SAN JOSE, Calif.—Harmonic has introduced Spectrum X Plus, the newest generation of its Spectrum X media server, offering double the channel density of previous generations. The company will showcase the new server at the 2026 NAB Show, April 18-22 in Las Vegas.

Harmonic says Spectrum X Plus dramatically simplifies video ingest and playout functions for broadcasters and content owners, significantly lowering the total cost per channel for broadcast delivery. Spectrum X Plus strengthens Harmonic’s playout-to-delivery solutions by enabling broadcasters to deploy high performance playout infrastructure on premises, in the cloud with Harmonic’s VOS360 Media SaaS, and in hybrid environments, according to the company.

“As broadcasters face growing cost pressures and increasingly complex workflows, Spectrum X Plus provides the flexibility, performance and future-ready architecture they need to modernize ingest, production and playout operations,” said Stephane Cloirec, vice president, video appliance and software product management at Harmonic. “With Spectrum X Plus, we’re responding to customer demand for higher channel density and lower cost per channel without compromising the outstanding quality and reliability that Harmonic solutions are known for. The next-generation media server also paves the way for future integration of AI-based applications such as Harmonic’s AI orchestration service.”

Offering up to eight HD channels or two UHD channels per server, Spectrum X Plus significantly reduces rack space, power consumption and operating costs for broadcasters and content owners. The high-performance baseband video server supports multichannel ingest, studio and news production, channel-in-a-box and integrated playout workflows.

Spectrum X Plus streamlines video playout with integrated onboard graphics, audio loudness control, MCR switching and subtitle insertion. The media server also provides innovative capabilities for next-generation production including support for UHD workflows such as 3D LUT-based HDR conversions, immersive audio formats such as Dolby Atmos and MPEG-H as well as multiple resolutions, frame rates and codec formats.

LUT-based HDR conversions, immersive audio formats such as Dolby Atmos and MPEG-H as well as multiple resolutions, frame rates and codec formats.

Built on a flexible, software-based architecture, Spectrum X Plus eliminates the constraints of traditional hardware-centric systems, Harmonic says. The next-generation media server enhances performance for SMPTE ST 2110 environments, supporting SDI and SMPTE ST 2110 IP I/O, or hybrid configurations. This advanced feature enables broadcasters to transition seamlessly from traditional SDI to fully IP-based workflows.

Spectrum X Plus shares the same file and graphics formats with VOS360 Media and can be controlled by the same automation and traffic systems. This enables broadcasters to easily expand any Spectrum X system with cloud playout resources. The transition is seamless for broadcasters, allowing hybrid playout infrastructures to support service continuity and the rapid launch of pop-up channels in the cloud through fluid operations.

The media server’s software-driven architecture also enables GPU acceleration and deployment of AI-based capabilities such as automated captioning, translation and other value-added workflows, helping broadcasters further streamline operations and reduce costs.

Harmonic will demonstrate its new Spectrum X Plus media server at its NAB Show Booth, W2831, in the West Hall of the LVCC.

Cloud technology is making itself at home in the broadcast sector, and not just in post-production or distribution, but increasingly for live production and playout. Flexibility, scalability and cost efficiency await the organizations that adopt these solutions, particularly when extra processing capacity is needed above the normal levels compared to building extra capacity in-house.

However, it remains unlikely that all production resources will find their way into cloud infrastructure. For example, running all broadcast processes is likely to work out more costly than owning some of the resources.

So where does this leave broadcasters? In practice, a mixture of on-premises (ground) and cloud production setups allows adopters to benefit from the best of both worlds. For example, everyday production and crisis-situations broadcasting might be handled by on-prem equipment, while cloud would handle peaks above normal usage, such as special events.

But the adoption of hybrid production raises questions as to how workflows spanning resources from on-premises to the cloud are effectively managed—otherwise production staff may be drawn away from focusing on delivering engaging content. Management of these workflows, or orchestration, is therefore essential.

Framing Orchestration for a Hybrid Future
Whether it’s live production in the cloud, outsourcing part of an on-prem production into the cloud as a hybrid workflow, or delivery of live content to a pop-up playout channel, they all require control over on-premises and cloud resources. They need to be connected with each other to ensure the safe and reliable flow of media.

Controlling and orchestrating connectivity and signal routing in the cloud itself can often be handled by established static-events automation tools. For example, predefined automation templates can be quickly deployed to create cloud infrastructure. But this approach does not extend to on-premises resource control, which is often essential for larger live productions or permanent workflows.

Orchestration systems for hybrid live production must therefore integrate both on-premises and cloud resources seamlessly. The goal should be for these workflows to be managed in the same way as a traditional master control room or production gallery, with end-to-end visibility, monitoring, and efficient management of both on-premises resources such as bandwidth, ports and equipment, and cloud instances.

Must-Have Features for Orchestration Systems
In hybrid live production setups, operators should simply be able to select a source and a receiver, whether they are based on-premises or in the cloud. The orchestration system should then be able to automatically allocate the required encoders, ARQ protection and cloud gateways from a managed pool of resources.

