The AVFS/iSCSI technology is an essential part of the DynamicDrivePool. 3 times faster than traditional NFS and SMB/CIFS.

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2 Benefits of AVFS Introduction Network Attached Storage Systems (NAS) understand files and metadata and SAN storage systems only understand block data, which has no meaning for users or applications. Users can share, recover, move, and access data more easily with NAS storage. However, because NAS is file aware, it operates at a higher layer and therefore introduces more latency into the read/write process. AVFS - Ardis Virtual File System - is innovative technology that combines the intelligence and ease of use of NAS with the speed of a SAN with many benefits 3 times faster than traditional NFS and SMB/CIFS runs over infrastructure Because SAN storage operates at a lower layer it is blazingly fast. For years the question has been: what to use, SAN or NAS? For many companies, the answer is both. While it is not a hard and fast rule, many companies use SAN for their database and applications and NAS for file storage. However, with the introduction of Ardis Technologies AVFS/iSCSI system companies can now use SAN with NAS simplicity and functionality. AVFS combines the performance benefits of the iscsi SAN protocol with the NAS intelligence using a single Ethernet network. existing Ethernet transparent to users and applications project and File Level based Sharing Windows, Mac OSX and Linux client support clients can use either NFS, SMB/CIFS or AVFS access Storage servers support more clients, users and applications than with NFS or SMB/CIFS The iscsi protocol has emerged as an alternative to Fibre Channel for block based storage area networking. Over the past two years, the adoption of iscsi in production systems in companies of all sizes and industries has grown dramatically. AVFS uses the iscsi protocol instead of Fibre Channel to accelerate data access. While the combination of FC SAN and NAS requires two networks, AVFS works over a single network infrastructure. The AVFS/iSCSI technology is an essential part of the ynamicrivepool Therefore Ardis Technologies believes that AVFS will ultimately address a much greater market providing SAN level performance with NAS level intelligence over a unified storage network. The P 24 of the P series 2

3 What is different compared to NAS? Let's take a quick look at how AVFS accelerates network attached storage with iscsi. A Windows, Mac or Linux client accesses an AVFS solution over standard Ethernet wiring and switches. The only moving parts of an AVFS solution are: AVFS software installed on the client. 2 A storage server which maintains the file system and handles the AVFS protocol and file system and provides the storage. The AVFS protocol explained NAS is fundamentally slower than iscsi due to the chatty nature of high level NAS protocol handling. iscsi operates over the same Ethernet infrastructure and is a fast and efficient data transfer protocol. The combination of iscsi for fast data transfers, and NAS for file system protocol awareness is used in the AVFS protocol to make a NAS system run faster. The diagram shows how this works for a typical file access. The NAS system is burdened by metadata protocol overhead for each data transfer. NAS AVFS Protocol overhead ata Transfer The AVFS Advantage Time The AVFS Performance Advantage In comparison, the AVFS protocol incurs protocol overhead only at the beginning of each file access. After that initial handshake, data transfers run quickly and efficiently over iscsi. Because AVFS can transfer more file data over a shorter period of time, AVFS has a performance advantage over traditional NAS access. Large benefit in CPU utilization AVFS is not only faster than NAS, it is much more efficient. NAS protocol handshakes between NAS clients and an NAS server consumes a lot of CPU cycles. Switching to the AVFS protocol reduces the burden on NAS clients (approx. 7x less) and the storage server (2x less). As a result, more clients can share the same storage system and more CPU cycles remain for applications. Now what does this mean for professional Video, Film and Audio users? AVFS NAS Three Times Faster Elapsed Time AVFS Moves More ata in Less Time 3

