NAB 2019: Quantum Goes All-in on NVMe Storage With New F-Series, Launches Quantum Cloud Storage Platform Hardware and software are designed for ultra-fast network performance for 4K/8K production By Jason Dachman, Chief Editor
Thursday, April 4, 2019 - 9:51 am
Print This Story
Quantum will make a splash at NAB 2019 with some of its most significant innovations in company history. On the hardware side, the company is introducing the F-Series, a line of NVMe (non-volatile memory express) storage arrays that are up to five times faster than traditional flash-storage/networking systems. Incorporating the latest RDMA (Remote Direct Memory Access) networking technology, the F-Series provides direct access between workstations and the NVMe storage devices, delivering ultra-fast network performance. The F-Series is the first to be built on the new Quantum Cloud Storage Platform, which the company is also unveiling at the show.
I believe this is the biggest innovation cycle in our company's history, says Eric Bassier, senior director, global product marketing, Quantum. Both the F-Series and the Quantum Cloud Storage Platform were designed in conjunction with some of our largest customers. We are seeing more and more clients working in 4K and 8K, and they need this type of product for the performance that it offers. We've designed the F-Series not only to be the fastest product that we ever built, but it also has a highly available and reliable design from both a hardware perspective and a software perspective.
NVMe Promises Faster Ingest, Edit, Finishing
As more media and entertainment organizations make the move to 4K/8K and high-frame-rate video production, NVMe-based technologies are increasingly important to enable faster ingest, edit, and finishing of content. With the F-Series, Quantum is looking to jump aboard this growing trend.
Quantum F2000 storage server, the first product in the new F-Series, was built specifically for NVMe storage.
Using NVMe flash drives for ultra-fast reads and writes, the F-Series supports large-scale parallel processing and is designed for studio editing, rendering, and other performance-intensive workloads using large unstructured datasets. The F-Series is as much as five times faster than traditional flash storage/networking, delivering extremely low latency, and performing hundreds of thousands of input/out operations per second per chassis.
The first product in the F-Series is the Quantum F2000 storage server, which was purpose-built for NVMe and features RDMA (Remote Direct Memory Access) networking technology. The 2RU, dual-node server features two hot-swappable compute canisters and up to 24 dual-ported NVMe drives. Each compute canister can access all 24 NVMe drives and offers processing power, memory, and connectivity specifically designed for high performance and availability.
Although NVMe has traditionally been viewed as a pricey proposition, Bassier sees the F-Series enabling long-term cost savings for two reasons. First, since the F-Series is Ethernet-compatible, users can reduce costs by moving from a Fibre Channel to an Ethernet IP-based infrastructure. Second, customers who use a large number of hard-disc or solid-state drives will be able to reduce data-center rack space while still meeting performance requirements.
Yes, NVMe is more expensive than SSD or hard-drive-based arrays, Bassier acknowledges, but this also helps customers to move from Fibre [Channel] to Ethernet and gain back rack space by reducing infrastructure. That will help dramatically offset the investment in NVMe to make this a really strong value proposition. While the main driver for this is more UHD and high-frame-rate-content [production], the justification for [investing in NVMe] is that it will also reduce infrastructure costs in so many other ways.
The F-Series also tightly integrates with StorNext to maximize client performance and plug into existing M&E workflows. With StorNext integration, users can enable policy-based data placement, file/directory-based movement to keep data together, APIs for application integration, and automated policy-based archiving for long-term protection and preservation - thereby reducing total cost of ownership and maximizing the value of content.
Quantum Cloud Storage Platform: Software-Defined Architecture
At the core of the F-Series is the new Quantum Cloud Storage Platform, a software-defined block storage stack tuned specifically for video and video-like data. According to Bassier, the new platform offers a future-proof and reliable platform that eliminates data services unrelated to video while enhancing critical capabilities, such as enhanced data protection, flexible networking, and block interfaces.
The new Quantum Cloud Storage Platform was developed specifically for video and video-like data.
What makes it really unique is that many of the other cloud platforms that are running on other storage arrays today aren't designed specifically for video and video-like data, says Bassier. They were designed to run a database or to host VMware. And, while those [platforms] may have a lot of rich-data services that are very robust for a database, they just don't apply to video.
