STORAGE

Quantel and Silicon Graphics announced today that the Quantel Digital Intermediate system and eQ HD editing system are now both certified for integration with SGI InfiniteStorage solutions that feature the SGI InfiniteStorage Shared Filesystem CXFS. The combination of the two technologies offers a unified, high-performance post production environment that allows the efficient handling and networking of Terabytes of data -- a pre-requisite in the modern post facility where optimized workflow and simultaneous real-time access to content is as central to success as creativity. The key to the interoperability is SGI's truly heterogeneous shared filesystem that supports all the leading operating systems used in post today -- IRIX(R), Windows(R), 32-bit and 64-bit Linux(R), and Mac OS(R) X. iQ and SGI(R) SAN solutions are already proven in the real world, with a system having been in operation for the last six months at The Film Unit in New Zealand. SGI will feature the Quantel iQ as a client in its digital infrastructure demonstration at NAB 2004, April 19-22, in Las Vegas, Booth # SL4755. "The post industry needs open products and systems to be able to compete successfully; openness is a central tenet of generationQ," said Quantel Marketing Director, Nigel Turner. "We have found SGI to be equally open-minded; the fact that the iQ/eQ and CXFS integrate fully in a straightforward 'plug and play' manner to produce real gains for the users is an excellent illustration of the benefits of such an approach." "SGI is totally committed to open solutions and it's a pleasure to be working closely with a company that shares our vision," said Chris Golson, senior director, Market Strategy, Media Industries, SGI. "This integration moves us much closer to the promise we made to the industry and our ultimate goal of totally open, real-time access to all content for every workstation in a post production or broadcast environment. We look forward to building further on our relationship with Quantel in the future, as we continue to deploy more systems in post and broadcast facilities." The Film Unit The Film Unit, the Peter Jackson-owned New Zealand post production facility was the first customer to benefit from a coupling of Quantel and SGI InfiniteStorage technologies designed to enhance the digital film post production pipeline. Illustrating the impressive openness of both systems, the Quantel iQ Resolution Co-existent(TM) finishing system was integrated with SGI CXFS. The result was an ultrafast, highly productive environment for Digital Intermediate (DI) color correction that eliminates transfer bottlenecks and makes the process more creative and flexible. Working with 2K film images demands up to 300MB/sec throughput, so the high performance of both the iQ and the SGI CXFS shared filesystem technology was an important factor in The Film Unit's choice of equipment. Equally important was the openness of the technologies involved. SGI(R) InfiniteStorage Shared Filesystem CXFS(TM) CXFS provides no-compromise data sharing within a SAN, enhancing workflow and reducing costs in data-intensive environments by eliminating file duplication and the time it takes to move large files over the network. A SAN provides direct, high-speed physical connections between multiple hosts and disk storage. CXFS provides the software infrastructure to allow simultaneous shared access to that storage -- all systems have direct access to all data and are no longer bottlenecked by slow, congested networks or overloaded file servers.