Television Broadcast - June 1999
NAB 99 - The Year of the
Server
By Sheldon Liebman
Walking around this year's NAB, it seemed that every booth was offering products that were called servers. There were video servers, video file servers, streaming media servers, broadcast servers, and more. In some cases, different types of servers offered similar features. In others, different features were available from products that were referred to as the same "type" of server.
We've been covering servers for a number of years, but there still isn't a single accepted definition of the term. This month, we'll try to sort out the issues involved in defining servers, although we really can't offer the final and correct meaning of the term. That's a decision that only you can make, based on the exact needs of your facility.
Sorting Through the Possibilities
Back when computers and video spoke completely different
languages, video servers were basically library systems that used
control software to access videotapes and play their content
through one or more inputs to a routing system. If the router was
part of a television station, the output went on the air. In a
production facility, it might go to the edit room. In a
corporation, it could be piped to a closed circuit network.
Today, there are many different pieces in the video server puzzle. Instead of videotapes, most servers are using disk-based storage to provide digital information. In some cases, all of the server storage is disk-based and available on-line. In other cases, on-line storage is linked to a videotape-based library system and material is constantly shifted between on-line and archive storage. It probably doesn't matter which method is being used, as long as the system can be considered scaleable. This requirement comes from a simple truth - no matter how much storage you have available today, you need more tomorrow. Any product that wants to be called a server must have a way to expand in the future.
Redundancy is an issue that usually goes along with scalability. As a system grows over time, it's important that your information is protected. Many companies have learned the hard way about the problems of old videotape, but digital storage is not immune to problems. Some servers are designed for short-term storage and may not include any type of extra data protection. Others incorporate RAID (redundant array of independent disks) technology in one form or another to rebuild data that may become corrupted. How important this is for your facility depends on what kind of information you are serving and whether there is any type of independent backup system in place.
Another issue is the format of the stored material. In the previous paragraphs, it's easy to assume that the server creates a video signal. But what type of video signal does it create? Is it analog NTSC or PAL, CCIR601 or one of the new DTV formats? Is only one type of video signal enough, or does a "real" server need to support multiple formats (either one at a time or simultaneously)? What about compression? Which form(s) of MPEG can be used or do we want to require our servers to store and playback uncompressed video streams. The issues of resolution and compression alone can fill an entire article.
Some products called servers don't even get into these issues. Instead, they provide information as data files, creating a whole new set of problems. As early adopters of video compression systems learned, all data files are not created equal. If System A is used to create and store a file, System B might not be able to play it back. Universal translation may be a reality in the world of "Star Trek," but 20th century Earth needs a little more help.
Although "full resolution" video is typically what we try to achieve, multimedia formats as small as 160x120 pixels can be "served" as well. This has become more important with the growth of the Internet and corporate intranets. Do we need or want video at all?
In my office, for example, I have a number of computers that are connected through a Fast Ethernet (100 Megabits per second) network. If one of these machines contains low resolution, Apple QuickTime movies and the other machines play these movies at various times of the day, it can be argued that the source computer is acting as a video server.
If the files are on a disk array attached to that computer instead of on the machine itself, is the array the server or is it still the machine? Does the fact that these are low resolution files affect whether we call this a video server? Shouldn't we call it a MultiMedia Server or maybe just a file server?
Finally, in this example we aren't actually turning the movies into a traditional video signal. Does this mean we aren't serving video or is it enough to know that the original material was created in a video format? What if the material is 3D animation that was rendered directly to the QuickTime format and has never been recorded onto videotape? Does this affect whether we have a video server?
Fast disks, fast computers and fast networks can be used to "serve" video across Local Area Networks (LANs) and even across Wide Area Networks (WANs) without having a single traditional video connection. The source is a file and the destination is a computer screen.
Things get a little more confusing if you actually create a video signal as part of this loop. For example, if one of the computers viewing the movie is equipped with a video-compatible display card, the display adapter itself can turn the movie into a composite or component video signal. If it wasn't a video server system before, does this turn it into one? Now, we can make the movie available as an input to a router and send it over a traditional video network. What if we use a scan converter instead of a video-compatible display adapter? Does this affect how we refer to the system?
