

NVIDIA Agent Toolkit Expands With New Omniverse Libraries, Putting AI Agents to ...

28/07/2026

AI Agents Expand Creative Tools to Millions

AI Agents Expand Creative Tools to Millions Brie Clayton July 27, 2026 0 Comments Hero image courtesy of Epic Games Leading creative applications are...

28/07/2026

How Rick Aggeler Built a Music Community for Boston Teens

How Rick Aggeler Built a Music Community for Boston Teens When he was a Berklee student, Aggeler volunteered at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston, where he hel...

28/07/2026

Football is back on Sky Sports following its most watched Premier League season ever

Tuesday 28 July 2026 Football is back on Sky Sports following its most watched ...

28/07/2026

Powerful Compute So Compact, It's Clutch - Build AI in Your Hand With NVIDIA Jetson

As a discerning AI investor who values style and substance, Sarah Guo knows this...

28/07/2026

Are you coming to the Fleadh? RT will be there

RT Raidi na Gaeltachta, RT Radio 1, RT One and RT Player to showcase the best of the reels, rhymes and rambles from Comhaltas Fleadh Cheoil na h ireann 202...