For example, choosing the right compression technology is often a balance between quality, bandwidth and latency, and configuration might cover codec parameters, encryption and network addressing.

All of these decisions should be made by the system in the background, ensuring that users aren’t presented with unnecessary complexity. To make the management process even more seamless for staff, an intuitive control surface, such as a familiar hardware panel or an easy-to-use software interface, would allow them to keep track of on-premises, ground-to-cloud-cloud-to-ground (GCCG) and cloud workflows.

A hybrid connection may cover a number of networks, including the on-premises production network, dedicated WAN links and unmanaged networks such as the internet. An orchestration system must monitor these network types and provide redundancy in the event of failure. It also needs to handle multi-vendor equipment, including IP switches, cameras, switchers, servers and multiviewers, to ensure end-to-end control. Transcoding between on-premises feeds and cloud receivers is also essential, alongside orchestration of the connectivity to the cloud and between cloud-native applications.

In order to make the best use of the pay-per-use model offered by a cloud solution, the orchestration system should be able to interface with public cloud providers and automate the scaling of cloud instances by spinning them up or down. If a connection is no longer needed, automatic termination of cloud processing instances can save on hosting costs. Where spinning instances up and down isn’t practical, such as for larger instances in a cloud-based video switcher, starting and stopping instances can also reduce costs, although typically not as much as the spinning option.

And just as importantly, no orchestration system should be lacking in effective security measures. While public clouds usually offer enterprise-grade security, the system must cover secure communication between on-premises devices and cloud instances. It can do this via encrypted communication protocols, role-based access control (RBAC), integration with identity and access management systems via Single Sign-On, ARQ stream encryption management and audit logging for full traceability of operations.

The Importance of an Integrated Orchestration Approach
As live production evolves, the broadcast industry is embracing hybrid models that blend the strengths of on-premises infrastructure with the flexibility of cloud. But to unlock the full value of this approach, orchestration must take center stage to provide the operational efficiency, cost control, and resilience. Systems that can intelligently and seamlessly manage resources across both environments will define the future of live production.

Looking ahead, AI could enhance the automation and efficiency of orchestration systems, automating complex workflows, reducing manual intervention, and minimizing human error. With dynamic scaling of resources also an AI-led possibility, organizations will be further empowered to make a success of hybrid live production and continue to create high-quality content for audiences.

Cloud and IT go hand in hand, so as IT leaders, you likely need a comprehensive, clear insight into the technologies that feed both the enterprise and the cloud. Of paramount importance to IT leaders and cloud architects is keeping your technology assets secure, well-governed and cost effective. This is a far cry from where IT was a decade or more ago, whereby IT was pictured more as support for the back office and keeping “the network” functional—as well as supporting the users and workplace.

IT leaders need comprehensive, clear insights into their technology to fuel this evasive and evolving data-driven, decision-making processes, which lead to the best of results. The cloud, while convenient and less involved (compared to an enterprise-size data center) is not without its concerns. This is not to be “negative” about the cloud. Quite the contrary, knowing pitfalls of the cloud can only make your implementation(s) better and less risky.

By looking at known issues, we hope to broaden perspective and set the tone for understanding how, why or why not “in the cloud.”

Lifecycle 
Most products sold to users have some concept of how long it will last. This “lifecyle” is no different for automobiles, appliances and certainly electronics. Like hardware, software also has its own version of how long it will last—sometimes based on the hardware it lives on and sometimes just how long the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) wishes to support it or feels it is worthy of maintaining due to technology changes (usually advancements) or their cost of keeping it alive. 

In IT (and cloud) , there is also a software lifecycle. In this case, the software asset lifecycle is about having your IT resources accounted for, cost-effective and properly employed. Vulnerabilities of the products lead the list of concerns about IT assets according to Flexera’s 2021 “State of IT Visibility Report.” This issue is a chief concern of the enterprise information management and staff. The same issues can be and are extended into cloud practices and, like the “ground-based” enterprise, must be carefully understood, watched and protected. The sidebar provides simple definitions as they apply to software systems and hardware components.

In considering cloud, many look at using a combination of ground-based (on-prem) services and cloud services. This is generally referred to as a “hybrid” cloud service and some feel this is not only important, but it may also be essential to its operation. In this model there is a dual role—that is, here the enterprise must manage its own services (on-prem) and in turn manage its cloud services as well.

Is a Hybrid Cloud the Right Answer?
According to Morpheus’ “Gartner Market Guide for Cloud Management Tooling,” “The requirement to support hybrid and/or multicloud deployments is stressing current enterprise operational processes and tooling that had been designed for their on-premises environment. The main use cases continue to be around cloud governance and resource management as enterprises try to avoid overspending or falling prey to security breaches.”

By definition, a hybrid cloud is a mixed computing environment where applications are run using a combination of computing, storage and services in different environments—public clouds and private clouds, including on-premises data centers or “edge” locations. 

