Harmonic announced the release of its next-generation media-storage platform, the Harmonic MediaGrid 4000 shared storage solution. The high-performance scale-out storage system increases storage density to 24 6-TB drives in a 4-RU chassis, and delivers the performance of a Fibre Channel storage area network (SAN) with the simplicity and scalability of Ethernet-based network-attached storage (NAS).
   

Capable of supporting every stage in diverse media workflows, including production of live sports, news and entertainment in HD and 4K/Ultra HD, the Harmonic MediaGrid 4000 system enables superior workflow efficiency and productivity through storage consolidation and on-the-fly scaling of capacity and bandwidth.

“With the increased performance and density of the Harmonic MediaGrid 4000, a facility can truly deploy one storage platform to support the entire production workflow,” says Bart Spriester, SVP, video products at Harmonic. “Specifically built to support media applications, reduce the costs of storage management and optimize video production workflows, the MediaGrid 4000 can handle everything from compressed workflows to online digital libraries and uncompressed video. Flexible scaling of both bandwidth and capacity enables users to immediately take advantage of their storage investment, and to build on it as their workflow demands evolve.”

There are two members of the new MediaGrid product family. Offering twice the performance of MediaGrid 3000 system components, a 50-percent increase in storage capacity and double the number of 10-Gb Ethernet ports, the MediaGrid ContentServer 4000 elevates the capabilities and throughput of base MediaGrid systems to their highest level yet. Storage capacity can be expanded incrementally by 48, 96 or 144 TB by adding MediaGrid ContentStore 4240 nodes outfitted with 24 hot-swappable 2-TB, 4-TB or 6-TB SAS drives. ContentStore 5840 nodes can also be added to MediaGrid 4000 systems for the highest storage density in the industry — up to 504 TB in 5 RU.

The capacity and throughput of Harmonic MediaGrid 4000 makes it possible to consolidate “islands” of storage and run all workflow steps off a single system. Boasting a low rate of IT utilization, this model not only reduces operational costs, but also increases workflow productivity by reducing media copy and transfer times. Backwards compatibility allows current MediaGrid 3000 users to add MediaGrid 4240 storage nodes to their existing systems, making it easy to expand their storage deployment without disrupting ongoing business operations.

“As an increasing number of media facilities transition to 4K, video codecs become more demanding of storage systems and make capacity requirements more daunting,” adds Spriester. “The Harmonic MediaGrid 4000 offers an ideal solution to these challenges, leveraging SAN performance and NAS simplicity to facilitate the optimal balance of bandwidth and capacity.”