But what do you do for local data? An external desktop hard drive soon reaches its limits, and anyone who has had experience with the MyCloud knows that not every solution makes sense. That’s why we asked around among our studio friends, and one provider came up several times: Elements.
Elements, a brand of Syslink GmbH from Düsseldorf, offers a wide range of storage
Storage, NAS and server solutions, from a transportable cube for live use on set to an NVME-only high-speed storage system called Bolt, which has throughput rates that bring normal workstations to their knees. That’s why we sat down for a beer with Managing Director André Kamps and asked him what he can recommend based on his experience.
DP: Hello André, my hard drives are full and I can’t find anything …
André Kamps: Depending on your data volume and your existing infrastructure, we can configure a customised solution for you with Cube, NAS, One or Bolt. Once we have found the right setup, we will of course take care of migrating your data. And with the Media Library, your “I can’t find anything” problem should also be a thing of the past. At least with regard to your media files. We recommend other solutions for your car keys.
DP: So – for a small and medium-sized studio – what kind of setup would that amount to?
André Kamps: We often use an Elements NAS 24bay with a capacity of up to 192 Tbyte per chassis.
DP: If the bottleneck for cloud and home-built servers is the network, what upgrades are necessary for the internal network and for the internet connection, and what makes sense?
André Kamps: For a NAS, you need proper Cat 6e cabling and a 10 Gigabit Ethernet switch. If you want to access the media library remotely, you need a fast internet connection. How fast this is depends on the number of expected accesses and the video formats used.
DP: So if I have this line and the boxes are connected in the studio: How can I integrate my existing archive, and what other features – apart from more space – can I expect?
André Kamps: If we stay with your Elements NAS as an example, this of course has various options for integrating your existing infrastructure – and also for expanding beyond Elements components. For example, we can integrate existing NAS systems and archives and display the content in the Media Library. In other words, the current hardware remains as it is and is also managed. We can conveniently use cloud storage (Amazon S3, Microsoft Azure) via our automation tool.
DP: So in the end, I control my entire storage, no matter where, via an interface and can already assign users here who has how much space and which accesses for which project? And is the number of users that I can create (e.g. for organising different work steps) limited?
André Kamps: Exactly. All storage configurations, from setting up users (groups) to quotas, rights, workflows and automations, are available centrally and easily via an HTML5 interface directly from the browser. The number of users is not limited.
DP: A studio told us about your editor, which makes a rough cut of the material visible via an HTML interface. Is this available to everyone or is it a customised solution?
André Kamps: The idea of the rough cut in the browser was the beginning of the Elements Editor – it is easier to use for many tasks. In the meantime, many functions have been added. The cut or other material can be viewed in the browser from outside, e.g. by authorised external clients. The preview is streamed on the basis of the proxies that are already available, and the viewer can log and categorise their impressions live with timecode accuracy and share them with others.
DP: And I can then process this in my Premiere, for example, for real video editing?
André Kamps: You can edit previews from the editor in Adobe Premiere Pro at any time. Furthermore, you can use our extension (zxp-Panel) to find and directly use any material in the Media Library from Premiere and thus even continue or reuse older projects.
DP: Since everything is in one place anyway, can you offer me any other features with my footage?
André Kamps: Sure, we believe that metadata is an essential part of media files these days. Otherwise nobody would be able to sort, find or manage their data. Of course, each customer can decide for themselves how extensively this function is used. In addition to natively available metadata such as file name, video or audio format, creation date, etc., automated tagging using artificial intelligence (AI) has recently become an option. We have integrated Raypack AI for this purpose so that metadata can be assigned quickly, reliably and in a resource-saving manner.
DP: If we take this a step further: What other options do I have for hanging my data in the pipeline?
André Kamps: Any workflows, e.g. moving, copying or transcoding, can be triggered in watch folders of any other system via Elements Automation. Various integrated notification interfaces automatically inform both users and further processing systems about the status of the workflows – integrating storage into the pipeline with Shotgun, Ftrack and so on is something I would describe as almost trivial for the average technician.
