Several Customers Embrace Cache-A LTO-6 Archiving

Cache-A Corporation revealed how its LTO-6 archive products are being used on Hollywood blockbusters, and by NFL teams, arts institutions, medical companies and universities, plus many others, for long-term asset protection.

These installations reflect the versatility of Cache-A to cost-effectively meet archival needs across a variety of industries. Cache-A will debut its full LTO-6 product range at IBC 2013, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
 
REDLab Digital, a full-service, post-production facility in Toronto, is using Power-Cache6, with dual LTO-6 drives, as its primary archive appliance. The company recently deployed this combination for rapid production archiving on Sony Pictures’ $100m production Pompeii, directed by Paul W.S. Anderson. Pompeii, shot in stereoscopic 3D, using RED Epic cameras, delivered around 2TB of data per day, amounting to nearly 120TB in total, including RAW R3D and editorial files, plus VFX pulls. Power-Cache LTO-6 was used to make two LTFS LTO-6 copies of each day’s footage, with one copy stored off-site. REDLab Digital also took advantage of Cache-A’s new Simul-Copy, LTO-tape duplication capability on Pompeii.
 
"We were already running a Pro-Cache5 24/7 on other major Hollywood movies, and needed extra capacity and speed, so we invested in the new Power-Cache LTO-6," said Andy Hunter, owner and Flame artist, REDLab Digital. "We chose Cache-A’s LTO-6 appliance because they already deliver solutions we know we can rely on, plus they are easy to integrate into our pipeline. The Power-Cache performed flawlessly right out of the box. Combining it with Simul-Copy, we can now make multiple LTO-6 copies simultaneously, saving absolutely huge amounts of time."
 
In broadcasting, one of Turner Broadcasting System, Inc.‘s production operations in New York needed a simple backup solution for RAW original camera master files. It selected the desktop Pro-Cache6 to perform scheduled, unattended backups from a central storage NAS.

Kinetic Productions, Inc., a production and post-production company in Honolulu, Hawaii, has replaced its existing Blu-ray disk facility with Pro-Cache-6, while NFL football team, the Minnesota Vikings, reported the integration of its Pro-Cache6 as "pretty slick".

Cineplex Entertainment LP, one of Canada’s largest entertainment companies, has installed Power-Cache.

In the medical sector, Cook Medical, BJC Healthcare and pharmaceuticals giant Merck & Co., Inc., are among several companies to select Cache-A LTO-6 archive appliances to meet their needs.
 
VTape is an international distribution, exhibition and resource center, in Toronto, which restores and preserves artworks created by independent filmmakers and video artists. The company holds over 5,000 different titles, dating back over 30 years, running into tens of thousands of hours. Material is being archived to LTO-6, via Cache-A Pro-Cache6, from a vast range of antiquated formats, such as 1" tape, VHS and Umatic cassette tapes, through to the very latest QuickTime and digital camera formats. Works include the canon of acclaimed Canadian video artist Colin Campbell, and Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner, the first feature to be written, directed and acted in the indigenous Inuit language, directed by Zacharias Kunuk, and the winner of the prestigious Golden Camera Award at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival.
 
"We’re responsible for a wide range of contemporary and historic video artworks, so preserving and archiving them properly is absolutely critical," said VTape technical coordinator Mark Pellegrino. "Longevity a big deal to us, and we wanted to get rid of unreliable hard-drives completely. Cache-A came highly-recommended by colleagues in the archiving industry. The robustness and backward compatibility of LTO-6 means it will be 10 years before we have to think again about our archiving strategy. Pro-Cache6 is simple to use and is hugely cost-efficient too, compared to videotape archiving, as every minute of data stored on LTO-6 is down to just pennies."
 
In higher-education Southeastern University, Florida, is among many academic institutions to invest in Cache-A LTO-6. Southeastern University has undertaken a complete overhaul of its studio and broadcast facilities, upgrading to a full HD workflow. The university runs a range of broadcasting degrees and also uses its facilities to produce promotional videos, chapel services, student concerts and shows. It uses Power-Cache, with an LTO-6 Library24, for all archival and harnesses the appliance’s NAS capabilities to share materials between editorial bays.
 
"With our upgrade to HD, we realized the data output would multiply considerably, and that we would need somewhere to store all of this material safely. We were also looking to take advantage of shared storage, but didn’t have the budget for a large SAN," said Ian Fritzsche, campus engineer, Southeastern University. "It’s great to be in at the start of the LTO-6 life-cycle, as it will be relevant for many years ahead, and, with Cache-A’s Library24, the capacity is theoretically infinite. The fact that Power-Cache6 also works as a NAS, meant we didn’t have the extra cost of purchasing separate shared storage. Overall, Cache-A delivers a well-rounded archive solution. You’d be hard pressed to find anything as versatile, with so many features and support from any other manufacturer."