About the Solution
StorNext Pro Solution Provides End-to-End Collaboration
TBWA Australia’s new Quantum StorNext Pro Foundation system provides a SAN fabric, 48TB of high performance disk, an Xcellis Workflow Director powered by StorNext 5 software, an LTO archive, and Q-Cloud cloud storage. All the components are part of an integrated solution designed to provide a fully automated end-to-end workflow—including collaboration between editors, data protection, and direct access to archived data.
The new system gives editors shared, collaborative and immediate access to files. LAN connections even make it possible to transmit files between offices directly, so it’s faster and easier to share content across the region. “I think StorNext Pro has just about completely eliminated editors having to move data around manually,” says Hingert. “It’s a much better workflow, and it makes them much more efficient—they get more work done in less time, mostly because they just work on content instead of having to manage all the storage.”
Fully Automated Protection and Archive
The Quantum solution has transformed data protection and archiving. As soon as a file is saved on disk, StorNext creates a copy on tape, serving first as a backup, and later as an archive—keeping work available while minimising the need for disk.
“Having all the data backed up automatically is a great relief for us,” says Hingert. “There are times when we have assets on that system that represent hundreds of thousands of dollars for TBWA and our customers.” Reusing existing assets is also fast and easy. “StorNext lets the editors see everything through the same file system—both material on disk and the content that’s in the archive,” explains Hingert. “So they can see old projects quickly and get to data immediately. It’s made a huge difference in productivity.”
DR Protection Using Quantum Q-Cloud
The new StorNext system provides long-term DR protection seamlessly integrated into the workflow through Quantum Q-Cloud as off-site archive. “Whenever we make a copy on tape, we also set a policy to have StorNext create a second copy in Q-Cloud,” explains Hingert. “We use the tape for normal recovery and archive access, but Q-Cloud provides indefinite, automated DR protection. If the building burns down tomorrow, we’ve got a copy of everything—current projects and old material—safely on Q-Cloud.
“There were two huge advantages from StorNext. We all sleep much better knowing that all the data is safe both on tape and in the cloud. And we had an immense gain in productivity from the automation—all the steps we used to have to do manually are now taken care of automatically, saving us hundreds of hours a year in overhead.”
CompNow : Quantum Alliance Partner
Using a Quantum partner that has a high level of certifications and a direct relationship with Quantum ensures that the needs of the customer remain at the forefront, and that the level of support is solid from conception to on-going maintenance.