Next we can look at the area of how the equipment is being controlled. In the examples above, the system looks and acts like a computer network. If we call something a video server, are we implying that it should be controlled by video equipment? Does it need to interface to a station automation system or look like a traditional VTR to other video equipment?
Digital Disk Recorder technology has grown by leaps and bounds over the past few years and devices that used to store seconds or minutes of material are now capable of storing many hours of information. In a really large configuration, a DDR system can even replace a traditional library system. Does this turn a DDR into a video server?
Once we move into equipment that can be controlled by video equipment, do we need to require that it support recording as well as playback functionality? With computer-based systems, we can obtain video data from a number of sources. One of these is through video capture, but this is not the only one. Do we need to capture video directly onto a system in order to call it a video server?
A Little of This, A Little of That
Now that we've looked at the areas that can be used to
define the term video server, we can look at some of the
companies that create products addressing these issues. Depending
on where your personal definition fits, the list of suppliers
could include virtually every computer and storage manufacturer
on the planet. Since we don't have enough space to list them all,
here is a small sample of the companies and products that were
shown at NAB.
Ciprico
Ciprico offers a number of UltraSCSI and Fibre Channel
disk arrays that support compressed and uncompressed video
playback with bandwidth up to hundreds of MegaBytes per second
(MBps). Ciprico disk arrays can be configured from a few
GigaBytes (GB) up to over a TeraByte (TB) of storage and can be
combined for larger storage and/or higher bandwidth requirements.
Eurologic
Eurologic is a company with an OEM focus on the film and
video markets. Recently, they introduced their own brand, the
Voyager series of storage solutions. Voyager solutions are based
on high-speed disk arrays with performance of up to 200 MegaBytes
per second (MBps) and are compatible with Mac, Windows and SGI
environments. Storage capacity ranges from 18 GigaBytes (GB) to
multiple TeraBytes (TB).
Hewlett Packard
HP's MediaStream family of products includes the
MediaStream Broadcast Server, MediaStream Disk Recorder and
MediaStream Connect software. Using these products, broadcasters
can create disk-based solutions for spot insertion, multi-channel
broadcasting, network delay, program playback and archiving and
Near-Video-On-Demand (NVOD). MediaStream products utilize MPEG-2
compression and Fibre Channel connectivity and are compatible
with automation software from a wide variety of companies. A
single MediaStream server can have over 100 hours of on-line
storage and networked solutions can support over 1000 hours of
on-line storage.
Leitch (ASC)
At NAB 99, Leitch introduced the VR400 MPEG-2 server, a
high-end product featuring Fibre Channel storage, software RAID
technology and multi-format codec technology. The product is
expected to ship beginning next month and existing ASC VR300
systems can be upgraded to this new technology. The VR400
provides bi-directional video channels for recording and
playback, eliminating the need to configure dedicated encoders
and decoders. It also supports simultaneous recording, storage
and playback of MPEG-2 4:2:2 and MPEG-2 4:2:0 formats. Leitch
announced at NAB that the product will support DVCPRO25 and
DVCPRO50 in the future.
Omneon Video Networks
Exhibiting at NAB for the first time, Omneon Video
Networks is a new company that has developed an open, scalable
system they call the Video Area Network. It enables customers to
route, store and share digital audio, video and data and the
company provides the switches, network interfaces, storage
systems and software that are used to create the network. A wide
variety of formats are supported as part of the Video Area
Network structure, including uncompressed component digital
video, DV, MPEG, compressed HD and even Internet Protocol (IP)
data. The Omneon concept encompasses LANs, WANs and SANs as part
of the Video Area Network structure.
Panasonic
If you want to serve up DVCPRO video, Panasonic offers
two products that might fit the bill. The AJ-DR7000 is based on
the Windows NT platform and offers four physical I/O ports and an
internal bandwidth equal to seven DVCPRO streams. It can also
record at 4X normal speed when connected to the Panasonic AJ-D780
VTR. With optional interface cards, the AJ-DR7000 also supports
SDTI, SDI and analog video formats. Panasonic's other new
offering, the AV-SS500 Video Production Server, is an
eight-channel DVCPRO server that can record and/or play up to
eight video streams simultaneously and offers up to 20 hours of
internal storage.
