Take full advantage of Apple’s high-performance Xserve RAID storage from ingest and capture to final output, whether you’re working in video and film, editing audio or creating effects and motion graphics.
Digitize with zero dropped frames
Capturing video or audio data from tape to digital storage system — the ingest or capture process — demands consistent high-bandwidth drive performance. With Xsan, your SAN can accurately capture media from an ingest station (or multiple ingest stations) without frame drops.
Bandwidth requirementsXsan lets you work well within the bandwidth required per video stream for the most common editing formats. |
|
|---|---|
| Standard Definition | Bandwidth per stream |
| MiniDV, DVCAM, DVCPRO | 3.6MBps |
| DVCPRO 50 | 7.7MBps |
| Uncompressed SD (8-bit) | 20MBps |
| Uncompressed SD (10-bit) | 27MBps |
| Compressed High Definition | |
| DVCPRO HD | 5.8MBps to 14MBps |
| Apple ProRes 422 | 5.25MBps to 18.375MBps |
| Uncompressed High Definition | |
| 720p 24fps | 46MBps |
| 720p 30fps | 50MBps |
| 720p 60fps | 100MBps |
| 1080 24p (8-bit) | 98MBps |
| 1080i (8-bit) | 120MBps |
| 1080 24p (10-bit) | 110MBps |
| 1080i (10-bit) | 165MBps |
Edit offline flexibly
With Xsan, every editor on a project has concurrent access to source media files and never needs to transfer this data between stations. If your company lands another project, simply install Xsan on additional systems to let new editors use the SAN. Each Mac accesses shared files on the SAN as if the storage were directly attached. Thus, working from a SAN eliminates data duplication between systems and reduces your storage needs. When you complete a project, simply reserve bandwidth to the SAN for the finishing workstation.
Use Storage Effectively
Xsan makes it easy for you to set storage policies and allocate different classes of storage to different purposes without forcing your editors to adhere to onerous rules. Affinities let you set up folders in a volume that direct files to specific storage devices. For example, a scratch data folder can direct files to RAID 0 storage, the finished works folder can direct files to RAID 1 storage and a capture or ingest folder can direct data to RAID 5 storage — for a good balance between speed and protection.
Set Up Complex Solutions Quickly
Xsan provides powerful SAN benefits with Apple ease of use. Xsan Admin aids you with storage area network setup, putting complex network topology in a simple graphical user interface. You can control access to sensitive files with user and group privileges, using the same LDAP directory accounts as your network attached storage, as well as set up usage quotas on a per user or per group basis. Xsan Admin will notify you via pager or email if a particular user, such as your capture/ingest or finishing station, nears its storage quota.
Xserve RAID Storage Pool. Add storage for new projects.
Dedicated Metadata Controller. Mediates traffic.
Editor Workstations. May be used as metadata controllers.
Capture or Ingest Station. May be used as controller.
Fibre Channel Switch. Gives high-speed access to media.
Optional Standby Metadata Controller.
Apple Quad Channel 4Gb Fibre Card PCI Express Card
Get four times the bandwidth when you connect all ports to your SAN, for a theoretical bandwidth of up to 1.6GBps.
Xsan and Video
Here’s why Xsan is the ideal addition to your video workflow:
- File-Level Locking. Lets several editors read and write to the same media, making for easier collaboration.
- Bandwidth Reservation. Ensures that a critical file system client gets the performance required — ideal for HD video ingest or film capture stations.
- User Quotas and Authentication. Allows administrators to restrict storage usage and file access on a per-user and per-project basis, which is particularly useful for projects that require maximum security.
- Affinities. Store scratch data on RAID 0 volumes or finished work on RAID 5 or mirrored volumes.
- Xsan Admin. Makes it easy to set up and manage the SAN.
Apple Remote Desktop 3
WebObjects
