Apple broadcasts value of video storage SAN
Apple broadcasts value of video storage SAN
Jan 5, 2005: The latest release from Apple will allow video professionals, such as editors in production companies, to access centralised storage systems that can be used by up to 64 other people, via a Fibre Channel.
Xsan has also been designed for storage consolidation in business, government, education and high performance computing.Xsan is a 64-bit cluster file system for Mac OS X that allows organisations to use multiple computers with concurrent file-level read/write access. Apple claims it is the first time on Mac OS X that 64 video professionals can simultaneously access a single storage volume that supports multiple high-bandwidth video streams for efficient workflow in video and film editing, broadcast, visual effects and motion graphics creation.Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing for Apple, said: "Apple's pro video and IT customers now have an affordable, high performance SAN file system on Mac OS X. Together, Apple Xsan file system software and Xserve RAID storage hardware deliver a powerful, easy-to-manage, enterprise class SAN solution at a breakthrough low price."Mark Raudonis, the director of Post Production, at Bunim-Murray Productions, added: "Xsan is the holy grail of shared storage for Final Cut Pro. We can now take advantage of Final Cut Pro HD in a fully networked environment to edit groundbreaking reality TV series such as MTV's 'The Real World' and 'Road Rules' and FOX's 'The Simple Life' in real time at a third of the cost of existing solutions."Apple claims that its Xsan work out as half the price of other products offered by Avid, SGI and IBM. Apple wants its customers to use its Xserve servers and Xserve RAID rigs as metadata controllers and storage pools.In addition, Apple has qualified FC switches from Brocade, Qlogic and Emulex.Rumours are also rife that Apple is also planning to introduce office software for word processing and presentation purposes at next week's Macworld Expo in San Francisco. Related Article: