RAID Storage Solutions: Archion Deepens Hollywood Feature Film Connection With Storage Sales To ''Underdog'' And ''Beowulf''
Archion, the entertainment industry's largest storage solution to Avid storage systems, has sold digital media storage to the editorial teams currently doing post-production on two major, upcoming Hollywood feature films. The announcement was made by Jim Tucci, Chief Technology Officer, Archion.
Archion has sold storage to the editorial teams working on "Underdog" and "Beowulf." "Underdog" is directed by Frederik Du Chau and will be released by Walt Disney Pictures. "Beowulf" is directed by Robert Zemeckis and will be released by Sony Pictures. Mr. Tucci said, "Archion's Synergy storage systems are uniquely suited to the needs of feature film post production. Having large amounts of storage with the protection of RAID that is compatible with all of the tools of feature post is the key."
About Storage For "Underdog"
Archion has provided 8 terabytes of storage utilizing its Synergy Plus product to Have No Fear Productions for use on the film "Underdog." Said Brett Schlaman, First Assistant Editor for "Underdog," "During production, we had one four terabyte Archion unit on location in Providence, RI and a second in Burbank, CA. From day one, the systems have performed flawlessly. We've had absolutely no storage-related downtime. The great thing about Archion is that you get maximum bang for your buck. Each Archion 4 terabyte unit has 3 terabytes of usable storage (the 4th terabyte is used for "mirroring"). A comparable Avid solution would yield only 2 terabytes of useable storage. We're getting 50% more storage than Avid with the same amount of data protection."
He added, "Reliability and ease of use are two things that also come to mind with Archion. In Providence, we had an overnight power outage that lasted several hours. The backup power supply ran down and the entire storage unit shut off. The next morning, we came in, turned on the power supply and all storage was back online before the Avids finished booting up. Finally, Archon is easy. You use the same Avid Unity software, so there's nothing to learn. The only thing to remember is that you don't need to turn on Unity's "mirroring" because Archion is already taking care of it. If you're considering Avid for storage, I would highly recommend you check out Archion."
Starring Jason Lee, James Belushi and Peter Dinklage, the story of "Underdog" is as follows: A lab accident gives a hound named Shoeshine some serious superpowers -- a secret that the dog eventually shares with the young boy who becomes his owner and friend."
About Storage For "Beowulf"
Archion sold 8 terabytes of storage utilizing its Synergy Plus product to Los Angeles-based Non-Linear Solutions, and its owner/president Danny Friedman. He said, "When working in the world of post-production, especially on a big Hollywood movie, a reliable storage solution is not only necessary but essential. Archion storage provides just such a solution. One of the things I like best about Archion is the Raid Solution of backing up all of the storage without the need for total redundancy. In other words, unlike some systems that require 4 Terabytes for a 2 Terabyte project (everything is stored twice, essentially), Archion allows for total drive protection without the need for redundant storage."
He adds, "Not only is this cost effective, but more effective in managing the media. If a drive ever fails, an automatic rebuild to a spare happens in the background while our editing team continues to work in an unaffected manner. No down time means happier clients. The bad drive is later replaced and automatically assumes the position of the new ‘hot spare,' ready for rebuild in the event of another drive failure."
He continues, "Another major advantage Archion brings to the table is their well proven experience within the Hollywood feature film world. While there are plenty of other storage options, Archion integrates their technology into the Avid and Final Cut Pro world seamlessly. I couldn't buy an off the shelf storage box and place it on a feature film where avoiding down time is critical. With Archion, I not only have their storage but their expertise in the business of feature post. A final major attraction is their ability to offer their storage attached with an Avid Unity Interface for those who like that interface but don't want to incur the higher drive costs or the costs associated with redundant storage."
Starring Anthony Hopkins, Angelina Jolie and John Malkovitch, "Beowulf" is the story of the Scandinavian warrior Beowulf, who must fight and defeat the monster Grendel who is terrorizing towns, and later, Grendel's mother, who begins killing out of revenge.
About The Synergy Plus Product
According to James Tucci, Archion's CTO, Synergy Plus, the only hardware RAID product compatible with Avid's Unity system, including the latest version Medianetwork 4.1, is a full featured SATA II to FC Raid storage unit designed for networking digital video systems. The product comes in units from 4 TB and up, with 2 ports of 2GB FC, and operates transparently with the Unity hardware and software.
Archion's Synergy Plus removes the risk for media loss in the event of a drive failure without mirroring. The Synergy Plus product offers Unity users hardware RAID protection within a Unity environment, adding significant data storage expansion, without doubling the storage requirements and without incurring any additional software expenses.
About Archion
Archion Technologies, headquartered in Burbank, California, was founded in 1999 by a group of technology entrepreneurs with a vision for designing networked storage systems for the professional video market. Archion's founders were the first to successfully network eight Avids and one terabyte of Networked RAID storage on a feature film. As the leading manufacturer of storage solutions for Avid users, Archion storage has been utilized by hundreds of feature films and by dozens of television projects.
Archion manufactures high performance, high availability, fault tolerant networked storage for multiple platforms and heterogeneous environments. These powerful and turnkey systems provide the ultimate in capability, scalability, flexibility, data rate performance, and the data protection demanded by editing professionals.
In addition, Archion offers a flagship Service Contract unparalleled in the industry. Archion's Tech Refresh program provides clients the opportunity to refresh their technology 24 months from the date of purchase. This offers clients the option to extend their storage capacity. Many of their clients have referred to Archion's Tech Refresh as the end of Storage Obsolescence.