Pinnacle Systems
Pinnacle has entered the video server market with their
new Thunder and iThunder products. Thunder features four video
(4:2:2:4) and audio channels with support for MPEG-2 and DV
storage formats. It also includes an asset management system and
a downstream keyer on each channel for live compositing. The
system looks like a BVW-75 VTR to most video products to allow
seamless integration into facilities and broadcast stations.
iThunder is a companion product that allows viewers to access and
see video proxies via standard streaming technologies on the
Internet.
Pluto Technologies
Pluto currently offers two product lines in the Digital
Disk Recorder category and also has a Video Server product. Their
VideoSPACE Digital Video Recorder offer 8- or 10-bit uncompressed
video recording and playback. The newer HyperSPACE and HyperSPACE
HDCAM Digital Video Recorders provides either 3 hours of HDTV
capability or 4 hours of SDTV. The company also offers the
AirSPACE and AirSPACE HD Multi-Channel Broadcast Servers, which
can provide any combination of 10 Serial Digital or Fibre Channel
networked streams and supports DV compression at either 25
Megabits per second (Mbps) or 50 Mbps. Last October, Pluto
announced a deal with Sony Electronics in which Sony will
integrate the HyperSPACE HDCAM into high definition applications
and systems.
Quantel
NAB 99 marked the U.S. debut for Quantel's new
Inspiration integrated news and sports production system.
Inspiration handles everything from editing through playout of
finished video. The company also markets the Clipbox video
server, featuring up to 160 hours of online storage and the
ability to edit material within the server with no copying,
transfers or bottlenecks. Quantel's Cachebox offers a new eight
port configuration, 100 hours of DVCPRO storage and the ability
to upgrade to HD at a later date.
SeaChange International
SeaChange offers the Broadcast MediaCluster product line
in two configurations, the 1200 Series and the 800 Series. The
main difference between the two is that the 1200 Series includes
12 disk drives per node and the 800 series features 8 drives per
node for reduced cost. According to SeaChange, the Broadcast
MediaCluster product line offers full fault resiliency without
mirroring the entire system. This is accomplished by striping
across multiple nodes of disks, a technique they call RAID
SQUARED. The result is that a SeaChange system can tolerate up to
three points of failure without losing information, compared with
other systems that can tolerate only a single point of failure.
Sierra Design Labs
Sierra Design offers a number of products that provide
uncompressed video storage and playback in a standalone or
networked environment. QuickFrame offers up to 120 minutes of
4:2:2:8 or 10-bit video. DiskCovery is smaller and lighter than
QuickFrame, but offers similar features. SCSIFramer is a
department-level video server that uses 2 or 4 buffered UltraSCSI
ports to concurrently serve multiple workstations with
high-performance video.
Silicon Graphics
SGI's Origin servers combine industry-standard digital
video interfaces with high-speed networking, guaranteed-rate I/O
and media management software from SGI and third party providers.
These combinations can be used to create systems that support
multi-format, multi-channel playout as well as video-on-demand
and news applications.
Sony
Sony offers a wide variety of configurations for video
storage and multi-channel output. Newsroom servers and On-Air
playout systems can be custom designed to meet the needs of
small, medium and large facilities. As mentioned above, Sony is
partnering with Pluto Technologies to incorporate Pluto's
products into Sony's server systems.
Tektronix
The Profile family of products now includes over 13,000
server channels around the world and over 50 application
developer partners. The newest product, the PDR400, supports the
DVCPRO format and joins the PDR300 MPEG Video Server and PDR200
JPEG Video Server products.
Vibrint
As part of their digital news systems, Vibrint offers
the Vibrint VideoServer, a computer-based video server and VCR
replacement designed for capturing, sorting and playing out
video. The product acts as a bridge technology between legacy
broadcast infrastructures and computer-based networks. For
compatibility with a variety of environments, the VideoServer
supports industry standard protocols including Sony BVW-75,
Odetics and Louth VDCP.
Are We Being Served?
As mentioned above, the number of products that can be
classified as video servers depends heavily on the definition you
choose to accept for this term. This year's NAB helped us to see
the range of possibilities, but didn't move us toward a single
definition of this term. So, if you're looking for a video server
and a company claims they have one, be sure to ask a lot of
questions.
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