On a broader perspective, hybrid cloud architectures are widespread primarily because almost no one today relies entirely on a single public cloud. Figs. 1 and 2 show the values and benefits of employing a hybrid cloud to your solutions.

The value is that in hybrid cloud solutions you need to migrate and manage workloads between various cloud (and ground) environments. In turn, this allows users to create more versatile setups based on specific business needs. Many organizations choose to adopt hybrid cloud platforms to reduce costs, minimize risk and extend their existing capabilities to support digital transformation efforts. 

A hybrid cloud approach is one of the most common infrastructure architectures of modern computing applications for IT, media, healthcare, and the list goes on. Today, most cloud migrations often lead to hybrid cloud implementations as organizations often have to transition applications and data slowly and systematically. Hybrid cloud environments allow you to continue using on-premises services while taking advantage of the flexible options for storing and accessing data and applications offered by public cloud providers, such as Google Cloud.

The Good and the Bad
On the other side of the coin, there are many reasons why there are plenty of workloads that will never go to public cloud—some of which include: regulatory response, life/safety reasons, subscription vs. permanent cost models, less control over your data security, and of course, you must have good Internet. 

The “if it’s not broke don’t fix it,” and the “one throat to choke (your own),” along with long-term costs of cloud computing being higher, all stack up against the “all in the cloud” model. Users also say some applications actually run better on a local server along with not knowing “where” your data really is (risk of regulations that could impact data retention or recovery, and how much does it take of your time plus the inability to control reliability.

Another not-so-pleasant concern is that every action leaves a trail (i.e., Where’s your privacy?). Many of us grew up thinking that almost everything online was anonymous. Wrong. Connecting to the web generates an IP address. Every website we visit can see that IP address, and others can “see” that information, everything from what operating system we use to the size of our screen resolution.

Nothing you do is private any longer, especially when your interaction requires or expects one to “create an account.” The main point in creating an account is to retain certain data in order to display it again later. (Privacy is lost, even if the website “says” differently. If it weren’t important, why does that site need it?)

Everyone Has a Data Profile
Every detail about us can, and often is, regularly bought and sold; cookies track us routinely. Even if you don’t accept the cookies, there are means to track and trace you. Artificial intelligence now “fills in the gaps” using other resources, such as Facebook, one of the largest repositories of personal information on the planet.

This issue isn’t limited to services with public data (as in Facebook and Twitter/X). Amazon, Google and Dropbox each store different but very intimate details about each of us. Personally Identifiable Information (“PII”) is valuable to you, to businesses and to hackers. Personable data generates a “profile” that now positions you into “classes” or groupings, which now link to other connections and end up being “mined” by organizations that profit from knowing what they know and, at times, exploiting that information for less than personal reasons.

And it’s not just cybercriminals who want your data; countless services and governmental agencies want and collect your personal details too.

HR Concerns
So, think further about your own organization or enterprise data, much of which may indeed include “your” personal data. For good reasons, HR departments take worthy concerns over their employees’ personal information and that you, the employee, trust that data to your employer. 

The same might go for corporate records, contracts and such. Hence the interest and concern over security whereby they may employ technologies like blockchain to protect transactions, contracts and other confidential information.

Types of PPI
Direct identifiers, also called “sensitive PII,” are data sets that can be used to pinpoint you and only you. Quasi-identifiers, also called “non-sensitive,” are those details that can be combined with other quasi-identifiers to “label” you—classify or group you for geographic, domestic or other reasons. Quasi-identifier designations are often used for statistical analysis placing you into group(s) that describe which “you belong to.”

Direct identifiers, as mentioned, are about you and only you. Nothing you share with another person is a direct identifier—that data such as your full name, medical history, credit card details, personal identifiers such as social security or insurance numbers, or your passport number. 

Europe took a hard stand less than a decade ago with its General Data Protection Regulation (GDRP), a European law enacted in about mid-2018). The GDPR concept aimed to protect you (the user) and provided a legal means to have to prove that any collector of said data had actually scrubbed and/or expunged your data from their files, should you request such action. 

Initially, the 1995 EU Data Protection Directive set goals and requirements, which the EU member states were free to interpret its general goals and requirements as they see fit when complying with their national (EU) laws. Essentially, this says that organizations must have a lawful reason for collecting personal data; the amount of personal data collected must be limited to the minimum necessary to complete the lawful purpose; and that data must be deleted once the lawful purpose has been completed. 

The U.S. (country-wide) has been struggling to develop a similar protection, but has essentially gotten no-where; yet California has implemented similar policies.

Where is my Data, Really?
The depth of these kinds of actions apply not only to local servers and services, but extend into the cloud, which leads to an interesting caveat. What happens when the data actually resides in a cloud that is in a non-EU country?

Hence, you can see the concerns for using “the cloud” when you don’t know where the data is or under which jurisdiction that data might be controlled at any given moment. Furthermore, these concerns become more complicated as the cloud providers expand and the resiliency models (data duplication and distribution) grow for faster, more improved services.

