Transcript
Case Study
Quick Access to Archived Broadcasts
The Austrian television station Salzburg TV has simplified the access to existing programs by replacing its video archives with an automated tape library from Tandberg Data. The StorageLibrary T40+ provides the station with up to 32TB of uncompressed data storage—and with the option to expand the tape library with more modules at any time, it can expand to more than 90TB. Today, Salzburg TV benefits from a simplified data archiving method and shorter access times.
As a special interest channel, Salzburg TV offers broadcasts in the areas of information, education, and consulting. Furthermore, it also broadcasts talk shows and cultural shows, as well as reports on events, sports, travel and culinary programs. Founded in 1995, the regional TV station reaches about 760,000 viewers in Salzburg and parts of Upper Austria. Salzburg TV is Austria’s first private TV station, which produces in HDTV, but at this time still broadcasts in standard definition (SD). Since December 2008 it has been broadcasting in the region of Salzburg and via Astra Digital in all of Europe. The local station employs over 60 people. At the heart of the technical infrastructure at Salzburg TV lies an Apple-based post-production environment with a total of six FinalCut Pro Editsuite positions and 32TB net Raid 6 data storage. The backup and implementation of digital TV contents rely on a 4Gb FibreChannel network on the SAN platform Apple Xsan 2, which controls the concurrent access of several cutters editing videos. External hard drives with a capacity of two TB each fulfil the role of temporary archive.
Playout Processing and Archival Playout processing and archival of TV contents are closely connected at Salzburg TV, since already produced and archived videos are often reused. With an analogue archive inventory, items have to be taken off the shelf and edited by hand—a time consuming and painstaking procedure. For digital videos however, it made sense to introduce direct access over the network. “The final edited videos are usually saved and stored on a HD-CAM tape. At the end of any given month, we usually have ten to twelve finished HD-CAM tapes on the shelf. These are marked with a label to tell the difference. A time bar marks the location of the videos,“ explains Rigo Freitag, technical director at Salzburg TV. “When the tape or video is needed later, I have to look it up and put it on the editing site again. That is very time consuming.” This method was almost as cumbersome as having to deal with analogue tapes. On top of that, HD-CAM tapes allow only one video and four audio tracks. Therefore, additional tracks had to be archived separately and edited back in as needed.
SOLUTION OVERVIEW
Tape Solution: Tandberg Data StorageLibrary T40+ Backup Software: Retrospect Server Backup Server OS: OS Mac OsX Server
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However, we knew fully well, that a single LTO-4 drive would not suffice, because the tapes would still need to be manually changed. It became apparent that it had to be an automated tape library.” Rigo Freitag, Technical Director, Salzburg TV
www.tandbergdata.com
Backup and Archive Solution After the decision for an automated backup solution was made, we very swiftly made our selection. After internet research, three products from different backup providers were shortlisted. Based on the favourable price-performance ratio, an automated tape library from storage specialist Tandberg Data was chosen; the StorageLibrary T40+. Salzburg TV worked together with system house DVE in Dornach on the project. The StorageLibrary T40+ is an extremely scalable backup and archiving solution, which can be scaled from 24 to 114 slots or 9.6 to 91TB of native capacity. The tape library is available with LTO3 or LTO-4 drives and a range of management capabilities. The library is designed for mediumsized to large enterprises looking for a reliable and future-proof solution for automated data backup and archiving. Furthermore, the MacOS certification for Atempo Time Navigator, BakBone NetVault, EMC Retrospect and TOLIS Group BRU Server 1.2 makes the StorageLibrary T40+ a high performance storage solution for Mac users.
What to do with the video files? Finished video materials are kept on the Xsan-Raid system at Salzburg TV. In order to archive the broadcasts, a solution to transfer the data and relieve the Xsan was required. External hard drives were not considered appropriate because of their limited life span, and the creation of video tapes should be avoided as well, so programs could be broadcast in realtime. “The idea was to convert our archival system and restore the files from a backup system. To that extent, we researched backup solutions. Since our parent company Red Bull had a very good experience with the LTO technology, we decided on LTO-4 tapes as the medium. They provide a high storage capacity for an attractive price,” says Rigo Freitag. “However, we knew fully well, that a single LTO-4 drive would not suffice, because the tapes would still need to be manually changed. It became apparent that it had to be an automated tape library.”
