Arts University College at Bournemouth Deploys Isilon Scale-out NAS to Transition its Skillset Screen and Media Academy to High-Definition Digital Film Environment

Isilon Systems today announced the that the Arts University College at Bournemouth, an accredited 'Centre of Excellence' in film education and training and one of only seven such institutions in the United Kingdom (UK), has deployed Isilon IQ to power high-performance rendering and editing applications for its Skillset Screen and Media Academy, enabling the transition to a high-definition (HD) digital film environment. With Isilon scale-out NAS, the Arts University College has expanded its ability to manage student demand by increasing the number of academic projects it can accommodate to provide media students with a world-class education.

"During peak periods, our render farm is in use nearly 24 hours a day, with student projects running year-round," said Liam Scanlan, director of the school of media at the Arts University College at Bournemouth. "With Isilon, we can now run multiple projects through the render farm without any performance degradation, a significant improvement over our previous system and a real game-changer for our student body."

The Arts University College resources include 16mm film and professional video cameras, two studios, 11 editing suites including an Avid 'Nitris/DS' suite, a sound recording studio, two audio suites, and a screening room. With an upcoming transition to an HD digital film environment, the Arts University College required highly scalable, easy to use storage capable of cost-effectively managing rapid data growth. With Isilon IQ, the University College now has a single, high-performance, highly scalable shared pool of storage for its entire Media Academy, enabling students to complete more projects in less time and advance their education at a more rapid pace.

"We first saw Isilon in a well-known production house and were extremely impressed by the implementation and how it was dealing with a highly intense environment," added Scanlan. "We used it as our benchmark when comparing other possible solutions and could find nothing that matched it based on our requirements of performance, price and flexibility."

"As today's media and entertainment industry continues to innovate at an unprecedented rate, it is critical that those entering the workforce for the first time are equipped with a leading-edge education steeped in the latest technologies," said Mark Stevens, VP and general manager for EMEA, Isilon Systems. "By using Isilon IQ to power its Media Academy, the Arts University College at Bournemouth is providing exactly that kind of education for tomorrow's media leaders."