As producers, broadcasters and studios increasingly struggle with the demands of handling, sharing, storing and archiving large video files, Quantum has launched a a metadata controller appliance, the StorNext M330 that is designed to simplify the whole process.
In the media and entertainment space, Quantum is best known for its StorNext software that is designed to handle the management of large video files and is already used by all four major U.S. television broadcast networks, three of the four top cable networks and all seven of the major movie studio.
With the launch of the StorNext M300, the company is hoping to expand its client base to additional channels, stations, studios and post production facilities by making it easier for those operations to set up its advanced archiving and file management solutions with a single dedicated appliance, noted Shawn Klein, senior director of strategic marketing and alliances at Quantum in an pre-launch briefing.
The company also sees wide applications for the device outside the media and entertainment sectors in companies that are increasingly handling large video files for employee training, remote sales and marketing.
By making it easier to simultaneously share and access big data files, Klein also expects the system to be used deeper into the production process by studios, channels, producers and post-production houses that might be currently using it in a more limited fashion for simply archiving large files.
While the StorNext M330 appliance simplifies deployments, Klein stressed that it retains the high-performance power of StorNext software, which was designed to handle the kind of large files often seen in the film, television and news production sectors, and includes some new software features for StorNext, such as an enhanced GUI and reporting tools.
The StorNext M330 appliance also includes two StorNext SAN clients for the controllers and ten StorNext SAN clients for any supported operating system, including Windows, Linux, AIX, HP-UX, and Solaris.
Looking forward Klein noted that the StorNext M330 system is the first of a family of appliances designed as "pluggable" solutions for handling large video files.
The company has priced the StorNext M330 at $75,000.
