RTL adopts DataDirect Networks' Silicon Storage Appliance

RTL Television, Germany's largest television network, have selected a DataDirect Networks S2A 6000 Silicon Storage Appliance as the storage network backbone of their Integrated News Editing System (INES) real-time news platform.
In the first phase of INES rollout, RTL have already used the appliance-enabled environment for coverage of the 2002 Winter Olympics and the Netherlands Royal Wedding.
Using the Silicon Storage Appliance as the enabling storage network foundation allows RTL Television to achieve increased productivity and workflow efficiencies, including acceleration of news acquisition, production, live broadcasting and archiving. Moving to a real-time, non-linear digital environment with DataDirect Networks' Silicon Storage technology has brought storage cost reductions, workflow improvement, and the ability to easily scale the SAN environment.
The move to restructure the entire news environment to digital using a storage network appliance foundation allows the network to quickly deliver time-sensitive news stories and provide viewers with superior quality broadcasts a lower total operating cost.
Prior to integration of RTL's news production system, the news system was based on analogue, tape-based technologies, where concurrent access to data was non-existent.
INES was designed to transition the linear tape-based environment to a real-time, non-linear and more automated system, with video editors concurrently accessing digital content through a storage network pool. With INES, satellite video sources are ingested into twin Matrox DigiServer DTV capture stations and moved into the S2A 6000 Silicon Storage Appliance-directed fabric.
The Silicon Storage Appliance-based approach allows the acceleration of news workflow on a system that offers the opportunity to experience new aspects of news production.
"Many broadcast professionals are determining that Silicon Storage Appliances bring competitive advantages over other technologies. Silicon Storage Appliances enable increased efficiency, lower operating costs and the highest levels of Quality of Service (QoS) needed for next generation broadcast environments," said Robert Woolery, Vice President of Corporate Development, DataDirect Networks.
DataDirect Networks, www.datadirectnet.com
RTL Television, www.rtl-group.com
(GMcG)