EditShare Field 2 Portable Shared Storage

EditShare LLC, in shared media storage and end-to-end tapeless workflow solutions, announced the availability of Field 2, its next-generation portable shared storage solution with integrated asset management.

The platform includes file ingest, project sharing/bin locking, and archiving capabilities in an all-in-one, high-performance and rugged chassis for on-location shoots, ENG trucks and remote offices, the it is durable, light and compact, meeting the stringent airline carry-on regulations.

With an optional integrated Flow SDI ingest card, users can record up to two channels of HD in standard codecs such as XDCAM-EX35, Avid DNxHD and DVCProHD. Flow’s edit-while-capture capability lets users start editing the moment they begin recording – for ENG scenarios for fast turnaround on late-breaking news stories. With an optional lightweight expansion unit, a single Field 2 configuration can scale to 32TB. And using the integrated EditShare Sync Tool, users can send data from a remote location back to home base over an Internet VPN connection.

Field 2 Feature Highlights

• Flexible Storage Options – Field 2 is available with several different 3.5-inch or 2.5-inch HDD options – including 10K SAS and SSD – allowing users to choose a configuration that best matches their needs, such as greatest amount of storage, highest performance, or best economy.
• Performance and Stream Counts: Each four-drive set of 3.5-inch drives can support a ‘baseline performance’ of eight streams of ProRes HQ or Avid DNxHD 220, or 24 streams of 25-Mbit video such as DV25 or XDCAM-EX 25. An eight-drive Field with 2.5-inch 10K SAS drives provides about a two-fold increase in performance over the baseline. An eight-drive Field with 2.5-inch SSD drives provides about a six-fold increase over the baseline.
• Reliability: Field 2 storage is built with reliable enterprise HDDs and SSD drives and uses hardware RAID-5 or RAID-6 protection. The rugged chassis is built for upgrades and maintenance, with removable drive cages and a slide-out CPU tray design that allows access to all components.
• Ethernet Connectivity: In 2004, EditShare pioneered the idea of ‘in-place editing’ over standard GbE connections. Today, thousands of customers can testify to the reliability and performance of GbE – even when playing back multi-stream effects. With Field 2, users can make direct connections between workstations and the four on-board GbE ports, or use a unique Linux bonding configuration to combine the bandwidth of all four Ethernet ports and connect them to a low-cost switch.
• Optional 10-GbE Port: With an optional 10-GbE card, users can connect a Field 2 system to a 10Gb switch for expanded client connectivity, connection to client workstations for finishing work and other high data rate editing, or to use Field 2 with other EditShare servers (XStream, Energy, Flow or Ark) on the same network.
• Integrated Flow Asset Management and Ark Backup and Archiving: Every Field 2 system includes Flow for file-based ingest, cataloging, searching, simple cuts-only editing, and drag-and-drop into industry-standard NLE applications. Field 2 provides two concurrent Flow Browse licenses for Windows or Mac clients as well as one file-based ingest license. In addition, Field includes Ark software for backup or archive to qualified LTO tape libraries, available for purchase separately.
• Scalability: EditShare’s Extreme Scalable Architecture (ESA) allows connecting multiple Field units on a single network, or connecting a Field unit to other rack-mounted EditShare servers, where they all appear as a single storage pool.
• File Level Sharing: EditShare’s NAS technology controls locking at the file level, allowing multiple editors to write to the same volume simultaneously – crucial for efficient workflows. In comparison, many SANs use volume-level locking, allowing only one user at a time to write to a volume.
• Project Sharing and Bin Locking: EditShare developed and patented the first non-Avid ‘bin locking’ solution to allow Avid editors to work collaboratively and safely using the same bins simultaneously. EditShare later extended the technology to support Apple Final Cut Pro, Adobe Premiere Pro and the company’s own NLE, Lightworks.
• Administration Tools: Although the technology behind every EditShare system is complex, the front-end administration tools make it easy to create user accounts and spaces for media and projects, and to then assign different user rights to the various spaces.
• Dynamically Resizable Spaces: To make media management easier, content creation organizations usually want to create different ‘spaces’ for different projects so that media files can be easily archived or deleted when they are no longer being used. Because EditShare ‘spaces’ are just virtual volumes, enlarging or shrinking them after they have been created is as simple as a couple of clicks.
• No Per-Seat License Fees: With EditShare shared storage, there are no per-seat license fees, removing barriers to productivity and providing ROI.
• Deletion Security Controls: EditShare Administrators can set privileges such as who can delete files and when. Deleted material can first be moved to ‘Trash’ so that it is possible to  ‘Undo’ a deletion if a file is deleted by accident.: EditShare Administrators can set privileges such as who can delete files and when. Deleted material can first be moved to ‘Trash’ so that it is possible to  ‘Undo’ a deletion if a file is deleted by accident.

EditShare Field 2 Specifications

• Light and compact – The chassis is 8.25" tall x 12.75" deep x 12" wide and weighs less than 25 pounds. The expansion unit is the same width and depth, and 4.25" tall.
• Quiet – It is quiet enough to use on location.
• Expandable and flexible storage options – Both the main unit and the expansion unit can be factory-configured with 4" x 3.5" or 8" x 2.5" drives. Drive options include SATA, 10K SAS and SSD, and capacities range from 4TB to 32TB in a single Field 2 configuration.
• Flexible slot configuration – Optional items include additional GbE ports, 10-GbE, Flow HD/SD-SDI ingest, and a SAS or FC card for connection to an LTO tape library.
• Carry bag – An optional Porta-Brace carry bag facilitates comfortable transportation of an unit.

Builds on Tradition
EditShare introduced its first Field model in 2007. Since then, Field systems have been deployed to cover sports events such as the Tour de France, America’s Cup sailing, World Cup soccer in South Africa, Wimbledon tennis and the Summer Olympic Games in Beijing. In addition, units have been installed in small OB trucks and used to cover major news events such as the Chilean mine collapse of 2009 and the 2010 and 2011 European Union sessions.