Deluxe Entertainment Opts for DDN

Deluxe Entertainment Services Group Inc. has deployed DataDirect Networks, Inc. (DDN) WOS object storage to address the massive storage and sharing of digital content requirements critical to the filmmaking process, anywhere in the world.

Faced with exponential data growth and a need to better manage the delivery demands of its feature-film workload, Deluxe sought an improved storage architecture that would relieve pressure on its expensive tier-one SAN, reduce reliance on LTO tape, and scale more easily across its global footprint.

Following an evaluation, Deluxe met this challenge by deploying WOS global object storage that ensures the maximum performance and data availability needed to meet fast turnarounds and rigorous project demands of the post-production and actively accessed archive workflow from around the globe.

Deluxe, through its respective company 3, EFILM, Method Studios, and Beast brands, has played an important role in many acclaimed films, including the 2014 Oscar winner for Best Picture, 12 Years a Slave, and other box-office hits, such as Captain Phillips, Wolverine’ and ‘Rush.

A multi-site post-production house with offices in Los Angeles, New York, London, Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit, Vancouver and various other sites, Deluxe operates a 24×7 business with remote teams working together to address all aspects of post-production. Ensuring fast turnaround of digital content by automating workflows throughout the post-production lifecycle is key to delivering content whenever and wherever it’s needed.

With one of the largest pools of colorists and visual effects specialists in the industry, Deluxe feature films produce 300-500TB of raw camera masters with up to 50MB per frame, depending on format – image, color and sound – all of which doubles in size with 3D shows, increasing frame rates and ultra-high-definition resolution.

To meet these rigorous environment demands, DDN delivers an integrated active archive solution for migrating, preserving and accessing billions of files containing rich media content in partnership with ASG Software Solutions, using WOS object storage with ObjectAssure erasure coding and ASG-Digital Archiving (ADA). Deluxe benefits from this solution with improved uptime and data availability but with less overhead cost than traditional disk storage platforms.

DDN’s ‘Pure’ Object Architecture
Optimized for Geographically Distributed Workforce
The integrated DDN and ASG solution is based on ADA, a Performance File Archiving Software solution for large data volumes, and WOS distributed object-based storage technology. The WOS-ADA solution leverages ADA archiving and data movement capabilities in conjunction with the WOS high-scale storage capabilities, performance R/W abilities, efficient disk utilization and geographic replication.

Upon rethinking its storage architecture, Deluxe is implementing eight WOS nodes with a total of 720 TBs of storage and an ADA archiving platform powered by four data movers; the company expects to scale beyond six PB in order to keep pace with ongoing expansion and project demands.

To deliver storage performance that rivals Deluxe’s SAN yet scales globally, DDN architected the WOS solution without an underlying file system. This architecture enables Deluxe Creative Services to achieve performance that matches its tier-one storage yet expands across its geographically distributed environment to meet the needs of its remote teams.

As WOS nodes are deployed around the globe, a boost in productivity is being experienced at each location because finding content now is much easier and requires less effort.

An additional benefit of WOS is increased data reliability as the platform offers a choice of data protection capabilities through ObjectAssure, which provides local, replicated and distributed erasure coding to safeguard data with very high durability and availability at multiple locations. Since Deluxe teams need to quickly access content and turn content rapidly, having a DR copy that they can replicate selectively gives the company an active DR site for an extra level of protection and higher workflow efficiency.

Phil Mendelson, CTO, Deluxe, said: “DDN and ASG offer the best technology in their respective fields, so we’re confident our integrated solution will represent the best-of-breed in active archiving and fast data movement. As we roll out the deployment, we’ll bring all the elements together in a cohesive ecosystem.

“We’re getting great throughput on our WOS platform. Bandwidth rivals what we get on a tier-one SAN but at a much lower TCO.

“We’re under a lot of pressure to turn materials around rapidly, so we need maximum uptime and data availability. WOS provides a DR copy that we can replicate selectively, giving us an active DR site for an extra level of protection.

“We’re always expanding, so we expect to see WOS grow to 6 PBS pretty quickly. DDN is helping us build a model that is as effective as SAN storage but far more economical and scalable-I believe object storage is the future of network storage.“