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MillimeterMark In
Jan 1, 2008 12:00 PM
Business Intelligence: Shared Storage for Today’s Digital Content World
By Scott Leif, President of Globalstor Data Corporation
In our HD world, postproduction facilities and content providers require new methods to support larger frame sizes and higher-resolution content. The concept of productivity has also changed as the industry has recognized and embraced the value of shared networking.
Sneakernet—physically transferring electronic information via CD, USB, flash drive, etc., from one computer to another—and FireWire technologies are no longer adequate in the modern digital world, where its new workflow issues involve larger and more sophisticated data files and a need for multiple and immediate access.
To stay ahead of this curve, manufacturers are producing higher-capacity and better-performing system solutions at an unsurpassed pace. While quality and performance remain critical for visual effects and editing of uncompressed content, solutions for larger file support and volume sharing—along with stronger security for file protection—must also be addressed. Additionally, many facilities are working on a range of OS types, such as Windows, Mac, or Linux, that can make it difficult to implement heterogeneous volume support.
A typical workflow in the postproduction industry has always entailed numerous stages and duplication of materials; however, today's standards require additional concerns in terms of cutting down costs while boosting efficiency. While data is ingested and continues to make its way to the visual-effects and editing phases, productions now require centralized storage devices that can streamline the process among editors and visual-effects technicians, which subsequently affords them the ability to take on more projects.
These requirements are addressed through use of SAN and SAN-management software and hardware, which enable multiple computers mutual access through a centralized storage system or server that can be used for editing as well as transferring content—in comparison to conventional sneakernet technology, which is limited to physical transport via FireWire or CD/DVD.
A wide range of software and hardware-based solutions allow for volume sharing, file sharing, or a combination of both. The most common use is volume sharing, which allows multiple users access to a centralized storage capacity. The benefit of this approach is that while multiple users can access the same storage media simultaneously, files that are in use become locked by the user and cannot be overwritten by another user who has access to the volume. Another approach is file-level sharing, which can pose the risk of files being overwritten or deleted as multiple users are granted access to the same files simultaneously.
Some shared-storage approaches provide user rights to volumes, which include access rights as well as usage quotas. For example, a user may have a particular volume or a piece of volume dedicated to that individual with a physical limit assigned by the administrator, limiting the amount of storage that the user can use—a feature that can be instrumental in budgeting for storage.
Additional options to consider when designing a shared storage network include read and write permissions (when a particular user is authorized for write access to one volume and read/write to another, but that user is restricted in accessing other files). This approach is applicable to companies with sensitive data as well as production environments where jobs are departmentalized—such as postproduction, where there are editors, visual effects, and dailies working on different file content off of the same storage network. While the dailies' copy might encompass a combination of edited and color-graded material, the color graders may have unedited material that is color graded as well as a copy of those ungraded, and the visual-effects department may have raw files along with new material being worked on.
The ideal system is not a universal one. When brainstorming your storage design, look hard at the kind of content you create and how you collaborate. Work with a technical partner who can build a system based on those considerations—rather than on technical limitations.
Here’s a list of questions to ask yourself before specifying a storage system for your work environment:
- How many users will be utilizing the network storage? This gives us an idea of the maximum number of seats.
- How may users will simultaneously access the storage? This question along with the one below will help determine the required performance.
- What are the average file sizes?
- What are the host systems operating system? (i.e. Windows, Mac, Unix, etc.)
- How much total storage will be required?
- Does the system need to be scalable?
- What is the current network architecture? (i.e. Gigabit, 10/100, or 10GB?)
- Is the architecture copper or optical?
- Will separate volumes be required for individual users or will they be larger shared volumes for multiple users?
- Will any of the host systems need to see the volumes as a local storage devices such as iSCSI or will a NAS based shared volume be preferred?
- For applications using the storage as an iSCSI taget, will realtime processing be required via the storage device or will the content be transferred locally for processing?
