transcoding system, QC server or other system at any given time. The hypervisor that manages the allocation of compute power allows users to switch between such applications almost as easily as opening and closing different documents on a computer.
From Concept to Reality
If you take this approach to its ultimate conclusion, you end up with the software-defined media datacenter, in which pools of processing power, networking connectivity and memory are allocated to a variety of tasks as needed—or to enable a facility to evolve over time without swapping out hardware or rewiring. Resources can be assigned dynamically or software-defined to support a facility or studio’s specific requirements with respect to number of users, applications, inputs and outputs, storage capacity, and more. Should those requirements change over time or as the business expands into a new area of work, such as 8K, the allocation of resources can be reconfigured quickly and easily on a computer display rather from the uncomfortable confines of the machine room.
Though this fully realized model remains a utopian vision for the media industry, you can see examples of converged architecture at work today. Within the IT industry, this kind of converged system—incorporating compute power, connectivity and storage with a hypervisor and applications running right on the machine—already is well understood and widely accepted. Now, media facilities are beginning to deploy converged systems dedicated to supporting modern media workflows.
Attendees at the NAB NY show will have the chance to see a demo of one of these innovative storage systems, the Quantum Xcellis high-performance shared storage solution. Xcellis consolidates media and metadata management, extends connectivity options for both Fibre Channel and Ethernet clients, and supports hosted applications running as VMs to increase users’ agility and efficiency in deploying media-related applications. The utopian software-defined media data center will be on the horizon for many years to come, but as Lao Tzu put it, “The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.”
Dave Frederick is the Senior Director of Media and Entertainment for Quantum Corp. For the last 30 years, Dave has focused on leveraging technology to improve media production and delivery. Since joining Quantum in 2014, he has been working to bring the benefits of multi-tiered, high-performance shared storage to use cases ranging from entertainment, corporate video, imaging, video surveillance and more. Dave’s approach: Infrastructure is important, but it must never come between the user and their applications.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Dave Frederick
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