Techtel has successfully facilitated the integration of Preferred Media’s storage infrastructure with the installation of Spectra Logic’s®, BlackPearl Gen2 V Series. This upgrade ensures the continued efficiency, scalability, and security of Preferred Media’s content management processes while facilitating integration with their legacy system.
Read More(Melbourne, Australia, 23rd June 2022) After a rigorous review of object-based storage solutions, Network Seven chose to implement the Spectra BlackPearl® Converged Storage System for their network-wide program, news, sport and historic archive. The solution supplied and integrated by Techtel is the first Australian deployment of BlackPearl integrated with VizRT for news production. BlackPearl is a modern object storage solution that seamlessly moves content into multiple storage targets based on pre-set policies.
Seven turned to Techtel for a solution as it became clear that the sun had set on their legacy storage systems and a change was necessary to protect their data whilst making vast improvements to the availability of their content. The BlackPearl solution from Spectra Logic addressed all of Seven’s requirements so Techtel architected a solution that could deliver seven years’ worth of storage at Seven’s main news production centres in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth. Additionally, in Melbourne, further flexibility was required to allow Seven to migrate data out of an old Sony PetaSite library that contained program material.
“Seven had been considering the Spectra BlackPearl as a solution to replace our news archive for a while, and for us the real trigger to move on this was seeing the Spectra-VizOne integration being adopted worldwide,” said Andrew Anderson, Director of Broadcast Operations for Seven West Media. “With BlackPearl we know we have a guaranteed level of performance and unlimited data access for the foreseeable future. Techtel’s proven ability to support Spectra products in Australia is well known so we look forward to working with them.”
The solution will serve content to Seven’s network-wide deployment of VizOne and VizStory, allowing news and production editors to retrieve, edit and publish content at breaking news pace. The RESTful integration between VizOne MAM and BlackPearl has been in deployment now for years, which provided absolute confidence to Seven that the solution would be robust and ready to go off the shelf.
BlackPearl has created an opportunity for broadcasters who currently have a costly and complex stack of aging software to migrate to one simple affordable solution. The BlackPearl object storage solution also allows multi-tenant architecture so several client platforms like VizOne MAM can access data from a common infrastructure removing the need for each system to have its own silo of storage.
“When Seven approached Techtel for an archive solution, choosing a product that was MAM vendor independent made BlackPearl the logical choice. Spectra Logic’s BlackPearl integrates with any modern media and entertainment MAM provider, and when combined with BlackPearl RioBroker®, a software front-end data mover for BlackPearl, it can also integrate with third-party HSM’s for streamlined migration. We worked closely with Seven to ensure that we could deliver the performance they needed and I’m really pleased with the final result,” added Matt Hall, Business Development Manager for Techtel.
(Sydney, Australia, 26 November 2021) Network Nine have expanded their Spectra Logic storage ecosystem to include the new StorCycle software solution for storage lifecycle management.
Following Network Nine’s 2018 upgrade from a legacy storage platform that saw them deploy replicating Spectra BlackPearl object storage solutions paired with Spectra T950 Tape Libraries, Nine found that Spectra’s Storcycle® software could potentially replace another legacy storage system during their recent Sydney relocation.
The storage workflow of the legacy system took graphics and compositing files created by Adobe After Effects and Autodesk Flame and moved these into a disparate tape archive and backup location. StorCycle replaces the need for this isolated equipment architecture through its native connectivity with Nine Network’s centralised Spectra BlackPearl hybrid storage platform.
StorCycle is a storage lifecycle management software solution that ensures data is stored on the right tier throughout its lifecycle for greater IT and budgetary efficiencies. Created for organizations that need lasting protection and access to data which is no longer active, but still critical to retain, StorCycle scans primary storage for inactive files and completed projects and migrates them based on set policies to a lower cost tier of storage, which includes any combination of cloud storage, object storage disk, network-attached storage (NAS) and tape. Interoperable with Linux and Windows, StorCycle migrates data, without changing original formats, and allows users to have easy access to all data, including data migrated to longer latency storage mediums like cloud “cold” tiers and tape.
Dylan Van Dyke, Broadcast Tech Manager for Nine Network, said, “Our relocation gave us a unique opportunity to rethink some of our legacy systems and we were really pleased to see that StorCycle could address some workflows that had not been integrated into our main Spectra Object Storage Platform. StorCycle has been running now for some time and we’re really pleased with the results.”
