LAS VEGAS, NAB CONFERENCE -- Sun Microsystems, Inc. launched the industry's first end- to-end Digital Asset Management Reference Architecture -- a comprehensive specification for the design and deployment of a complete content management system -- for television and rich media enterprises. Using this Reference Architecture, media businesses can leverage and extend their legacy platforms into next-generation digital asset management systems. WGBH Boston, the first customer to implement a solution based on this reference architecture, is the producer of nearly one-third of PBS's prime-time television lineup and companion online content. In addition, Thirteen/WNET New York, plans to adopt and implement the Digital Asset Management Reference Architecture in its exact state and form. The Digital Asset Management Reference Architecture is an important tool to help media technology and business executives minimize the costs associated with their transition to a distributed content data center infrastructure. It describes each component, function and interface needed to deliver video, audio and rich media to heterogeneous and distributed networks for broadcast television and other professional media environments, and can be applied to education, finance, medical and government enterprises. Digital Asset Management Reference Architecture components include media ingest, logging, metadata creation, database management, security, transcoding, media storage with integrated Hierarchical Storage Management (HSM), support for post production, integration with both television automation and scheduling systems. It provides a robust test suite, with loading, balancing, and scaling benchmarks, as well as a complete documentation package defining the performance characteristics of the system and its core components. "This Reference Architecture enables any media enterprise to quickly build and deploy a content management infrastructure using best-in-class components, proven architectural building blocks, and open systems computing platforms for easy integration with existing IT and broadcast infrastructures," said Ravi Pendekanti, senior director of reference architectures and customer ready systems programs at Sun Microsystems, Inc. "Sun Reference Architectures have already been proven to help customers reduce the total cost of ownership and speed solution deployment -- without the risk of deploying untested and unproven technologies." The Digital Asset Management Reference Architecture was developed through a close collaboration with WGBH, a preeminent program creator for the PBS system, Artesia Technologies, a leader in enterprise Digital Asset Management, and several essential best in class media technology iForce(SM) partners including: Harris Automation Solutions, Sony Electronics Inc., Telestream, Thomson Grass Valley and Virage, Inc. At the core of the Reference Architecture is a proven reliable platform, based on Sun Fire(TM) servers, Sun StorEdge(TM) Arrays, Sun(TM) ONE software, augmented with enterprise class distributed compute technologies and utilizing Sun Services' architectural, design and implementation expertise. "This Digital Asset Management Reference Architecture provides us with a highly flexible and adaptable platform that will transform the way we manage media assets across our enterprise and throughout the PBS system," said David Liroff, Vice President and Chief Technology Officer for WGBH. "Through this solution, we will be able to enhance the productivity of our production staff, improve the quality and efficiency of broadcast production, and most importantly, reduce development cycles for new media services to an ever expanding set of constituents. These efficiencies will potentially result in substantial savings in both the cost of creating content and distributing it." "Thirteen/WNET New York plans to take advantage of Sun's DAM Reference Architecture because it helps reduce the risk typically associated with implementing an end-to-end solution of this magnitude, and it has been proven and documented that it can scale to meet our specific business needs," said Ken Devine, vice president and chief technology officer, Thirteen/WNET New York. "With WGBH and WNET adopting the same standards-based architecture, and the significant investment Sun, WGBH and Artesia have made in design, test and documentation of this solution, we will be able to easily acquire and distribute content and drive pan-PBS standards." Sun's initial end-to-end Digital Asset Management Reference Architecture has been specifically developed for broadcast television networks and stations, cable and satellite networks, media creation and distribution businesses, as well as other organizations that require highly available and scalable content management systems. Over time, Sun will launch industry- specific Digital Asset Management Reference Architectures to meet the needs of a number of other vertical industry segments. Sun Reference Architecture Availability and Support Reference Architectures can be configured and integrated on systems at Sun prior to shipping through the Sun(SM) Customer Ready Systems (CRS) program or by Sun iForce partners worldwide, further accelerating application deployment. Customers can also leverage Sun iForce(SM) Solution Centers to build a proof-of-concept to help reduce risk and speed time to solution implementation. More information about Sun iForce partners and iForce Solution Centers can be found on the World Wide Web at: http://sun.com/iforce/partners, and additional information about CRS is available at: http://sun.com/integration/crsp .