BBC Cymru Wales is now the corporation’s largest production base outside London, and continuing to grow with more high profile programmes being moved to the centre. To support its editing and post production network it has now added a MatrixStore nearline storage system from Object Matrix.
The post facility has a network of more than 50 Avid clients, connected to Avid Isis and Unity servers, which were becoming congested. It was felt uneconomic and impractical to extend the Avid systems, so engineers looked for a nearline archive which could hold a significant volume of HD content and communicate seamlessly with the Avid environment.
Productivity considerations ruled out a data tape archive, and so a server solution was sought. The best fit was the MatrixStore from Object Matrix, together with its InterConnect software which provides the transparent link between the nearline store and the Avid editors.
The architecture of MatrixStore provides instant data protection to all assets as soon as they are loaded, together with automatic failover in case of hardware problems. The store itself is scalable to very large capacities: the additional work at BBC Cymru Wales that drove the project brought in 30TB of content.
Content in the MatrixStore can be searched via metadata from within any of the Avid clients. “The integration just makes it easier for editors and administrators to get their hands on the data when they need it, without leaving the environment they are most comfortable with,” according to Object Matrix’s Nick Pearce.