DP: The systems are basically their own computers. How do security updates and feature upgrades get in? And how do you deal with bugs?
André Kamps: Elements supplies all current customers with all security updates, bug fixes and necessary system customisations. On request, our support team will accompany or complete the installation. These updates also include all feature upgrades that we have in our portfolio.
DP: So when upgrading to an Elements system, what are the options?
André Kamps: We have various options, which we can also combine. Firstly, there is the Cube, a very compact, transportable system. This is primarily intended for on-site use at events and filming, but can of course also be used in post-production. Traditionally, we work in post-production and for VFX use with the One or NAS, which were specially developed for this purpose. These are 4U 19-inch rackmount units that can be expanded in many ways and offer outstanding performance. At the top end of our portfolio is the new Bolt in 2U, designed for applications where top speeds are required. With high-end performance of up to 25 Gbyte/s, the Bolt makes users’ eyes shine.
DP: How would you advise a medium-sized studio to deal with the vexed backup issue? From your personal experience?
André Kamps: Personally, I would consider automated, regular backups to be mandatory if business operations depend on the preservation of this data. This is probably the case for almost all companies these days, but is particularly pronounced in the media and entertainment industry. The high volume of data in this industry naturally makes complete backups expensive and time-consuming, so an intelligent mechanism is advisable. Even though we at Elements work with very high security standards within the system, such as multiple RAID-6 and redundant power supplies, controllers or metadata discs, nobody can guarantee 100% availability. The most common problems we see here are external influences such as water damage, fire and human error. Redundant complete systems at different locations are a recommendable but expensive option. On the other hand, a loss of data can also cause damage running into millions.
DP: And if a lot of material comes in, e.g. 4K plates from the set, preferably raw, which environment makes sense?
André Kamps: This is probably the question I get asked most often. To put it scientifically: It depends (laughs). Our American colleagues would say: Bigger is better. There are too many variables that have to be considered together in this case. With 4K raw and correspondingly high quality further processing, e.g. by flame artists, single image sequences, colour grading etc., you can assume that a Cube is not enough and a One or even better a Bolt would be good.
DP: From your experience, what else does an upgrade to a proper storage system entail?
André Kamps: Most customers are simply delighted with their increased efficiency: “We don’t even know how we used to be able to work.” This is often followed later by delight at simple extensions. We successfully avoid unpleasant surprises and phrases such as “Couldn’t you have told me this beforehand?” through very detailed discussions and obligatory requirements analyses in advance, which lead to a jointly agreed specification. In this way, we can almost completely rule out misunderstandings.
DP: What comes after NVME?
André Kamps: That’s a good question. If you find out the answer, I would be grateful if you would share it with me first. NVME is currently a quantum leap in storage technology, and we are delighted to be one of the first in the world to use NVME productively with our customers. Even more than for greater storage technologies, we would be more enthusiastic about higher-performance network protocols such as SMB Direct for Linux.
Automation via tasks – file management processes can be set up node-based. Or do you find copying, naming and checking a valuable use of your creativity?
DP: What will storage look like in 5 years?
André Kamps: I expect hybrid private-public cloud storage in particular. This will combine the best of all these worlds and provide good capacity/performance values for the time being.
DP: And what will things look like in 20 years’ time?
André Kamps: In 20 years, a lot more will happen than we can imagine right now. Perhaps it will be a sci-fi memory that our current AI has developed independently. It is an organic basis that can grow and adapt autonomously as required, with the information being stored in DNA-like structures. The only thing I’m not sure about is whether it lives in the cloud or whether everyone has something like this at home or even transplanted behind their ear.
DP: What do you wish everyone who has to process and store large amounts of data knew?
André Kamps: First and foremost, of course, everyone who has to deal with it should know that Elements exist. In the past, the occasional comparison with external USB hard drives was annoying. But those days really do seem to be over. Overall, the impression prevails that our contacts know very well what they want and need. We have made great and enriching storage friendships with most of them.
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