4 This table shows a list of video and film formats in use today. This table by no means is complete but it certainly shows the large spread in bandwidth going from MPEG-2 video to 4K for film. FORMAT ATA RATE 8 Bit S 0 Bit S H 8-bit Uncompressed 720p60 H 8-bit Uncompressed 720p24 H 8-bit Uncompressed 080i60 H 8-bit Uncompressed 080i50 H 8-bit Uncompressed 080p24 H 0-bit Uncompressed 720p60 H 0-bit Uncompressed 720p24 H 0-bit Uncompressed 080i60 H 0-bit Uncompressed 080i50 H 0-bit Uncompressed 080p24 V and HV V 24p VCPRO 50 VCPRO 50 24p VCPRO H V00 720p60 V00 720p24 V00 080i60 V00 080i24 MPEG-2 Low Res (3.5 Mb/sec) MPEG-2 Med Res (5.8 Mb/sec) MPEG-2 High Res (7.5 Mb/sec) 25: M-JPEG 2: M-JPEG OfflineRT NTSC OfflineRT NTSC 24p OfflineRT PAL Offline H 24 Offline H 25 Offline H 30 ProRes H 0-bit ProRes H 0-bit HQ NxH XCAM H H 0-bit Uncompressed 080p24 4/4/4 2K,6-bit, 35mm 4K, 0-bit, 35mm 2 MB/sec 26.7 MB/sec 03.7 MB/sec 4.33 MB/sec 6.5 MB/sec MB/sec MB/sec 39.7 MB/sec MB/sec MB/sec MB/sec MB/sec 3.62 MB/sec 2.93 MB/sec 7.2 MB/sec 5.68 MB/sec.75 MB/sec 3.92 MB/sec 5.68 MB/sec 3.92 MB/sec.7 MB/sec.437 MB/sec.725 MB/sec.937 MB/sec MB/sec 2 MB/sec.9 MB/sec.99 MB/sec.02 MB/sec.07 MB/sec. MB/sec.29 MB/sec 8.3 MB/sec 27.5 MB/sec 8.2 MB/sec 4.37 MB/sec 80 MB/sec 457,7 MB/sec.22 GB/sec Video and Film formats 4 Today almost all companies have a standard Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) network installed. The maximum theoretical bandwidth then between two network nodes is 25 MByte/sec. Using NAS normally a datarate of about 30 MByte/sec is obtained. According to the table such datarate looks okay when a number of compressed video formats are considered. However due to inefficiencies in NAS protocols a powerful storage server is required to accommodate even a limited number of clients with compressed video streams. This increases storage server costs. On the desktop a considerable percentage of CPU time is needed to handle NAS based communication. This limits the number of video streams/layers available to a desktop. Also often a latency is felt when using transport controls and scrub.

5 To overcome these bottlenecks AV and Film companies who can afford this use SAN based solutions. As explained before in a traditional SAN system there is a separate data and communication path (see the figure) with Fibrechannel for the data and Ethernet TCP/IP for the communication path. Handling two completely different network infrastructures is difficult. To make matters worse often an additional server is needed to handle the metadata traffic via the communication channel. So here we are with a Fibrechannel network, an Ethernet network, a storage server and a metadata server. For many pro Video, Film and Audio companies such a set up is too expensive and complicated to install, operate and maintain. Any failure in such a set up to quickly identify a problem requires highly qualified technical personel which is not always available. Clients Ethernet Fibre Channel Ethernet switch RAI array Fibre Channel switch A traditional X SAN setup Metadata controller P: SAN performance with NAS simplicity and functionality It was only natural for Ardis Technologies as iscsi experts to take on a project development which combines the benefits of both technologies into one product: the ynamicrivepool; because iscsi exclusively uses Ethernet there suddenly is only one network infrastructure to consider; standard Ethernet with standard Ethernet switches. Ethernet Clients Ethernet switch A ynamicrivepool setup 5 P Because the ynamicrivepool is build using off-the-shelve computer components Ardis Technologies also decided to simplify matters one step further by integrating the metadata handling in the P as well. So there it is: the P, a storage server which connects to standard Ethernet and provides high bandwidth project and file level based sharing for applications such as those from Avid, Apple, Adobe, Matrox, igidesign, Merging, Nuendo, Sequoia, Fairlight and others all out of one box.

6 What about video bandwidth requirements exceeding 00 Mbyte/sec? The bandwidth over one GbE connection up to 00 meter is as high as 00 Mbyte/sec with standard Cat 5e, 6 or 7 copper cable with RJ45 connectors. A close look at the table shows that the video format with the highest data rate currently in use is: RGB, 0 bit, 4:4:4 with a bandwidth of approximately 80 Mbyte/sec. To be able to guarantee the customers a complete and secure grow path without loosing any of the workflow simplicity in the video domain the ynamicrivepool has the capability to work with multiple GbE ports per desktop. The P 6 of the P series What about Audio? In contrast with what many people believe the data throughput bottleneck with audio is almost never the network infrastructure. Even one GbE connection can accommodate over 500 tracks of 24 bit, 48 KHz uncompressed audio. Because of the huge number of tracks which comes into play when several AW'a are used the seek time of the drives eventuall becomes the limiting factor. Since also audio applications are not as data hungry as video or film the best advice one can give is that it is better to select a P with lower capacity drives (250 GB for example) and more of these then less drives with higher capacity. What about the peculiarities of various post production applications? Some of the applications in Video, Film and Audio have specific requirements which would normally block project and file level based sharing. Taking care of these peculiarities was also one of the requirements of the AVFS/iSCSI system. One storage server One standard Ethernet One box solution What does the ynamicrivepool mean for Film? The table also shows bandwidth requirements of applications used in the film domain. Particulary the igital Intermediate formats: 2K and 4K. It is obvious that any of these formats require a 0 GbE Ethernet infrastructure. epending on the version chosen, the ynamicrivepool can be delivered with either up to 4x GbE ports, up to 4x 0 GbE ports or combinations of these. By using P+EX versions to which P6EX storage arrays can be attached also clients using 2K film can be added to the system again broadening the horizon of project and file level based sharing. Which applications can benefit from the ynamicrivepool? All applications from Avid, Apple, Adobe, Matrox, igidesign, Fairlight and applications used for coloring or editing for film and all other audio applications benefit from the P. epending on the proper MXF format chosen and AAF support project can even be interchanged between these applications without having to copy or convert the media data. The ynamicrivepool can be considered the basic requirement for any company who wants to have the ability to interchange projects between applications from different manufacturers. Let s take a closer look. 6

