SAN Solutions Media Transformation SAN Supports New File-Based Program Delivery Model at PBS

RENO, Nev. — May 3, 2010 — SAN Solutions Inc., today announced that the PBS Media Operations Center (MOC) in Arlington, Va., has implemented the company's Media Transformation SAN. This shared storage system will support the intensive workflow processes necessary to accept, transcode, and distribute file-based program content efficiently to a number of distributors, including the Network Operation Center, Web, mobile, and VOD platforms.

"The new MOC SAN will create significant efficiencies and minimize bandwidth hurdles. Also, the SAN's enterprise solution will be one of our core systems where we will create, manage, and deliver file-based content to all of our current and future media outlets," said Wendy Allen, vice president, media operations and engineering, PBS. "The high performance of the Media Transformation SAN will be particularly valuable to our new workflows, as it affords our operations the enormous bandwidth required for faster-than-real-time processing of program content."

PBS programming is collected and prepped on Avid Media Composer. Then, the finished DNX145 HD files are moved from the Avid ISIS to the SAN Solutions system over multiple 10Gb Ethernet links. SAN Solutions worked closely with Avid to certify the integration between the two systems and maximize the transfer speeds over the high speed links.

Once the material is in the MOC SAN, a RadiantGrid™ Platform operating on the SAN Solutions Media Transformation SAN begins to transcode the material into 17 different formats, with over 50 flavors of codecs for all of PBS content delivery outlets including AS-03 for non-real time delivery to the national member stations, Web, mobile, and VOD platforms. The Media Transformation SAN at PBS will handle approximately 40 hours of programming in each 24-hour day without interruption. This high volume of content distribution required a faster-than-real-time solution, so SAN Solutions engineers were tapped to measure, instrument, and create specifications for the entire system.

"The high parallelization of the grid transcoding approach renders standard networking and storage infrastructures incapable of supporting the cumulative bandwidth requirements of the transcoding processes," said Harry Aine, SAN Solutions president and CEO. "To help broadcasters such as PBS realize the benefits of grid transcoding, our Media Transformation SAN has been engineered specifically to support intensive grid-based processing — and its attendant bandwidth requirements — within a highly efficient media workflow."

In addition to providing engineering support for the PBS media storage infrastructure design, SAN Solutions will supply the broadcaster with ongoing 24/7 support for its new storage system.

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About SAN Solutions
Founded in 1998, SAN Solutions Inc. is a media infrastructure company that provides storage and application platforms that enable facilities to revolutionize their workflow and the management of file-based media, regardless of size or complexity. Based on proven methodologies, signature products, key partnerships, and innovative support services, the Reno, Nev.-based company develops best-of-breed solution sets tailored to meet the requirements of both media production and distribution. SAN Solutions clients include leading media companies such as Accenture, CBS, Cox Broadcast, Fox, Lucasfilm, NBC, and PBS.