Quantum has so many years of experience working with video and software-defined architectures, so we stripped out all the services that we knew people didn't need for video and engineered a platform to provide the absolute lowest latency and the maximum performance for a video[-production operation]. We retained a core set of services that are going to specifically meet the needs of our video-[production] customers.
Bassier adds that the Quantum Cloud Storage Platform will be at the core of several future Quantum products as well as the F-Series.
NVMe in the Sports Market: Quantum Sees Major Potential
In additio
Most recent headlines
06/10/2025
France T l visions, France's leading broadcaster, has received the 2025 EBU ...
04/09/2025
Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE), in collaboration with Dalet, has been a...
30/08/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has adopted its FY 2025 Regulatory Fees Order that establishes the regulatory fee rates for the broadcast stati...
29/08/2025
Australian Red Cross and SBS launch training to help workplaces in the fight aga...
29/08/2025
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an agency of the Department of Sp...
29/08/2025
L3Harris Technologies has concentrated decades of expertise across the entire enterprise to develop affordable and reliable best-of-breed solutions to rapidly c...
29/08/2025
BURBANK, Calif. The CW Network and the Pac-12 Conference have announced a new media rights deal that will extend their broadcast partnership beginning with the ...
29/08/2025
NEW YORK Gracenote has released a new analysis of its global video dataset showing that the number of FAST channels grew nearly 14% from Q1 2025 and 76% since 2...
29/08/2025
SAN JOSE, Calif. Harmonic has announced a series of improvements to its live sports streaming solution that the company said will improve fan engagement, protec...
29/08/2025
NEW YORK and LOS ANGELES Fox Corp. and YouTube TV last night announced a renewal of the full portfolio of Fox networks, including Fox News Channel, Fox Business...
29/08/2025
Budapest, Hungary, August 2025 - The integration of Microsoft Teams Rooms (MTR) with Lightware's Taurus universal matrix switchers delivers a new level of f...
29/08/2025
Frequency, the engine behind many of the world's best-known streaming television channels, today announced it will launch Studio Live, a next-generation uni...
29/08/2025
In an era when AI and cyber resilience are essential, Scality will mark the 10th anniversary of Scality Day on October 16, 2025 in Paris. This flagship global e...
29/08/2025
Disguise's In-House Creative and Technical Teams Pre-Visualised, Programmed and Delivered Content for the Experience, All Powered by EX 3+
Technology solu...
29/08/2025
Disguise will be demonstrating the latest workflows for TV, film and live events on a number of partner booths at the show
Disguise, the industry-leading tech...
29/08/2025
STOCKHOLM, Sweden Accedo will showcase Accedo Compose, its AI agent-powered modular orchestration layer that assists streaming providers in transitioning client...
29/08/2025
LOS ANGELES Cineverse has announced that it is working with Xperi to bring four of its streaming channels to automobiles for the first time as part of the DTS A...
29/08/2025
DALLAS & ATLANTA Gray Media has announced an agreement with the sports streaming service Victory+ to simulcast 17 Dallas Stars NHL games in 15 television market...
29/08/2025
NEW YORK AND CULVER CITY Comcast NBCUniversal and Amazon have announced new and extended distribution agreements that will expand the content available on their...
29/08/2025
FOOTHILL RANCH, Calif. RED Digital Cinema will feature its Cine-Broadcast Module supporting live broadcast workflows during IBC2025, Sept. 12-15, at the RAI Ams...
29/08/2025
29 Aug 2025
Kyivstar Rings Opening Bell at Nasdaq Marking Landmark Listing and ...
29/08/2025
More than half of all NFL games live on Sky for the first timeFriday 29 August 2025
Sky Sports has announced a new three-year deal with the NFL, extending its ...
29/08/2025
Back to All News
RIV4LRIES: The Trailer of the New Series With Samuele Carrino ...
29/08/2025
Get ready for an inspiring and emotional insight into the world of competitive Irish dancing with My Story: Tomi Champion of the World airing on RT 2 this monda...