So, know your solution set thoroughly before jumping on the “all in the cloud” bandwagon. Keep informed or use a knowledgeable entity to help support and maintain your investments.

LONDON—Blue Lucy, a cloud-based SaaS solutions developer, will focus on ground-cloud hybrid workflows during IBC 2023, Sept. 15-18, at RAI Amsterdam.

The company’s BLAM is a media and business system integration platform designed to meet the complex production and distribution needs of the multiplatform era. It combines media management, workflow orchestration and operational task management in a single solution, the company said.

The Blue Lucy team will focus on dispelling the perception that entirely cloud-based models are the panacea for all media operators. They will demonstrate how media companies can get the best of both worlds by showing real-world operational workloads running in cloud-ground hybrid environments, the company said.

Blue Lucy will reveal how BLAM’s 450-plus microservices, also known as Blidgets, connect content production tools and business systems to provide harmonized and highly automated production and fulfilment operations. The Blue Lucy team will discuss operational problems or business opportunities that operators are trying to address and demonstrate how BLAM can deliver outcomes-focused solutions at any scale. 

See Blue Lucy at IBC Stand 6.C29.

More information is available on the company’s website.

Hybrid workflows have lived up to the promise of delivering continuity across the media industry in recent years. Despite many companies initially adopting a combined on-prem and cloud-ready approach as a short-term solution, the continuation of remote working practices means hybrid is set to remain a critical strategy for optimally effective workflows. 

On-prem and cloud are often pitted against each other in the M&E space. But rather than a battle between the two, we should think of hybrid as the de-facto standard that allows media companies to mix and match the best attributes of both. However, no two hybrid working models are the same, and so it’s important to adopt a strategic mindset and informed data driven knowledge for the effective combination of the technologies. 

Taking stock before the next step
There has been a lot of discussion around cracking the ‘perfect’ hybrid working model from a human resources perspective lately. But the reality is that going back to a one-size-fits-all approach to work is not going to suit the vast majority of people – or the companies they work for. Likewise, hybrid media workflows are not a “one size fits all” but they do provide the flexibility to customize every aspect of the content supply chain. So how can we take advantage of this flexibility?

The media industry has experienced a profound transformation, driven by a wave of digital innovation. But it’s important to take stock and not get swept up in change without defining some clear objectives. One key goal might be “I want to access my media from anywhere” but that doesn’t necessarily mean that content needs to be shifted to the cloud in bulk; which can then make the data expensive to access. By identifying how frequently teams are accessing media, and how they are interacting with those assets, we can start to map out the most appropriate solution for an organization’s needs.

A media organization’s fingerprint
While on the surface media organizations deal with the same commodity, their requirements and structure can vary dramatically. And that’s not just the differences between a post-house and a global studio. Two media companies can have identical business models, but their infrastructure can be surprisingly different. This diversity is what makes M&E such an interesting environment to work in, but dealing with a unique fingerprint for each organization comes with its own challenges.

When identifying the technological framework that will suit the needs of diverse media teams, asset management should be a key consideration. If you get this right, it will enable creative professionals to have seamless access to content from any location. But fail to consider a balance between nearline and archive storage, that will ensure both accessibility and affordability, and you’ll be dealing with the impact for years to come.  As the volume of content increases, companies need to have one eye on their future requirements. So, setting up storage and media management that is secure but also scalable is crucial. 

Integrating the hybrid model
Combining on-prem and cloud resources can allow media companies to take advantage of on-prem predictable costs, faster workflows, and on-cloud, the advanced scalability of services all rolled into one. With the right applications and integrations, a hybrid cloud infrastructure can become an extremely optimized solution, but this relies on interoperability between vendors. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to designing and implementing hybrid strategies. The key to success is to tailor workflows and use cases to specific needs. Especially when modernizing legacy platforms or augmenting existing solutions. 

Content visibility is another important factor. Storage must be connected to media-focused interfaces that make protecting, finding, and sharing content straightforward. Finding media quickly and easily is about more than bottom-line efficiency, it enables creativity and connection between global teams. By taking a strategic approach that best fits the needs of the organization and the people that work for it, we can truly streamline the creation, management, and distribution of content. 

Optimizing the content supply chain
Plenty of companies have transitioned to the cloud in the hopes of addressing evolving workforce dynamics and media trends. But in many cases costs have been underestimated, and siloed on-prem content is not as accessible as it should be. The hybrid cloud offers flexibility by combining on-premises storage, private cloud storage, and public cloud storage, in any combination needed. But if these elements are not linked together with the right integrations, then the flow of media is interrupted, and processes cannot be optimized.

Hybrid storage and media management empowers content operators, editors, and administrators, to deliver their best work. As well as maximizing growth opportunities and enhancing performance. It allows content-focused organizations to select the appropriate level of security, mitigating the risks of data breaches and giving maximum protection to high-value assets. 

Collaboration is enhanced through seamless connectivity and content accessibility that ensures uninterrupted operations among teams, even when working from different locations. By synchronizing the transfer of content and metadata to cloud storage platforms and utilizing on-prem resources where it makes sense, we can unlock the full potential of media assets.

