Archive notice: This article was originally published on June 22, 2009. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
According to DreamWorks, productions such as the hit film “Monsters vs. Aliens” generate almost 100 TB of data. This must be archived so it can be accessed easily when required. DreamWorks uses the HP StorageWorks 9100 Extreme Data Storage System to establish a corresponding online reference library for this film and earlier productions such as “Madagascar” and “Kung Fu Panda.” The platform enables company employees to access stored content quickly and easily, saving valuable time and resources when developing future projects.
Until now, DreamWorks had to conduct complex searches of existing data when using older sequences in new productions. The introduction of the ExDS9100 system makes this considerably simpler and faster, with a positive impact on production schedules because many new DreamWorks films are based on existing animation material.
A System for Archiving and Backup
DreamWorks will use the ExDS9100 not only as an archive platform but also as an online backup solution for current projects. Creative staff therefore have a real-time system for sharing content, allowing them to concentrate on their core work: developing a new feature film or television production.
The ExDS9100 provides storage capacity and performance independently. This enables customers to respond to changing business requirements more quickly than with traditional file-based storage solutions. DreamWorks created a 170 TB archive—equivalent to about 36,000 DVDs—as an online storage environment, enabling fast and simple access to data. The animation studio’s stated goal is to retain all data generated. Because the ExDS9100 can scale to 820 TB, DreamWorks is well equipped to do so.
“Our goal is to produce two or three computer-animated films each year. DreamWorks is therefore looking for ways to deliver new films to our audiences even faster,” says Derek Chan, Head of Digital Operations at DreamWorks Animation. “HP ExDS9100 helps us by providing faster access to archived data in a highly scalable and easily managed storage architecture.”
New Configuration for Flexible Growth
HP also offers a new ExDS9100 configuration with a minimum capacity of 82 TB. This gives customers a turnkey solution with high scalability, availability and performance. The new base configuration is particularly suitable for science, education and public administration, and for online-service providers. The 82 TB ExDS9100 configuration is available now and, depending on its expansion level, continues to cost less than €1 down to €0.75 per gigabyte. This price includes storage up to 820 TB, as many as 16 blade servers, software and support for the entire system.
The ExDS9100 system essentially consists of three components:
Performance Block: The low-energy HP BladeSystem chassis forms the server block. It consists of blade servers providing the performance required for extreme storage demands. The base version starts with two blades, each delivering data throughput of up to 200 MB per second. It can scale easily to a maximum configuration of 16 blades with up to 12.8 processor cores per unit and performance of 3.2 GB per second.
Capacity Block: The base configuration starts with one highly available storage block and a capacity of 82 TB. The maximum configuration supports up to ten capacity blocks and 820 TB of storage.
Software: The system uses HP’s scalable file-serving software for demanding digital-content environments. Applications can run directly on the server block, reducing system costs and complexity and simplifying the overall application architecture. A single graphical management interface and simple commands allow fewer administrators to manage larger volumes of storage more easily.
