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Shopping for Shared Storage – LumaForage, ProMAX, etc.?
Hello,
The company is work for is new to shared storage (as am I) and we will be making a significant investment in a system soon. We produce ~ 8-15 original videos weekly primarily for digital distribution (driving web and social traffic as well as some production). Our 2 primary immediate needs are 1) shared storage and 2) an offsite LTO backup. Although the ProMAX Platform is attractive/likely great and my trusted reseller partner has my best interests in mind, I’m still a little uncertain about needing the overall package and price that goes along with it (integrated shared storage, MAM, LTO w/ single UI). The other system that has attracted my attention is the LumaForge Jellyfish Tower (120TB). The LumaForge is certainly less intimidating from an IT, hardware and ongoing service/support standpoint. My hesitation with ProMAX is that I don’t know if I need a MAM — 98% of our edits consist of new video (not archival). I’m having a hard time envisioning taking the time meta tagging files as our business is very much driven around new, more and faster.
Given my server inexperience, a craw, walk, run pace of shared storage familiarization is more in my comfort zone, e.g., as I ease in and build knowledge, perhaps I will want to add a MAM, but would rather treat that as a decision onto itself after meeting known/immediate needs (shared storage and offset LTO backup).
Thanks a bunch for any time spent sharing your thoughts.
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2 Replies
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Take a look at Facilis Terrablock. It can house a card that will connect to the tape library. The software could be Archiware P5 backup. There is also an archive module for that which is invaluable. It is all quite straight forward, durable and fast.
We are in the Twin Cities and could quote a system, but would want to talk about your workflow first, and ask a bunch of questions about how you do work.
What editing software do you use?
Tom at digitalpictures.com
Tom Grotting
Digital Pictures
Minneapolis -
Hi Ryan!
Thanks for sharing on the Cow. I currently work for GB Labs, and have worked with and for many media workflow and shared storage manufacturers in the past. Including SNS, Quantum, Fibrenetix, XenData, ProMAX, Squarebox, and even more in the last 20 years. You have come to the right place for knowledge, there are some great folks here. Tom Grotting is actually one of our partners at GB Labs. Bob Zelin is a legend. I don’t mean to leave any other hero’s out, I’ve learned a ton here over the years.
Most smaller workgroups don’t need a MAM, this is why we created Mosaic. It’s a simple asset organisational tool, designed to help you work faster and easier. It’s power lies in that it can easily read most of the metadata already contained in your files to help you organise. For example, want the stuff you just ingested, the NEW stuff, just go to our prebuilt new playlist and there it is, it’s all based on dates. Wanna sort by location? We have geotagging built in. Of course you need to make sure the camera date is right! That’s just the beginning though, we also give you an analysis engine that can search for images within the media, so you can go directly to the frame you need. Did I mention all this data can easily be exported to a MAM later on should your needs grow? You can of course, just import files directly from the storage into your NLE of choice. Our Ethos is to create solutions for the creative.
Our Pricing and Performance beat Lumaforge all day. For Example, FastNAS F16 NITRO MAX 192TB, 4x1Gbe, 2 x 10/40Gbe 155TB GB-FN-F16N-MAX-19200-1 $44,999 NEW 40Gbe + NITRO MAX
Last I checked this was 5K cheaper than Lumaforges similarly spec’d server.We have been around for 20 years, and will be around another 20, and you can extend your warranty with us up to 8 years total.
We recently added back blaze and drop box integration as some customers don’t want to deal with LTO, however LTO is still the cost leader in long term backup/archive/disaster recovery. When you say offsite I imagine you mean taking the tapes offsite, rather than the entire appliance right? Either way is cool, our LTO appliances can synchronise over the web if need be.
I’d love to hear more about your workflow and needs, when can we have a chat?
dave.thompson@gblabs.com
323-868-1333
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