home

08/21/2003 - Orange, CA

CaenAV Serves Up Data and Video Storage for Discovery Channel

JC Sierra, System Administrator for Discovery Channel in Miami, Florida had a rather complex problem that he needed to solve. He had 30 Macintosh and Windows workstations all attached to an Apple XServe running OS X server. The applications requiring access varied from Avid Express and Avid MediaComposer to Final-Cut Pro (FCP) to DigiDesign’s ProTools. Sierra had an enormous amount of high-resolution video and audio data as well as print and web content. All 30 workstations required simultaneous access to the data with no downtime. Sierra knew high volume access on a “typical” array of disk drives in a 24 x 7 facility could present a variety of issues, primarily “would the data always be there when his artists needed it.”

“Reliability was the number one concern for me,” said Sierra. “I needed a storage solution that I could count on.”

Sierra looked to CaenAV to provide him with cost effective, fault tolerant storage, the “backbone” for his network. Sierra purchased CaenAV’s Raptor 8HD solution to provide the storage behind the server. The Raptor 8 HD features a high-speed RAID controller capable of running multiple RAID levels including 3 and 5 as well as dual redundant power supplies and cooling fans. Having an array with redundant components was crucial for Sierra. Redundancy was key when working with all of the web and audio/video content for the programs seen on the Discovery Channel network.

“I had to be sure that there would be no down time,” said Sierra. “The users hitting the storage are Avid users, ProTools users, FCP users, they want the data to just be there when they are ready to create. They don’t want to have to think of themselves as storage experts, that’s my job.”

A no nonsense Systems Administrator like Sierra was happy to work with the storage experts at CaenAV to provide him with a bulletproof solution. The engineering behind the storage is a large part of CaenAV’s formula for success. For the military, Caen actually designs storage solutions that far exceed industry specifications and standards for reliability and durability ensuring that regardless of where a storage solution was installed it will not fail. CaenAV storage solutions are designed to consistently perform well above commonly held industry specifications. The CaenAV product line features a number of high-end storage solutions including 2 GB Fibre Channel, Ultra SCSI and IDE RAID solutions.

Sierra was so happy with the performance, cost and reliability of the CaenAV storage that he followed up with several purchases of smaller CaenAV’s disk arrays for their ProTools solutions. Discovery is using the ProTools plus video option. This gives them a high-end professional audio editing and mixing application that can also support a channel of high-resolution video. The data requirements for the audio plus video system is just another one of the reason’s Sierra knew that he could count on Caen.

“With the video servers, reliability was my main concern, speed was secondary. However with the audio and video computer products under one roof in ProTools, speed suddenly became paramount. I knew that the CaenAV solutions didn’t sacrifice performance for redundancy,” said Sierra.

More information about CaenAV and The Discovery Channel can be found at www.caenav.com and www.discovery.com respectively.

About CaenAV

CaenAV is a subsidiary of Caen Engineering, Inc., a globally recognized leader of RAID, IT & Telecommunications storage solutions. Caen Engineering, Inc., with corporate headquarters in Orange, CA, has successfully marketed and sold high-end storage solutions into the government, military and IT markets for 27 years. CaenAV provides storage solutions for the digital audio, video, and animation markets.

About Discovery Channel

Discovery Channel is a division of Discovery Communications, Inc. (DCI). DCI is the leading global real-world media and entertainment company. DCI has grown from its core property, the Discovery Channel, first launched in the United States in 1985, to current global operations in 152 countries with 180 million total subscribers. DCI's programming is tailored to the specific needs of viewers around the globe, and distributed through 77 separate feeds in 33 languages. DCI's 33 networks of distinctive programming represent 14 entertainment brands including TLC, Animal Planet, Travel Channel, Discovery Health Channel, Discovery Kids, and a family of digital channels. DCI's other properties consist of Discovery.com and 165 Discovery Channel retail stores. DCI also distributes BBC America in the United States.