The live production industry constantly tests the boundaries of what is possible during a broadcast. The viewer experience and consumer demand act as a catalysts for new ideas and solutions. As more technology than ever goes into a live broadcast, the rate at which it is evolving is faster than ever.

Broadcasters and streamers are experimenting with new technologies often. Live shows are growing, with increasing production requirements, cameras, and formats like 1080P and HDR. In contrast, a shift to streaming apps and tighter budgets is encouraging technologists to simultaneously look for savings—sparking the discussion on where, how, and when to look to the cloud. 

However, moving to the cloud can mean many different things; it’s a complicated, "no one-size-fits-all" solution. Public clouds, private clouds, hybrid clouds, fog computing and edge computing all play a role, so the most popular cloud variation has yet to be determined. 

Public clouds are easily accessible, but come with a premium hourly price, are less secure, and can only currently serve lower-tier productions. Edge computing and fog computing solutions show some promise, but aren’t yet at the stage where they can be relied upon beyond small and mid-size events. 

Hybrid cloud is the combination that many are turning to in live production. The flexibility of both private cloud and on-prem mobile units and resources, like cameras, makes it the most capable solution. This cloud variant gives companies unrivaled access to centralized computing power and purpose-built hardware on-site. The hybrid cloud also provides the lowest latency and highest reliability with the most control for large-scale broadcasts. 

Why Hybrid Cloud Wins
Hybrid cloud provides the perk of not having to choose one solution and utilizing benefits from multiple options. Many businesses have adopted the cloud in one way or another, with 87% of businesses having a hybrid cloud strategy. 

The broadcasting industry is certainly not the first to turn to the cloud, so there are insights to be gained from other industries who started their cloud journey a decade ago. However, with the additional requirements of being live, and cameras that need to be on-site, there are caveats that make cloud adoption for this industry unique.

The live broadcast industry fits into the world of the cloud as it pertains to three main components—cameras, people, and computing (hardware and software). Unlike other tech industries, there is a tangible component with live broadcast cameras that will always need to be on-site at an event, and unable to move to the cloud. Conversely, production crews can now be anywhere. Whether producing, directing or running replay, operators can remotely access the systems they need. 

This leaves technologists with the option to explore innovation in hardware and software components. With the anchor of cameras needing to be on-site, a customized combination of private cloud and on-prem is likely to be the cloud variant for the largest broadcasters. Offering the lowest cost (with some level of volume), lowest latency, highest reliability and the most control, it is the best choice for this industry.

The hybrid cloud harnesses the benefits of the private cloud, while still allowing for on-prem production resources at an event. For this reason, the move to the cloud will represent the move to the hybrid cloud for live broadcasters. 

With companies recognizing the value that the private cloud brings to their workflows—and ultimately, their viewers—broadcasters are using the cloud to simplify multifeed productions, while also using distributed hardware and distributed control to place an emphasis on scalability and quality.

The hybrid cloud has benefits that go beyond technology, as well. In a post-pandemic world, the modern workplace has grown more accustomed to remote work and hyper-flexible schedules; there is intense competition to hire skilled workers that is affecting seemingly every industry. Live broadcast production needs to be able to satisfy the modern workforce’s needs in order to attract and retain talent.

Cloud technologies are taking on more responsibilities to cater to both viewer and employee demands, helping to alleviate pain points; but on-prem production won’t go away. Effectively utilizing cloud technologies will be vital to the live production industry’s success in the current economic landscape, helping with cost savings and flexible schedules.

Increased Demand will Expedite the Move to Cloud
The demand for bringing live events into a viewer’s home will continue setting the bar for new developments. The results of that will look different in an ever-changing landscape—whether it be a new shift to streaming platforms or an enhanced experience from home that caters to personal preferences. Regardless, technology will continue to advance at an exponential rate to meet these needs. 

Alongside viewers, the brightest minds in the industry are always looking at ways to improve. Technology will continue to push the boundaries of what is possible and the hybrid cloud will be on the frontlines making a big impact.

LONDON—M2A Media, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Videon, Singular.live, TAG Video Systems and Spalk have successfully demonstrated a first-of-its-kind, multi-vendor proof of concept showing how next-generation hybrid cloud technologies can improve traditional live broadcast workflows.

The demo, which occurred during the London-based roadshow, Connecting in the Cloud: Shaping the Future of Live Broadcast, used multiple live video sources, including a cloud hand-off from ATP Media, the global sales, broadcast production and distribution arm of the ATP Tour, and a live BT Sport feed acquired into AWS from BT Media & Broadcast in London. 

“M2A Media has a keen understanding of the value that cloud technology is bringing to the media and entertainment industry,” explained Marcus Box, CEO, M2A Media. “With this proof of concept, it was our aim to bring together leading innovators in the field to educate and to inspire the industry by presenting the technologies that are disrupting the broadcast landscape. We were delighted that the POC was so well received, and we look forward to future collaborations as we continue to disrupt and innovate.”