“This was the first time DVE has partnered with Tandberg Data, which meant we entered a new territory with the request from Salzburg TV”, says Jürgen Firsching, CEO of DVE. “Luckily, our first implementation of this solution went extremely smoothly—without any problems or delays. We tested the equipment in Munich in a series of test runs, delivered it in Salzburg and then implemented the solution on-site. We worked together with the Tandberg Data support team, who supported us very well with our questions on installation and setup of the StorageLibrary.”
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We tested the equipment in Munich in a series of test runs, delivered it to Salzburg and then implemented the solution on-site. The Tandberg Data support team has supported us very well with our questions on installation and setup of the StorageLibrary.” Jürgen Firsching, CEO of DVE
www.tandbergdata.com
Network Access to Data Archives
Simple Backup/Restoration
Salzburg TV does not back up the complete data volume with the Tandberg Data solution. Only the videos that are archived and later deleted from the Xsan system are transferred. “We don’t utilize the Library for backup, but instead use the T40+ as an archival solution. We archive our video files on it, which are completely produced in HDTV, and are cut and edited with Final Cut,” says Rigo Freitag.
Contrary to the earlier process with HD-CAM tapes, which could only save finished videos, source materials—the raw data and the FinalCut project—are now saved on the LTO tapes. Between eight and twelve audio tracks can be backed up without problems, and the use of the material is completely flexible.
The Storage Library T40+ makes the partial selection of very large files from a digital archive possible. Series or contributions do not have to be completely selected from the archive in order to cut a single scene. The needed sequence is simply “restored” or copied from the contribution. The data growth rate at Salzburg TV is around 2TB a week, with over 32TB of occupy on the Xsan and 30TB on the StorageLibrary. The library contains an LTO-4 drive and 40 slots. The data throughput rate of 80MB/s of the tape drives ensure a quick backup process. The data to be backed up is transferred via a dedicated 4Gb fibre channel network and backup server, in order to relieve the data servers and guarantee high performance even when the workload is at a normal level. At Salzburg TV, 39 LTO-4 cartridges and a cleaning tape are currently in use. Salzburg TV continues to use the decentralized RAID 6 systems as primary storage, and the backup software Retrospect Server runs on a OS Max OsX Server.
“We are very pleased with the solution. We have often had to restore files from the archives on short notice, because we needed a video that had already been moved to the archive directory,” says Rigo Freitag. “The backup with the StorageLibrary runs automatically, they run at night and I check the next morning if everything was recorded. With a HD-CAM tape, there always had to be an operator, which is no longer necessary.”
About three times a week, backups of between 800GB to 1.5TB take place at Salzburg TV. Video files like Quicktime mov, Audio aiff and FinalCut Pro project files form a large portion of the data to be backed up. The backup runs automatically at night and lasts about eight hours.
About DVE Digital Video & Effects GmbH DVE was founded in 1998 by Jürgen Firsching and Michael Stein and employs 12 people. In addition to the headquarters in Munich-Dornach there is a sales office in Hilden, near Düsseldorf. As a reseller for market leaders Apple, Avid, Iridas, Quantum and Imganineer Systems, DVE has ten years of experience with workflow solutions for movie and TV production.
About Salzburg TV Salzburg TV is a private regional station with headquarters in Wals-Himmelreich. Salzburg TV has been broadcasting since September 17, 1995 and is owned 100% by Red Bull Media House GmbH, a subsidiary of Red Bull GmbH. The station reports a reach of 760,000 viewers in the region of Salzburg and parts of Upper Austria. The signal is broadcast via cable, and since December 2002 also via analogue terrestrial TV. The station’s programs are also available as livestream on the station’s website.
About Tandberg Data Tandberg Data is a leading global supplier of data protection solutions. Tandberg Data offers a wide selection of secondary storage solutions, ranging from disk-based solutions, such as the RDX® QuikStor™ and the Tandberg DPS1000 Series, to automated tape solutions like the StorageLoader and StorageLibrary Series. Tandberg Data also offers tape drives, based on the LTO™, SLR™, and VXA® tape technology platforms, and media. Tandberg Data solutions are supported by robust, easy to use software, such as RDX® FileKeeper™, the continuous data protection solution for the RDX QuikStor. All solutions are supported through a worldwide service and support network, recognised globally for its outstanding levels of service. Tandberg Data solutions are designed to meet the growing storage requirements of small and medium sized organisations with scalability, reliability, and backward compatibility features that ensure cost effective operation and long-term investment protection. CS-Salzburg_EN_2010
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