Gorilla Group Deploys StorageDNA LTO LTFS Solution

StorageDNA, Inc., in nearline and archiving workflow solutions for media professionals, announced that the Gorilla Group Ltd is benefiting from its solution, DNA Evolution.

Centrally managed from its Cardiff HQs location, with additional systems in two other company locations, implementing DNA Evolution has accelerated the company’s archive-restore process to gain workflow efficiencies and significant time savings.

“Because of the DNA Evolution web-based interface, we can have one person in Cardiff who can effectively manage all of Gorilla Group’s LTO LTFS archiving. It gives us a level of continuity and a more holistic view of our operations,” said Rhodri James, technology director, Gorilla. “We’re dealing with more and more data, and we can now free up space much quicker on our core shared storage system and have the confidence to go closer to job deadlines with data restores. The ability to use an AAF or EDL to do a selective restore for conforms saves a huge amount of space on our storage systems, makes the process faster, and ultimately saves us money.“

“Most of our clients have moved to file-based acquisition and it’s critical that we can deliver them reliable data archiving services. DNA Evolution gives us that ability and it not only strengthens our business, but our business depends on it,” continued James.

Gorilla provides a range of post-production services, broadcast vehicles, and studio facilities for broadcast and film clients, such as the BBC, BBC HD, Sky, Channel 4, S4C, CBeebies, CBBC, Disney Junior, Animal Planet, Sony, Nissan, and Quicksilver. Reliably archiving data and making it accessible in an open format is critical to the customized media workflows Gorilla designs for each client.

“DNA Evolution is a perfect tool for post-production facilities with its use of open formats, such as LTFS, and helps us make the process of accessing data far easier for our clients. It allows us to verify the archived data with MD5 checksums and the checksum reports give clients the confidence that we’ve been diligent in the handling of their data. DNA Evolution also easily integrates into our Avid editorial environment and supports all of our camera formats,” continued James.

The archive asset manager built into DNA Evolution supports more than 180 formats with 100% open metadata access via XML. With DNA Evolution’s automatic extraction of camera master metadata, Gorilla uses the archive asset manager to search and find required rushes (dailies) content when needed, accelerating the workflow for time-sensitive jobs.

Deployed in January 2014, the DNA Evolution LTO LTFS archive solution is now used in the file-based media workflows for all of Gorilla’s clients. One project example is Gorilla Group’s recent work with Tidy Productions, which produces a prime time show in the UK for the broadcaster Sky. When the camera cards come in for this drama, DNA Evolution is used to archive all of the data onto LTO LTFS tape. At the end of the project, the client is provided with one master archive on LTO-6 tape and with it a checksum report, which validates the integrity of the data.

Authorized StorageDNA reseller, ERA LONDON, provided sales and integration services to Gorilla for the following DNA Evolution models: two N100 systems (Linux servers, each with 24 slot libraries), and one M100 system (Mac-based VM with a single LTO drive).

“StorageDNA continues to innovate so we can provide customers, like Gorilla Group, solutions that help them deliver outstanding service to their clients by streamlining media pipelines,” said tC Chakravarty, CEO and president, StorageDNA. “Our goal is to create advanced tools designed to meet the challenges presented by today’s file-based workflows and enable users to build secure, open, and accessible archives.“