The purpose of the demonstration was to showcase the ease with which valuable live video can be contributed via the AWS cloud and transformed using progressive new cloud technologies, the companies said.

In addition to showing secure receipt and control of the live video streams, the workflow was augmented through a range of transformations including remotely switching from one source transport stream to another transport stream for B2B distribution, the addition and control of live graphics, live commentary, and the transformation to B2C streams and delivery to an AWS CloudFront for its onward journey to viewers and sports fans worldwide.

The Videon Compute Platform (VCP) played a key role in creating true hybrid:cloud live video architectures, bringing compute power to the origination of the video source and allowing for unique workflows in live sports, the companies said. 

The platform's native functions, including LiveEdge Core, sit on-premises and allow users to package streams in multiple formats, insert SCTE-35 ad markers, graphic overlays, UTC time codes, and user-defined KLV metadata into live video feeds. The addition of LiveEdge Compute enables developers to create and run powerful functions as docker containers on the platform, the companies said.  

In addition, the management layer, LiveEdge Cloud, provides remote health monitoring and management for entire fleets of VCP devices. This flexible architecture not only offers low latency, lowered end-to-end operating costs, stability, and security––but also the head room and extensibility for future heavy compute functions such as Machine Learning inferences––all wrapped up in a small form factor with low power consumption for energy-efficient operations, the companies reported. 

The orchestration of the AWS cloud for workflow flexibility and scalability was shown by M2A Media’s live IP transport product, M2A CONNECT. As well as offering visibility of workflows for dynamic public cloud resources, M2A’s user-interface rewards operations teams with levels of control and set-up previously only suited to engineers, it said. 

TAG Video Systems has become the de facto provider for video and data monitoring by offering products that are both comprehensive and configurable. The proof of concept demonstrated how TAG can be used to fully monitor and visualize a cloud workflow, and benefit from scalability, agility, and custom orchestration, it reported. 

Singular.live provides broadcast quality graphic templates, from creation to live control and automation via its web based HTML5 overlay platform. This control was shown in real-time, using a series of custom templates created for the event, it said. 

Spalk showcased how their Virtual Commentary Studio can allow broadcasters, production companies and rights holders to easily produce customized and localized broadcast feeds for specific markets whilst lowering the cost of entry to reach new market segments without sacrificing production quality, the company said. 

Under the cloud umbrella are the familiar variations—public, private and hybrid clouds. The latter, hybrid, is an environment featuring a combination of both public cloud (e.g., AWS, Azure, Google, others) and private cloud. 

By “private cloud,” we mean a “physical location” such as an on-prem data center, a “co-lo” type center, or a managed service dealing directly with users on a contractual basis. Many variations in private clouds exist. Facebook, for example, created its own private cloud for its infrastructure and does not utilize a public cloud to store its data. When scale, security or functional need dictate something outside the boundaries of a public, commercial cloud, users may turn to this privately controlled model.

With those basics defined, an emerging user trend is now developing. Certain specialties now command specifics that demand sets of capabilities that span more than a single service whether public or private cloud. While such a model might be classified as a hybrid cloud environment, there are places and applications where that traditional hybrid cloud implementation expands outside those classic dimensions.

Hybrid Prevails
To place this into perspective—almost no one, today, relies exclusively on the public cloud for computing. Today, a hybrid cloud is categorized as a solution or environment in which applications are running in a combination of differing environments. Reasons include capabilities that cannot be supported exclusively in any public cloud—for example, the production of an entertainment program that demands services at a venue that can’t be done in a virtual cloud platform (live sports clearly needs cameras, sound and human interaction).

Hybrid models are here for the near term, yielding new opportunities to assemble other elements of the production using tools that heretofore were relegated mostly to large frame, custom hardware. Such development is going full speed, but it’s not clear when this will become mainstream. Thus, there are cloud service providers who are focusing on supporting such migrations using specialized capabilities (their own “secret sauce”) that set them apart from their competition. 

More than One Cloud
Enter a relatively newer approach to methodologies that promote multiple methods to reach the users’ goals. This relatively recent trend is referred to as “multi-cloud,” (Fig. 1)

Multi-cloud and hybrid cloud models refer to cloud deployments that integrate more than one cloud. Each differ in the kinds of cloud infrastructure they include (Fig. 2). For example, a hybrid cloud infrastructure blends two or more different types of clouds, while multi-cloud blends different clouds of similar type.

Multi-cloud, according to IBM, is “the use of cloud services from two or more vendors,” inferring two or more different public cloud vendors, yet that doesn’t necessarily mean only “public cloud” providers. The multi-cloud approach gives organizations increased flexibility to optimize performance, control costs, and in turn, leverage the “best of breed” cloud technologies available. 

Services Today 
To set the framework, we need to examine where the technologies lie today. The three better-recognized “cloud services” include Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Software as a Service (SaaS). Each of these three services utilize some degree of “cloud computing,” usually contained within that cloud under specialties and services that the specific provider has optimized for their particular cloud infrastructure. 

