EFS XStream Shared Storage System Updated by EditShare

EditShare LLC announced a release of its EFS XStream Shared Storage platform.

With this launch, the platform enables users to mix and match high performance SSD, performance-optimized HDD, and cost-optimized HDD nodes in any combination.

Accompanying this are Storage Goal features and an expanded suite of file protection schemes that enable users to match the degree of fault tolerance with the value of the media assets on a workspace-by-workspace or project-by-project basis. Even a sophisticated EFS configurations still remain easy to manage, to scale and ultra-reliable with one management interface, one set of user accounts and one IP network, combined with its automatic integration of new storage resources and XStream EFS HA options.

Optimizing storage technology and file protection
While an XStream EFS storage system isn’t the first to support mixed HDD- and SSD-based storage, it is the first  to allow users to dynamically define the combination of storage technology and file protection that is applied to media and project spaces.

Within an XStream EFS storage cluster, users can now define semi-autonomous Node Groups that can be based on HDD or SSD technology. Previous XStream EFS configurations supported only XOR2, XOR3 and XOR4 file protection schemes that could tolerate the loss of a single EFS storage node.

This release adds COPYn protection (a.k.a. mirrored files) that can be configured to protect against multiple storage node failures. Compared to XORn, COPYn protection is computationally less intensive; this characteristic makes it a better choice for high data-rate film captures and for protecting frequently updated files like FCPX project files.

XStream EFS Storage Goals are node group and file protection combinations that are assigned to media and project spaces. This allows users to optimize storage technology and file protection for each step in their post-production workflow.

It’s all about workflow
Many demanding projects involve real-time ingest of uncompressed 4K streams. In such a situation, a user can stream to an EFS media space hosted on SSD nodes and use mirrored protection (COPY2) to obtain the best performance.

Subsequent workflow steps typically involve compressed files with lower performance requirements, and the user may also wish to change protection to a more efficient, robust XORn scheme.

With the XStream EFS, the user defines a Storage Goal and it automatically moves the media space from the SSD nodes to the HDD nodes and revises the file protection from COPY2 to XORn protection.

Throughout this process, client devices such as NLEs have uninterrupted access to the media space(s), and management systems, such as Flow MAM and Ark Archive, remain linked to the media space and associated files.

“It’s not uncommon for post-production workflows to start with uncompressed 4K content and transition to other production formats,” comments Bill Thompson, product manager, storage, EditShare, “As the project progresses, the loss of media data has a much more dramatic impact. The XStream EFS is the first scalable shared storage solution to permit the type of storage medium and file protection to be dynamically adjusted as project requirements evolve.“