Introduction
Technology is improving year by year. Video content is moving from Standard Definition to High Definition to 4K content and more. It is making video more dense.
Which results high capacity of devices are needed to store this media. But things did not ends here. We need these high capacity storing devices with data transfer rate.
To solve these kind of problems Media Storage Devices were introduced. Now what are these devices , how it works , its features and how it can be useful in our streaming media industry. We will discuss below,
What Is Media Storage Device ?
Media Storage Device is a compact solution for storing the large media or data files and accessing it fastly when needed by Media Server. It is also used in real time storage.
It is large storage device with high bandwidth. Its storage capacity depends upon your use case. It generally starts from 28 Terabyte to Multiple Petabyte.
Its data transfer rate is 2 GBps or 4 GBps or more. It is accessed through LAN cable. Also there are some media storage devices which access through Fiber Cable. But Fiber Cable makes it more complex.
Here Storage Files can be Audio Files , Video Files and Data Files.
What Are HDD & SSD Media Storage Devices ?
HDD represents Hard Disc Drive and SSD represents Solid State Drive. These two are the types of hard drives used inside Media Storage Device.
So this Device can be used with HDD or SSD. If you need high performance task like in case of delivering 4K Content and graphic work then you need to go for installation of SSDs.
HDD is having magnetic disc inside it which rotate while storing and accessing the data. While SSD have multiple ICs inside it for storing and accessing the data. HDD is heavy while SSD is light in weight.
SSD hard drives are having good life than HDD hard drives. Thus SSD are very fast drive than HDD drives.
If you want to experience SSD drives for your laptop or desktop then click here
How Media Storage Device Works ?
As shown above in the figure it is the implementation of Media Storage Device in a Headend. Where content is going to Media Server. Then after it goes to Media Storage Device for storing and archiving.
On the other hand Media Storage Device is directly connected to Media Server. It is two way communication.
Now the output is going into the Encoder for encoding the final content. Then it deliver as per respective medium to the headend subscribers.
Media Storage Devices plays very important role in Streaming Media Industry. Where it can be used for Archiving , Transcoding and OTT Adaptive Bitrate Streaming.
As shown above in the figure it is the implementation of Media Storage Device in OTT Headend System.
Where Transcoder is connected to the Origin Server. While Origin Server is connected with Media Storage Device. Which is two way communication.
Now when a request is made from subscriber for VOD content. Then available content start to deliver from media storage device to the CDN via origin server. Which then deliver to subscriber from the nearest server.
What Are Features Of Media Storage Device ?
(1) High storage capacity in multiple of Petabyte.
(2) High data transfer rate upto tens of GBps.
(3) SSD are also available for better speed performance.
(4) Supports RAID protection
(5) Read and Write functions works simultaneously.
(6) Redundancy of component is also available.
Conclusion
Media Storage Device is a powerful and compact solution for storing and accessing the large amount of media in Headends. It is used for accessing the VOD content.
Where we can store and archive the VOD content. Which can be accessed by our subscribers on demand.
Storage Capacity and Data Transfer Rate are two major factors while considering the Media Storage Devices.
You should also consider RAID protection , Component Redundancy , Dual Path Of Data and Data Replication.
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