Each of the three services’ platforms employ what we refer to as “cloud computing.” By fundamental definition, cloud computing are those technologies that “make the cloud work.” More expanded descriptions include “a remote data center, which contains the (computing) resources that support those applications” and include physical (and virtual) servers, development tools and networking. Each of these services are provided in a cloud-like environment, i.e., “native cloud.”

Some definitions will include “via the internet” and others will describe cloud computing using a “network of remote servers” that are “hosted on the internet” for functionality, which includes “the management, processing and storing of data.” These remote data centers may be managed by a third-party cloud service provider (CSP) who then charges as a subscription-based service with on-demand billing. To the end user/subscriber, they are likely unaware of which services are provided on which cloud model, i.e., private or public.

Compute Offerings 
Leading cloud providers, as well as cloud-solution providers (e.g., VMware), may participate in multi-cloud solutions for compute. Wrapped in the cloud compute structure is “infrastructure, development, data warehousing, cloud storage, disaster recovery/business continuity” and more. 

Cross cloud utilization is where this multi-cloud “best of breed” concept plays best. For example, artificial intelligence and machine learning may best be practiced in a cloud service environment specially tailored for these operations, given that the scale of servers and storage necessary for a large AI/ML deployment can be intensive. In this example model, deploying a multi-cloud model might involve data acquisition from one cloud provider and compute analytics that might best be served in another.

Benefits gained in this strategy may be realized in different ways by various organizations. Live event or studio production might best be served by vendor A while post production (transcoding, formatting, versioning) might be better served by vendor B. Allowing the user to choose cloud services from varying providers based on performance, function, costs, etc., is now a marketplace-driven agenda compared to past models where you went to a single provider for all those services wrapped into a package—and where you might find certain service capability limitations.

Risk, Vulnerability & Loss 
Other important rationale for the multi-cloud model include risk reduction, reduced vulnerability to losses in data, compromise, unplanned downtime or outages, and more. Additional operation strategies that can leverage multi-cloud include licensing, security, service-compatibility and alleviation of signing up with a single provider who can’t offer all the services under one umbrella. 

Unfortunately, as all these cloud models grow, user/administrators have been facing what is referred to as “shadow-IT,” i.e., “you can’t protect what you can’t see.” The explosion of unsanctioned applications, software and devices is weighing heavily on the CIOs who must develop policies based upon the knowns. By limiting the services to a single solution, you could risk pushing the limits, which you can’t see, touch or know about until you arrive there and find “you just can’t do that here.”

Multi-cloud uses are still evolving. Full feature sets will require additional support and conduits to or from the variations. Inside the media and entertainment technology domains, efforts to establish best current practices for elements like multi-cloud—which requires ground-to-cloud and cloud-to-ground (GCCG) parameters—are moving forward. Harmonization of how well one cloud provider’s services (e.g., software-defined networking for compressed signal production) versus another’s capabilities (e.g., in compilation and distribution) will allow users to experience opportunities in cloud-to-cloud services that can more easily react to the needs of the entire ecosystem.

For many companies, Signiant has become an important abstraction layer, allowing IT to choose different storage types for different use cases, while giving creative professionals and partners a means to access and transfer content without having to think about where files are stored.

Read the eGuide to learn:

• What storage independence is and why it matters
• Three cases where file acceleration software should support different storage types
• How software that supports storage choice provides your business the flexibility it needs to grow

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SPONSORED CONTENT

The TV industry is undergoing a major transformation: from a broadcasting model to a predominantly digital, IP-delivered model that can better serve fragmented, multi-channel audiences.

This demand for personalized content and the ongoing industry shift to ever-higher definition formats - and soon, data-rich content like virtual reality - increases demand for high-performance compute, storage, and networking. Original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in the broadcast industry must find the most efficient and scalable way to enable content providers to deliver better experiences to their audiences.

Robust infrastructures need to be in place to handle myriad production, post-production and distribution complexities, and to give teams across the world reliable and easy access to tools and content.

Scalable and dynamic infrastructure

Nokia is a technology pioneer helping content providers in the media and entertainment industry overcome these challenges. Its end-to-end technology solutions are enabling customers to create, program, store and distribute content, and monetize it through targeted advertising and the promise of zero latency.

These solutions are built on scalable and dynamic HPE OEM Solutions server infrastructures, which give customers the ultimate flexibility to design their workflows through combined access to the public cloud, central data centers, and edge technologies.

This hybrid cloud deployment model has now become even more critical, especially for global media organizations that need to produce content anywhere in the world, for distribution anywhere in the world.

Increasing personalization and flexibility

Nokia works with HPE OEM Solutions to deliver high volumes of personalized, on-demand, and linear video traffic to consumers over both fixed and wireless broadband connections, which has significantly increased viewer retention.

The partnership has also yielded content providers a streaming IP video solution that combines the control of on-premise with a cloud-like, OpEx funding framework. This delivers built-in funding flexibility that adjusts providers’ costs when their technology or usage requirements change.

