Harmonic has extended its Omneon Spectrum mid-range storage system with a solid-state drive (SSD) option, the Spectrum MediaCenter SSD. This, the company claims, makes it the first modular server system to offer a choice of SSD or hard disk drive storage.
With the Spectrum MediaPort architecture the system is designed to be scalable through a modular architecture. It is particularly aimed at broadcasters and playout facilities looking for configurations from four to 12 channels in a single server.
The new MediaCenter SSD chassis offers up to 4TB of storage in a 2U frame. It reduces operational costs as it requires less power and therefore less cooling. With no moving parts it also operates more quietly than disk-based systems.
In all other respects it performs exactly like disk-based members of the Spectrum product line, supporting up to 12 channels at 50Mbps and 600Mbps total realtime bandwidth. It also ensures full media exchange and the same extensive support for third-party systems such as automation, media management, playout control, and editing systems.
The system operates with all Spectrum-compatible software applications, APIs, and media formats, and it supports up to six externally connected Spectrum MediaPort I/O modules for realtime ingest and playout of video and audio content. Equipped with integrated storage, the system not only eliminates external fibre channel storage cabling, it also reduces space and power requirements by collapsing the rack space required for ingest and playout.
“MediaCenter SSD extends the Spectrum product line to offer even higher levels of reliability and availability for the most demanding playout applications,” said Mark Cousins, product line manager for media servers at Harmonic. “While maintaining the flexibility and robust design for which the Spectrum line is known, MediaCenter SSD gives media companies access to a larger-scale server system boasting the many benefits of SSD storage.”
