WHAT IS SHARED STORAGE AND WHY DO MORE HOW NEED IT?

Download 1 Aug 2015 ... Is shared storage really that important to video editors in the Worship market? Corky Seeber: Shared storage provides a very...

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What is Shared Storage and Why Do More HoW Need it?

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Shared Storage

ith more and more Houses of Worship streaming and broadcasting services, the question of shared storage becomes increasingly important. The old adage ‘Many hands make light work’ is a true one, and having a shared storage solution allows your editors/media production team to have equal access to video increases productivity and collaboration. We recently spoke with Corky Seeber, the President and CEO of Small Tree, about shared storage for broadcast ministry. Is shared storage really that important to video editors in the Worship market? Corky Seeber: Shared storage provides a very collaborative environment where many editors can be involved in the production process. Having all of the content media accessible to all the editors helps generate stronger teamwork and enables larger editing teams to be more productive. How does shared storage improve post-production workflow? Corky: The major advantages of a shared storage solution to the typical post production workflow are speed and security. Speed due to the fact that remote storage drives do not have to be manually moved between editors and security resulting from the fact that the shared storage is RAID protected, so you no longer have to worry about a drive crashing and losing your content once it’s safely loaded on the shared storage. What are the most critical factors churches should keep in mind when choosing a shared storage solution? Corky: Churches are always concerned about cost, so I would say that is the most critical factor in choosing a shared storage solution. This is not as easy as it sounds due to all of the hidden costs in properly installing and supporting your shared storage investment. If you don’t have a full time IT staff, manageability is a significant hidden cost and you would want to make sure the shared storage solution is simple to operate and maintain. You also

August 2015

want to pay attention to the quality of technical support provided by the vendor. Are there other technology considerations that need to be made when purchasing shared storage? Corky: You want to make sure that your shared storage can support both the format of the content your working in — are you working with 4K [or higher] cameras generating very high resolution video — and what editing applications you work with in your post production workflow. By paying attention to these technologies you can make a proper shared storage solution that will be effective for a long time, protecting the investment being made. Budget is typically an issue for churches, so what is the ROI on shared storage? Corky: In the typical worship environment, ROI needs to be measured a little differently than a for profit post production house. ROI in a shared storage solution should be determined by the combination of turnaround time to complete the video production work, improving the peace of mind that having your content protected RAID redundancy, the time and effort saved by not having to recover content from a damaged external drive, and the ability to allow more editors to contribute to the post production workflow. These tend to be difficult to put a dollar value on, but the combined effects of a shared storage solution certainly will improve workflow, make meeting deadlines easier and provide a better post production environment that will be appreciated by all the video editors involved.

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