Matthew Hall, Business Development Manager for Techtel, added “Nine Network’s object storage environment, underpinned by Spectra BlackPearl, is now even more capable with the addition of StorCycle. Pairing StorCycle and BlackPearl ensures Nine’s critical data is safe whilst demonstrating a cost savings over their previous workflow. It made sense to choose StorCycle. Native compatibility with BlackPearl alone places it ahead of the competition. But the cost-based logic behind StorCycle’s file movement really sets it apart and we’re excited about the way broadcasters can save money by implementing it into their storage ecosystems.”
About Network Nine
When it comes to connecting brands with the passions of Australians, there’s no other media company like Nine.
As the home of Australia’s most trusted and loved brands spanning news, business and finance, lifestyle, entertainment and sport, we pride ourselves on creating and curating quality content, accessed by consumers when and how they want.
Nine is Australia’s largest locally owned media company with investments spanning television, video on demand, print, digital, and radio. Nine’s assets include the 9 Television Network, video on demand platform 9Now, talkback radio stations 2GB, 3AW, 4BC, 6PR, 2UE, 4BH, 6GT, Magic1278, major mastheads such as The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and The Australian Financial Review, digital properties such as nine.com.au, 9Honey, Pedestrian.TV and CarAdvice, subscription video platform Stan, and majority investments in Domain and Future Women.
About Techtel
Techtel is a leading independent broadcast technology systems specialist, providing dedicated hardware and software to the Asia Pacific broadcast and telecommunications industries. Techtel’s expertise extends from consulting and systems integration through to the supply, installation and support of solutions from an elite class of worldwide partners. The Techtel Group has regional offices in Sydney and Singapore with branches in Auckland and Melbourne. Visit www.techtel.com.au
About Spectra Logic Corporation
About Spectra Logic
Spectra Logic develops a full range of Attack Hardened™ data management and data storage solutions for a multi-cloud world. Dedicated solely to data storage innovation for more than 40 years, Spectra Logic helps organizations modernize their IT infrastructures and protect and preserve their data with a broad portfolio of solutions that enable them to manage, migrate, store and preserve business data long-term, along with features to make them ransomware resilient, whether on-premises, in a single cloud, across multiple clouds, or in all locations at once. To learn more, visit www.spectralogic.com.
(Sydney, Australia, 18 June 2018) Nine Network (“Channel 9”), Australia’s largest commercial free-to-air television network selected Techtel as the systems integrator of choice to develop a seamless interface between their Media Asset Management (MAM) platforms and deep storage across their news and production studios and playout centre at two different locations. This transition will make Channel 9 the first Australian broadcaster to switch from a traditional HSM (Hierarchical Storage Manager) architecture to an on-premise Spectra Logic object storage solution, enabling the company to significantly reduce asset restoration times, utilise genetically diverse media and separate their storage geographically – all via one purpose-built and highly flexible solution.
Developed by Spectra Logic, the BlackPearl® Converged Storage System allows for data storage on multiple targets, including Spectra LTO tape libraries and disk, and multi-site replication for data protection and MAM redundancy. Coupled with a new and seamless integration with Imagine Communications’ Nexio® Motion™ workflow and media management system, as well as combining with Avid Interplay’s existing BlackPearl client, the Spectra Logic system provides a new, long-term storage solution to preserve Channel 9’s persistent data, which is growing from 5PB.
In addition, the newly integrated content management system is expected to lower storage costs by reducing the overhead of multiple software and hardware systems running independently, as well as cutting out the need for multiple vendors and middleware.
“Living in the age of highly sophisticated cyber threats and where digital content outlasts its storage technology, it is critical to have a failsafe storage solution in place, which is also scalable across its capacities, technologies and interfaces. We are confident that Techtel is the ideal broadcast technology systems specialist to provide the optimal mix of hardware, software and integration expertise to serve this purpose,” said David Bowers, CTO Channel 9.
Mal Chandler, CEO of Techtel says: “By entrusting Techtel, Channel 9 can store their data with a greater sense of confidence knowing that their solution is growth-enabling, redundant and genetically diverse. This project illustrates our unique position to independently choose strategic partners and their technology, and deliver the critical project management, commissioning and support that our customers expect.”
Media Contact:
Katia Gryadunova
0414422371
kgryadunova@techtel.com.au
Techtel is a leading independent broadcast technology systems specialist, providing dedicated hardware and software to the Asia Pacific broadcast and telecommunications industries. Techtel’s expertise extends from consulting and systems integration through to the supply, installation and support of solutions from an elite class of worldwide partners. The Techtel Group has regional offices in Sydney and Singapore with branches in Auckland and Melbourne.
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