Paul Larbey, the Video Business Division leader at Nokia, said: “The key thing that HPE OEM Solutions is enabling us to do is to innovate, not just from a technology perspective, but also from a commercial and a business model perspective.”

Are you ready to help your customers capture the attention of modern-day viewers? Learn how at hpe.com/solutions/oem-media. 

BOSTON—As one of the nation’s premier public broadcasters, Boston’s WGBH-TV has a strong legacy of programming that it has provided to PBS and other outlets for decades. From the classic children’s series “ZOOM” to “Masterpiece Theater,” “Nova” and “Antiques Roadshow,” WGBH has enriched the nation’s library of television programming since it first signed on the air more than 60 years ago.

That program library contains thousands of hours of film and video in a variety of formats that has become increasingly hard to manage over the years, according to Shane Miner, senior director of technical services, who joined WGBH four years ago. Problems such as increasing rates of ingest, manual processes, no digital rights and inadequate media asset management led the WGBH IT team to search for a better solution.

“When I started, I noticed what I thought was an inefficiency around our archives,” Miner said. “It was too manual and we were going to struggle to scale as both the amount and size of media increased. I felt like it wasn’t providing producers with what they needed to be able to meet their shorter deadlines and quicker turnarounds.”

Initially WGBH looked into a cloud-only solution but found that it didn’t meet their workflow requirements because of long download times and egress charges for video became too expensive.

MANAGING CONTENT

The key to managing and maximizing the full potential of WGBH’s vast archive could be summed up in one word: metadata, according to Miner. This led him to consider object storage as a hybrid solution that provides the best of both worlds between a NAS/SAN and all-cloud system.

“You can’t find any video unless you have a good metadata structure to be able to search, so the idea with object store is that you can marry the metadata to the video as a single discrete object that gives you a ‘self-describing’ video file,” Miner said

In addition to enhanced search and retrieval, other advantages to object storage is that it is limitlessly scalable, and can be deployed in an on-prem and cloud environment. In the end this reduces costs by reducing the amount of time staff has to deal with physical media, an important consideration for a public TV station with a limited budget.

WGBH stored a large amount of its programming on LTO and the time consumed in accessing physical tape was a big consideration in cost reductions, according to Miner. “It’s a much easier process when it comes to people time and energy,” he said. “We don’t have to plan large projects around the changeover [from physical media]. Definitely object storage locally with the second copy in the cloud is cheaper than what we looked at over many, many years than a traditional LTO solution.”

WGBH’s current setup includes 3 petabytes of on-prem storage occupying 15RU in a data center that reduced physical space by 90 percent when compared to its tape library. It uses AWS Glacier for cloud/DR and AWS S3 for extra capacity. On-prem object store is based on the Cloudian platform that provides for editing and archive curation. Final versions are stored in Sony Ci.

DO YOU NEED A MAM?

Using object store reduces the need for a media asset management system, Miner said. Whereas search in the traditional archive was limited to just what was in the archive, object store allows content to be searchable as soon as media enters the workflow.

“What we’re hoping to do with object store is actually break apart the MAM,” he said. “Because we can store the metadata directly on the objects and then use the file system to search, you actually don’t need a big heavyweight MAM to handle all the processes.”

When Miner and his team were looking at implementing this new storage system, the station was in the process of launching its Public Media Management cloud-based master control system. Since PMM targeted centralized master control, the model lended itself towards more cloud-only storage since PMM only handled finished shows, according to Miner. For archiving, however, the requirements were different.

[Read: WGBH And Sony Partner On Cloud Workflow]

“The problem we have with our actual archive is that for example, ‘Frontline’’s hour-long show generates hundreds of hours of footage so storing all of that content becomes costly and cumbersome in terms of pull down cost,” he said. “So as we looked at the full archive, we’ll use Sony’s Ci to store our finished program material [for PMM], but that’s such a small subset of the actual full archive that it’s much easier to manage. But the two systems [PMM and the archive] are pretty disparate; central master control has its own archive of broadcast material that specifically focuses on master control and nothing else and this archive is specifically focused on WGBH and nothing else.”

Using metadata as the driver of the transition not only helps reduce physical space and the time station staff need to retrieve content, it also gives producers more capabilities in handling content through the production workflow. When you have archives that stretch all the way back to early Julia Child film reels, this illustrates how the massive potential of metadata can be used to maximize the value of such legacy programming.

“We take our archive to be our mission element,” Miner said. “We believe that maintaining our archive is a public good and that’s something we should do because it’s essential to our mission.”

BURLINGTON, MASS.—Avid is helping Al Jazeera Media Network head to the cloud, with the deployment of its hybrid cloud workflows. The new workflow will collaborate with Al Jazeera’s MediaCentral platform to assist with story creation and time to market for its programs.

The hybrid cloud workflow is providing Al Jazeera news teams immediate access to a common repository of assets—content, metadata and news run-downs—to assemble, enhance and distribute productions across the network’s TV and online properties.

The international news provider showcased how it is utilizing the Avid hybrid cloud at IBC 2017.