DataDirect Networks > Case Studies > ACCELERATE: MEDIA BROADCAST Starz Accelerates Digital Media Workflows with DDN Storage Solutions

ACCELERATE: MEDIA BROADCAST Starz Accelerates Digital Media Workflows with DDN Storage Solutions

Company Size

1,000+

Region

America

Country

United States

Product

GRIDScaler
SFA high-performance storage system
DirectMon management

Tech Stack

Digital Media Workflows
Parallel File System
Synchronous Replication

Implementation Scale

Enterprise-wide Deployment

Impact Metrics

Cost Savings
Productivity Improvements

Technology Category

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) - Cloud Storage Services

Applicable Industries

Telecommunications

Applicable Functions

Discrete Manufacturing

Use Cases

Predictive Maintenance

Services

System Integration

About The Customer

Starz is a leading provider of premium subscription video programming through its flagship STARZ® and ENCORE® pay TV networks. The company showcases premium original programming and movies to U.S. multichannel video distributors, including cable operators, satellite television providers, and telecommunications companies. As the largest pair of premium flagship channels in the country, STARZ and ENCORE served a combined subscriber base of 56 million subscribers in 2012. Along with Starz’s MOVIEPLEX® network, the company airs more than 1,000 movies and original series each month. Based in Englewood, Colorado, Starz is an industry-leader in providing High Definition (HD), On Demand, HD On Demand, and advanced online services for its respective brands. The company relies heavily on world-class technology to drive its digital broadcast delivery.

The Challenge

Starz, a leading provider of premium subscription video programming, was facing challenges with its legacy HP Enterprise Virtual Arrays (EVAs) 8000s which powered the company’s complete digital media workflow system. The system was lacking scalability, performance, and reliability. The company was experiencing a dramatic increase in both capacity and performance requirements due to the expansion of its programming. The legacy storage infrastructure was causing administrative headaches and jeopardizing the whole file system. The raw performance limitations caused both transcode and encode processes to fail, leading to a lot of manual do-overs and wasted time.

The Solution

Starz surveyed the storage technology landscape and issued a Request for Proposal (RFP) to find a partner that could deliver the required reliability and performance to accelerate digital media workflows. DataDirect Networks (DDN) emerged as the more confident company, demonstrating a strong understanding of how to support content-intensive environments. DDN suggested multi-tiered GRIDScaler systems that would deliver the optimal combination of LUN device performance and capacity to meet Starz’s real-time encoding, transcode, and QA workflow needs. With scalable data and metadata technology, GRIDScaler was the ideal platform to help Starz eliminate current digital media workflow bottlenecks and achieve maximum performance. Moreover, the massively scalable system made it possible for Starz to not only add significant additional storage capacity but also to include both the replacement of its Englewood equipment and add DR capability as well – at a significant lower cost per TB.

Operational Impact