Roundabout Talks Storage and Data Management in an Era of Ever-Increasing File Sizes
Virtual production, UltraHD, and high dynamic range (HDR) workflows may be driving the audience experience to new heights, but behind the scenes, they’ve introduced new challenges for creative facilities and post houses, who must figure out how to store, manage, access, and securely share the massive files that accompany productions of this caliber. Always one step ahead, VP of Technology James Jan, who leads the engineering team at Los Angeles-based post house Roundabout Entertainment, recently spoke with us about how his team addresses these challenges head-on using AJA Diskover Media Edition data management software.
“Storing 30 petabytes of data translates to a massive number of files that we need to be able to manage and find. We use AJA Diskover Media Edition to manage all files and for basic searches. Elasticsearch works on the backend to sift through all 30 petabytes of data, so we can find files within seconds, whereas before, a search might take hours.
Diskover also features an extensive plugin network, including the Media Info Harvest Plugin, which we use to scan all our files and store the immediate, pertinent info for those files. It’s so helpful because we can search through a file and easily understand its resolution, color space, and all the associated metadata information available for it.
Because of stringent security requirements, we can’t have clients on the production network, but they often need file access; it’s a challenge that Diskover has helped us overcome. With its web interface, those users and our internal team can access a copy of the file without jeopardizing the integrity of the actual file. We’re able to do this because the software is highly customizable; we can write proprietary scripts to help users copy and move files, generate proxies, and convert audio files, which we simply couldn’t do before. Previously, it required the engineering team to build web GUIs from the ground up, which was time-intensive and didn’t include authentication. With Diskover, we can do it quickly and with support for LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol) authentication to comply with security requirements.
Diskover is secure, fast, and so easy to use that we can usually get team members up to speed on it after just a ten-minute walk-through of the interface. The Diskover team has been fantastic and is quick to respond to any inquiries; we’re local, so they’ve also visited us on site to guide us through installs or upgrades. The fact that they’re constantly updating the platform with new features is a huge advantage, like the Xytech integration they added last year. There are also regular speed and stability updates; for instance, they added caching into the scanning, which has sped up file scanning and indexing. Every time we upgrade, it adds more value, which I appreciate.”
James Jan
VP of Technology, Roundabout Entertainment
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