7 When multiple Final Cut Pro stations need to collaborate one needs a central shared storage system. The decision to make is: does one need a SAN, XSAN for example, or is a NAS solution from one of the many NAS suppliers sufficient? The XSAN requires both a Fibrechannel and Ethernet network, is complicated to install, maintain and operate, and is expensive but has excellent performance. A NAS on the contrary is easy to install, maintain and operate but lacks performance. Now the ynamicrivepool unites the best of both worlds: SAN performance with NAS functionality. It is one box (a P) and one network (Ethernet) from one manufacturer (Ardis Technologies). The P provides full Project and File Level Based Sharing for all applications with any video, audio and film format V to 4K/PX/Cineon Avid Pro Tools Adobe Telestream igital Vision Final Cut Pro EVS Grass Valley VS Autodesk The P can be integrated with Interplay Final Cut Server Build4Media MAM and Backup systems The P drive(s) show up on the Mac screen as local drive(s) with local performance. Everything comes standard. Standard of-the-shelve Ethernet switches can be used. There are no licensing costs not even for additional Windows and Linux clients. Laptops can be used just like that. Any uncompressed H format can be sustained via one or two GbE ports standard available on Mac Pro. Integration with Final Cut Server, Avid, Pro Tools, Premiere and Edius and others is seamless. The optional Workflow Manager has all the required access right management tools. Last but not least the P also features a special algorithm for FinalCut Pro what guarantees that Final Cut Pro gets its data exactly on time. The P32EXR consists of two P Heads and two P6EXR storage arrays. PxEXR represents a scalable redundant P series with an optional number of x drives with x between 6 and The current capacity can be up to 6.4 PB. The P 32EXR of the P series 7 The PxEXR has no single point of failure and is meant for critical environments such as bigger postproduction and broadcast departments and rental companies. Banwidth can be as high as requested. When capacity is the priority and not so much bandwidth a cost effective near line version of the PxEXR can be delivered. The near line version uses our MAI technology to minimize power usage.

8 Ardis Technologies implemented a Unity emulation such that Avid editors on PC and Mac have their coloured bin locking indications and their familiar scanning mechanism. For these desktops then P virtual drives behave as Unity workspaces. Other workstations running non-avid applications see these same P drives as standard local drives on PC and Mac. A workflow familiar to Avid editors The optional Workflow Manager of the P has all the required access right management tools. Seamless integration with Interplay is also available. Compared to Unity there are also differences. The P being an Ethernet based SAN has a more then two times higher bandwidth per workstation per GbE connection 2 The P has full file level based collaboration both between Avid edit applications and Pro Tools and between Pro Tools 3 The P can also be used in a setup with Avid Nitris S workstations 4 The P also perfectly integrates with Final Cut Pro, Premiere, Edius and others 5 Attractive price The ynamicrivepool works with Project and File Level Sharing for Pro Tools with no latencies. Pro Tools users can simultaneously read and write from to the same P virtual drives. Full project and file level based sharing is provided. Collaboration between Pro Tools editors is now straightforward. A file locking and delete protection mechanism prevents accidental erasure of data. A particular P drive shows up on the desktops behaving like a local drive. That is what Pro Tools wants. Each operator in hers/his own right can read and write from to that drive. And it is fast. Three hundred tracks of 48Khz, 24bit audio can be sustained over just one GbE cable. No latency; press play and you have instant play. For any combined track count below 600 the standalone P series will do. For companies using more then thousands of tracks the SS P solutions such as P24SS and P48SS can be supplied. Pro Tools on PC and Pro Tools on Mac can be mixed together. Workflow integration with Avid and Final Cut Pro is straightforward and can conveniently be done using edit-in-place. The optional Workflow Manager has all required access right management tools. Login/out can be connected to Active or Open irectory. Pro Tools editors can collaborate with projects and media when using the P The P series 4P

