How the Cloud Will Affect Traditional Video Playout Busine

Rather than increase server business cloud-based playout is going to redefine what a server is.

New York While standalone video servers will continue to find a home in broadcast and content distribution facilities for some time, theres no denying that the advent of remotely-located data centers that handle much of the same playout functions is slowly eating into sales.

Thats not good news for companies like Avid, Evertz, Grass Valley, Imagine Communications, Snell, Playbox Technologies and others, and a sign of the times for companies like Cisco, Ericsson and Harmonic, which incorporate off-the-shelf servers from companies like IBM and HP as part of an overarching IP-based distribution platform.

Over time, we expect a general decline of appliance-based video servers, as software-based products become more potent, and also as IP transport moves towards Software Defined Networking, said Joachim Bergman, Head of Operations and Global Solutions, Ericsson Broadcast Services. This means that the function/application of a traditional video server, manufactured by Grass Valley, Harmonic, Imagine Communications etc. will become open and can be moved into normal virtualized IT based hardware platforms, run on commercial off-the-shelf products (COTS) or even in the public cloud.

Ericsson Next Generation Playout (made up of partner and Ericsson solution components and sold as a service with an SLA) offers broadcasters managed or hosted playout services that can be delivered worldwide. It gives broadcasters access to major data centers across the world, with signal distribution through hundreds of co-located carriers, distributors and connectivity providers. This connectivity network, coupled with a software-defined workflow, helps broadcasters to overcome the geographic dependencies that have previously limited playout. It supports a typical virtualized software environment and can eventually be optimized to run off a cloud-based infrastructure using Open Stack.

Avids AirSpeed 5000 is a dedicated server platform and a core component of the Avid MediaCentral Platform.

Avids AirSpeed 5000 is a dedicated server platform and a core component of the Avid MediaCentral Platform. It can be deployed as a standalone video server or tightly integrated with Avid ISIS storage and Interplay Production media asset management that, in turn, can be deployed as a cloud solution. Thus far Avid has not seen a decrease in its server business, although its standalone servers are not optimized for virtualization in a data center.

There are market indicators that the video server business is on the increase, said Kevin Usher, Director of Broadcast & Media Product Marketing at Avid. He cited a recent Frost & Sullivan report that indicates that video servers as part of a Production Asset Management (PAM) solution bring big benefits to broadcasters and content creators.

The Avid AirSpeed 5000 family of video servers (there are three core models and several software options such as DNxHD and Low Res proxy) supports four channels (configurable inputs and outputs).

Embracing virtualization, Grass Valley offers its Stratus Playout with a Densit SSP-3801 solid-state playout module. Stratus Playout is a cloud-enabled Software as a Service (SaaS) playout technology that uses Microsofts Azure platform as a service, hosted in Microsoft Data Centers.

Sam Peterson, Product Marketing Manager, Grass Valley, said that, in terms of performance, resilience and scalability, these centers are vastly superior to anything that can be reasonably built within a broadcast facility. All GV Stratus Playout metadata is stored three times in each data center and then replicated in real-time between data centers, for redundancy.

The Grass Valley Stratus Playout is a cloud-enabled Software as a Service playout technology that uses Microsofts Azure.

Customers want the advantages of virtualization without losing control of their content, said Peterson. The SSP-3801 solid-state playout module for the Densit modular platform enables broadcasters to leverage the flexibility of the cloud. The card is easily installed at the edge of any network and provides frame accurate playback, displays still and animated logos and high quality pre-rendered graphics pulling content from the customers data cache, whether that is a local NAS or SAN, or a cloud-based storage architecture.

Imagine Communications markets its Versio integrated playout server, either standalone or as a cloud-based solution. Going beyond basic server, graphic branding and automated playout features, Versio offers graphics, DVE and mix effects, combined with Imagine Communications automation and server technology. The result is a high-quality image with media flexibility and the power of control systems that tie into the entire playout workflow, from content creation to archive.

Meeting customers business goals for their cloud and virtualization initiatives requires a solution that goes beyond simply running playout servers in the cloud, said Stephen Smith, PLM Workflow, Asset Management & Integrated Playout Solutions for Imagine Communications. Our customers are looking for a pathway that enables them to realize the full benefits of cloud-based playout.

The optimal solution is a unified software and IP-based platform designed specifically for the cloud and virtualized environments, Smith adds. It must also integrate seamlessly with customers on-premises playout systems in hybrid architectures to enable customers to continue to leverage their existing investments while moving to the Cloud at their preferred pace to match their changing business needs.

Imagine Communications markets its Versio integrated playout server, either standalone or as a cloud-based solution.

PlayBox Technology offers its AirBox, which will include a version suitable for virtualizatio

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