XenData Signs Three OEMs for LTO Digital Video Archive Software

XenData Limited announces that Global Distribution Group, Playbox Technologies and SM Data S.A. have signed up as OEM partners for XenData’s new XenData6 software, which is specifically designed to create cost effective archiving solutions for video file storage on LTO data tape.

XenData’s new XenData6 software seamlessly manages an LTO tape drive connected to a Windows 7 computer and provides easy to use functionality for archive, restore and tape management, making archiving to LTO tape as easy as dragging and dropping files and folders to the tape drive using Windows Explorer. Similarly, files and folders may be restored from tape by dragging and dropping to any available local logical drive or network share. The XenData6 will be showcased for the first time at NAB 2010 on April 12.

OEM partners will be offering complete archive systems including an LTO tape drive and XenData6 software and will be joint branded with XenData:

• Global Distribution, headquartered in the UK, is a specialist distributor delivering solutions to satisfy the needs of storage-intensive and archive applications such as digital video, CCTV, broadcast and other rich media and content generation markets.
• Playbox, headquartered in the UK, is an international communications and information technology company serving the broadcast and corporate markets worldwide. With installations in over 8,000 TV channels worldwide, Playbox is a leading provider to the broadcast industry.
• SM Data, headquartered in Spain, is a provider of storage solutions to the Spanish market and has a particularly strong presence in the media and entertainment industry. The company offers a wide range of data storage solution under its StoreData brand.

"Through our relationships with Global Distribution, Playbox Technology and SM Data, XenData6 will be available worldwide," said Dr. Phil Storey, co-founder and CEO of XenData. "We are thrilled to have had so much interest from our OEM partners to date. XenData6 is serving a real market need and we look forward to having successful and fruitful relationships with our global partners."

"Global Distribution’s solution based on XenData’s new XenData6 software will be compatible with our existing Infinity archive server solutions," said Keith Warburton, Managing Director of Global Distribution. "This will open a wide range of new workflow possibilities for broadcast, production and post production customers."  

"XenData6 is an excellent entry point for an archival solution for companies of all sizes and complements our StoreData SHARC family," commented Jordi Sabiol, General Manager of SM Data. "It gives smaller organizations the ability to create an archive that can be later upgraded to an automated archive server using XenData’s X64 Edition software together with a tape library. For bigger organizations, LTO cartridges generated by XenData6 can also be used as transport media between offices and locations, rather than sending USB hard drives or dozens of DVD for editing purposes. An LTO tape is much more rugged for transportation than a USB hard drive and the cost is just a fraction."  

The XenData6 software provides:

• Fast File Transfers to and from LTO-4 tape cartridges – LTO-4 provides 800 GB per tape which represents about 35 hours at DV50; a long archival life of 30 years; and provides excellent performance delivering archive and restore rates at many times real-time.
• Archive and Restore via Drag and Drop – XenData6 software archives to and restores from LTO tape using Windows Explorer and allows the transfer of files to and from LTO by using drag and drop or copy and paste, so files can be easily archived to tape from any accessible logical letter drive or network share.
• Maintains Original Folder Structure and Support for all File Types – Allows the seamless transfer of nested folder structures to and from LTO tape and supports all file types including non-video files.
• Supports an Unlimited Number of Offline Tapes – Manages a large offline LTO tape archive, as it displays contents and allows searching of an unlimited number of offline tapes that are retained ‘on the shelf.’
• Compatible with XenData’s Archive Server Solutions – Together, they support a wide range of workflows including the transfer of video files from solid state camera data stores, such as P2, to a server based post production environment.
• Tape is Self-Describing – Easy Transfer between Systems – A contents catalog is written at the end of the LTO tapes which makes it fast and easy to move tapes from one system to another.
• Writes in POSIX tar Format – Files are written to data tape using the open standard POSIX tar format so files can be restored for decades to come using a wide range of native Linux and Unix operating systems, Microsoft Services for Unix, as well as XenData software.
• Files May Span Tapes – Allows files to be spanned across multiple tapes. This is particularly useful for very large video files.