Xyratex Blu-Ray Master Encoding System Selected by Pony Canyon

Xyratex Ltd. was chosen as a preferred storage vendor for the Blu-ray Master encoding system. Pony Canyon Enterprise, Inc., in the Japanese music and video industry, will use the new Xyratex-based Blu-ray encoding configuration in order to produce movies and music DVDs selling throughout Asia. MIC Associates, Inc., a long-standing solution integrator of Xyratex products, was integral to the deployment of this new technology at Pony Canyon Enterprise, Inc., through Totsu Sangyo, the partner of MIC Associates.

Blu-ray, also known as Blu-ray disc (BD), is the next generation optical disc format developed by the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) and is supported by more than 170 of the world’s leading media manufacturers, music companies and major movie studios. The format was developed to enable recording, rewriting and playback of high-definition video and for storing large amounts of data.

The Xyratex F5412E RAID controller will provide the storage for Pony Canyon Enterprise, Inc.’s Blu-ray Master encoding process. The controller’s high throughput and reliability offer the performance required to support the intensive IO and massive data load generated by the encoding process. The F5412E combines Fibre Channel connectivity with Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) and Serial ATA-II (SATA) drive technology for a cost effective, high performance, small footprint 2U storage system. The product also includes sophisticated storage management software, flexible interface support, and highly reliable storage that can be expanded on the fly, delivering the functionality and scalability necessary to meet the demands of Pony Canyon Enterprise, Inc.’s demanding environment.

“The solution we supplied includes the Sony Video Encoder Software and Xyratex RAID unit as a Totsu Sangyo TSPE Cluster Encoding system for Authoring and Encoding Blu-ray/DVD,” said Kentaro Murata, Project leader of TSPE Blu-ray Master encoding system, Totsu Sangyo. “This markedly high speed encoding processing was made possible by the use of Xyratex’s shared storage in a real-time clustered encoding environment. The storage behind the Blu-ray encoding system is a critical component.”

“Xyratex and MIC have successfully worked together for years and we are looking forward to the rapid adoption of Blu-ray technology in Japan and the Asia-Pacific region,” said Todd Gresham, executive vice president of Networked Storage Solutions for Xyratex. “We also see the opportunity to parallel the adoption of this technology in North America and solidify our growing presence in the video and multimedia market segments.”