9 The P48SS is targeted at video and film companies requiring the highest video and film quality. And at large audio post production companies requiring thousands of audio tracks. P48SS is available with a total Solid State isk capacity of up to 7,6 TB in a Raid5 configuration. The 9 4 HE system is targeted at video and film departments requiring a collaborative workflow with the highest quality of uncompressed H and I formats. Heavy duty render engines in combination with applications using formats such as 080p50, 2K, 3K, 4K whether standard or as PX or Cineon can be integrated with a bandwidth up to 4,8 GB/s. The P 48SS of the P series The SS P can be interfaced with P6EX storage arrays as its near line storage. The P48SS is perfect for audio companies as well. That is, when a collaborative workflow is required involving several thousands of audio tracks and a high quality video guide track using Pro Tools LE/H, Fairlight, Nuendo, Sequoia or Logic. Workflow for several thousands of audio tracks and 2K and 4K Ardis Technologies manufacturers the ynamicrivepool (P) series of Ethernet based SAN systems with built-in Metadata Controller, the Ardis Virtual File System, AVFS. The P provides full Project and File Level Based Sharing for Avid, Final Cut Pro, Pro Tools, EVS, Adobe, Grass Valley, Telestream, VS, igital Vision, Autodesk and all other applications with any video, audio and film format from V to 4K/PX/Cineon. The P can also be integrated with Interplay, Final Cut Server, Build4Media and MAM and Backup systems. The cost effective P series range from a small desktop P4P with 4 SATA drives, a 9" P8, P2, P6, P24, P40 and P48, to large scalable redundant systems. Ardis Technologies is a software technology driven company and the functions of the P are developed in house. The P is the easiest SAN around. It is one system (a P), one network (Ethernet) and all from one manufacturer, Ardis Technologies. The P series 48 6EX 24SS 9 48SS

10 The ynamicrivepool is just as the name says: a pool of storage which can be used dynamically. From that pool P drives can be created. These drives are not real drives. They are virtual drives. The figure shows the Connect Screen: how P drives can be created. Capacity, name, users and groups can be entered. On the left desktop icons are shown. On the right some of the P drives created are shown. The leads between desktops and drives mean that the drives are mounted and show up on the desktop screen for usage. The leads represent the ethernet connections. That is the basic principle with which the P works. As simple as that. To use a P it has to be connected to a number of desktops directly or via an ethernet switch. On each desktop an iscsi initiator and AVFS driver must be installed. In addition on the desktops from which access to the P is required Xwindows must be installed. There are drivers for Mac, Windows and important versions of Linux. All licenses included. The differences between the many P versions are: the number of users, the capacity, the number of hard drives, the number of GbE or 0 GbE cards, whether the P is standalone, fully redundant with failover, equipped with hard disks or solid state disks. 0

11 2x VTR Video Companion for AW x23 MB's 2 M PHead M2 SONY PWH- 500 Any Host- System LOCAL H H CP playout server With local storage ocking Port AVI-2 / AVI-3 / ocking AVI-4 Port 6x 3x FCP-3 / FCP-4 / Offline Editing FCP-5 / FCP-6 / S/H Compr. 2x28 MB/s FCP-7 / FCP-8 9 SMC 8848M 48 port GbE switch and 2x0 GbE uplink 2x GFX Simple Compositing & CGI 2x28 MB/s 2 6x 6 AW Audio Editing 64 tracks 48 khz/24 Bit each Any Host- System Service department administration station "ata Wrangler"for data transfers Asset Management tool for indexing all footage material ocking Port H ocking Port AVI- H 2-3x -2x FCP- / Online Editing/Finishing FCP-2 (080p25 4:4:4) 2x85 MB/s 3 SMC 8708 L2 8 port 0 GbE switch P Head P Head 2 / TB LTQ4 BackupAppliance Any Host- System Realtime I-System ailies, Editing, CP-Mastering, LOCAL Versioning, ConversionÉ 2K PX/TIF p Any Host- System LOCAL Color Correction & FinishingÉ 2K PX/TIF p Any Host- System CP Mastering System LOCAL With local storage SMC 8708 L2 8 port 0 GbE switch C / TB B / 2TB A / 500 GB LOCAL SCAN GbE 0 GbE

12 Name Picture Height Streams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`U>49M\3Y#Wa8>>I=IE49=IE4;78\=44JL>388=P47;YEN>#J454M ##"E>NJL>8J>4JIQNUE>4NJE>8=JN4=IE;87I9R>b>NM3NN4P49>H4U4>:3(3E8JL>4M^78Q7I;JSU8=9J7I4<J9K :3:E8JL>4&:7NJE:9=9>#8JL>478;UNNP8>EUIE=I947NU9J7I46N>=4>Q7I9=Q938EJ4(>QKI7N7SJ>478P7U8 E>=N>8M^789K>TX Root6 Ltd. 4 Wardour Mews Soho London WF 8AJ