SAN DIEGO - At SIGGRAPH, nStor www.nstor.com is demonstrating a shared storage area networking solution for nonlinear editing and 3D graphic animation users.
nStor, a developer of storage-network technologies, has teamed with Sanbolic, a developer and manufacturer of software and file systems for shared storage solutions, to use Sanbolic's Melio FS to improve workflow for content creators by providing faster and more reliable access to shared data. Sanbolic's software and file systems are compatible with a variety of NLE and graphic applications.
SAN solutions are used in content creation environments to keep all data in a central place, rather than using isolated direct-attach storage. Consolidating the storage saves hardware cost and nStor's Fibre RAID volume management allows users to access and share different data simultaneously.
Simultaneous access, improved workflow, and simplified management are achieved via file and volume sharing software. Sanbolic's Kayo volume sharing software works as a layer between the file system and the operating system to overcome the obstacles of a non SAN-aware file system.
Sanbolic's Melio FS, shown by nStor at SIGGRAPH, is a shared file system that replaces or coexists with the native file system allowing multiple writers to work on a file and an unlimited number of readers to view changes to the file simultaneously in compliant applications over Fibre channel, Ethernet, or an IP network.
In a content creation environment, workstations ingest the data, turn it into the format needed for editing, and then write it to the shared storage. Once the data is on the shared storage NLE any graphic station may access it, for video, audio or creative 3D editing. When the material is finalized it will be reformatted and distributed via video servers to the output medium. The difference between a traditional work process with direct attached storage, and consolidated SAN storage formatted with Melio FS, is that multiple editors can work on different parts of a file simultaneously. They can all view what the others are doing, and they don't have to manually transfer any data. nStor and Sanbolic work together to provide customers and application manufacturers with SAN solutions fulfilling these advanced requirements.
Some of the applications that have been tested with nStor's storage and Melio FS in a workgroup environment are Pinnacle's Liquid Purple, Silver and Blue; Pinnacle Targa 3000; Leitch/DPS Velocity Q; and Adobe Premiere.