It's that time of year again when we take down the tree and the lights and start thinking about the New Year. Thoughts turn to what we want for 2014 and how we can make it better than the year before. Typically the focus is on the personal—get in better shape, finish the project car, find the perfect girl…oops, sorry, you don't need my list of 2014 resolutions. While resolutions are great, goals might be better as they give us targets to aim for and definitive desired outcomes. Since I'm a storage technology kind of guy, let's take a look at some data center focused resolutions and goals for 2014.
Substance over style. I am not a trendy person, to which anyone who looks in my closet can attest. That said, it is easy to get caught up in the latest trends or conventional wisdom when it comes to technology. You would think that back office technology would be immune from issues other than solving problems, but that isn't always. Most technology does some things well, and some things poorly. There is no 'one thing' that is the perfect solution for all use cases. As you make your next move, pick gear, software and partners that will first and foremost help solve the problem, don't worry about what someone else will think of your choice. On more occasions than you think, an "old" technology, such as tape or virtualization, can create a competitive advantage.
Pay attention to all costs. It is amazing just how many companies pay attention only to initial acquisition costs for technology. Vendors like to talk about total cost of ownership (TCO) and how their widget will save money, but more often than not the purchase comes down to the initial PO. I'm looking at insulation for my garage, as it gets pretty cold sometimes in Colorado, and there is a tremendous difference in cost between different types of insulation. I'm going to end up spending more on better insulation because it will save me money in the long run. Of course, I expect to live at my place for a long time. If I had a three-year outlook, my decision might be different. We need to think the same way when selecting data center solutions. If you have 100 physical servers and can virtualize them down to 10, there is a good chance you will save a ton of money. If you have four servers and can virtualize them to one, the added complexity and management cost of the virtual system might outpace the savings in hardware. Same with storage, if you have four TB of data to protect, a USB hard drive might be the best bet. If you have 40 PB, automated tape libraries with modern high capacity tapes will likely be the overall cost leader.
Make things simple. Technology was supposed to make our lives easier. In truth, we are over complicating things with technology most of the time. The more complex things get the harder they are to implement and troubleshoot. They might do amazing things, but when they break, they are often a lot harder to get running again. Technology today seems to love complex solutions to problems. Many problems are hard to solve, and need complex solutions, but we need to focus on finding simple solutions to all our problems. Amazingly they can often save time and money. If they solve the problem but aren't as fancy, who cares?
We can each make 2014 a great year and make some resolutions that will help our lives both at work and home better. Thinking back to my resolutions, I entered myself in a 5K and my car in a show on the same weekend in April. Nothing like some targets to help keep the goals real. I'm still looking for a plan for finding the girl…
Grass Valley’s end-to-end ecosystem of reliable, open standards-based solutions helps content creators, broadcasters and media organizations to produce brilliant content and build successful media businesses. Our award-winning technology and trusted industry expertise empower our customers to create captivating experiences that connect people anywhere, on any device, through the magic of media.
As the industry’s R&D powerhouse, with the most comprehensive suite of solutions for compelling live content, we are the trusted partner to many of the biggest and most creative names in the media and entertainment business. We help our customers transition to IP and cloud-based infrastructures to enable flexible, scalable and smart workflows. Our advanced solutions enable the production of rich, high quality content that brings the viewer closer to the action; engages them with the story and connects them with each other.
Headquartered in Montreal, Grass Valley has been in the media business for more than 60 years and is currently pending acquisition by Black Dragon Capital from Belden Inc. The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2020, following the receipt of regulatory approvals and other closing conditions. Read the Joint Technical Brief.
Since 1992, Aveco has grown into the TV industry’s largest independent automation company serving more than 300 of the world’s leading broadcasters. Aveco provides solutions for production and master control playout automation, media asset management and workflow automation. In 2019, Aveco won the IBC Innovation Award in the “Content Everywhere” category.
Dalet solutions and services enable media organizations to create, manage and distribute content faster and more efficiently, fully maximizing the value of assets. Based on an agile foundation, Dalet offers rich collaborative tools empowering end-to-end workflows for news, sports, program preparation, post-production, archives and enterprise content management, radio, education, governments and institutions.
Dalet platforms are scalable and modular. They offer targeted applications with key capabilities to address critical functions of small to large media operations – such as planning, workflow orchestration, ingest, cataloging, editing, chat & notifications, transcoding, play out automation, multi-platform distribution and analytics. Dalet solutions and services are used around the world at hundreds of content producers and distributors, including public broadcasters, commercial networks and operators, sports teams and leagues and government organizations.
BlackPearl for VSNExplorer
Spectra’s BlackPearl® Converged Storage System provides a seamlessly integrated multi-tier storage solution for VSNExplorer users, eliminating the need for additional middleware and its recurring and outdated licensing model. BlackPearl, as a simple plug-and-play storage platform, allows VSNExplorer users to automate and simplify the management of their assets on the most suitable storage medium required, including public cloud.