29/08/2025
RT has today announced that David McCullagh is to be the new presenter of RT Radio 1's flagship Today programme, which airs every weekday at 10am, replaci...
28/08/2025
By Kristin Feeley, Director, Documentary Film & Artist Programs
If you want to tell untold stories, if you want to give voice to the voiceless, you've got ...
28/08/2025
Directed by Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert, Sundance Institute-supported Amer...
28/08/2025
Corridos have been a cornerstone of M sica Mexicana for generations, telling stories rooted in everyday life. Now, a new chapter is taking shape: motivational c...
28/08/2025
Los corridos han sido un pilar de la M sica Mexicana durante generaciones, contando historias enraizadas en la vida cotidiana. Ahora, un nuevo cap tulo est tom...
28/08/2025
Earlier this month, we promised our Verano Forever party would bring the heat, a...
28/08/2025
L3Harris will provide the Polish F-16V fleet with the Viper Shield electronic warfare system as part of an upgrade program....
28/08/2025
Bilbao, August 26, 2025 - AgileTV, an international television and video technol...
28/08/2025
Ken Wilkinson is an Emmy Awards nominated New York audio engineer who specialises in production sound mixing for film, commercial, episodic and documentary work...
28/08/2025
NEW YORK FuboTV today announced that it will launch Fubo Sports, a skinny bundle that focuses on sports with a subscription price of $56 monthly....
28/08/2025
NEVADA City, Calif. At IBC2025, Sept. 12-15 at the RAI Amsterdam, Telestream will debut its new Global Ingest strategy, introducing a next-generation ingest arc...
28/08/2025
Dr. Rhoda Bernard Releases Groundbreaking Debut Book on Accessible Arts Educatio...
28/08/2025
TAG Video Systems, the leader in software-based IP end-to-end workflow monitoring, deep probing, and real-time visualization, has named Oliver Gappa as Sales Di...
28/08/2025
AI-based voice enhancement will be among a series of innovations making their IBC 2025 debut on the DHD stand B46 in Hall 8 at the RAI Amsterdam Convention Cent...
28/08/2025
Telef nica Servicios Audiovisuales (TSA), the leading system integrator and service provider in the media sector in Spain, with the support of Appear, the globa...
28/08/2025
To fully immerse sailing fans in the world's biggest offshore yacht race, production company, Optical Media turned to LiveU's On-site Production solutio...
28/08/2025
Working with Calrec on its most recent overhaul, radio and television broadcaster, WNED has migrated to a fully IP infrastructure with multiple Type R consoles,...
28/08/2025
Cleeng, the Subscriber Retention Management (SRM ) inventor, has unveiled Cleeng Pro, the first-ever direct-to-consumer (D2C) subscription management platform t...
28/08/2025
Zixi, the industry leader in live broadcast-quality video over IP, today announced that French media distribution platform OKAST has selected Zixi to enable rel...
28/08/2025
Solution offers a streamlined, speaker-free architecture to optimize integration with premium external loudspeakers and advanced loudness metering
Nixer Pro Au...
28/08/2025
Cinegy, the premier provider of software-defined television technology, has announced a strategic partnership with Vision One Touch Film Production Services L.L...
28/08/2025
Telestream, a global leader in media workflow technologies, will debut its new Global Ingest strategy at IBC2025, introducing a next-generation ingest architect...
28/08/2025
Tier 1 operator selects Broadpeak to power high-performance, unified CDN solution across Norway, Sweden and Finland
Broadpeak, a leader in streaming and moneti...
28/08/2025
Leading video software provider, Synamedia, today announced that 24 Frames Digital, one of India's leading live event streaming service providers, has chose...
28/08/2025
Meet VisualOn at IBC2025: See What's Next in AI-Powered Video Streaming Join VisualOn at IBC2025 and discover how our AI-driven Optimizer and advanced media...
NAB 2019: Quantum Goes All-in on NVMe Storage With New F-Series, Launches Quantum Cloud Storage Platform Hardware and software are designed for ultra-fast network performance for 4K/8K production By Jason Dachman, Chief Editor 
