Mark Oslund, Director of Rich Media Storage at Quantum, walks us through the LTO 3A at NAB. The LTO 3A can be plugged into the network via Gigabit ethernet. Each tape holds 400GB of data and can transfer up to 68 Megabytes per second. At $60 per 400GB drive, the LTO 3A provides great value as a storage, back-up and archiving solution.
As a shop that has used p2 workflow, there is a file system on every cartridge, and you can access your MXF based media on a time code.
There are a variety of tools to manage projects and files that have been backed up to tape, from HDLog for the Mac, TEP HD for the PC, or Pictron digital asset management, which works with both Mac & PC environments.
Major hollywood productions are already using the A series to edit .r3d files from the Red Camera.
From Quantum
The LTO-3 A-Series feature set makes the drive MXF-aware which permits video tape-like access to subclips by timecode and provides an unprecedented level of interoperability between applications and environments.
With its built-in Gigabit Ethernet port, the LTO-3 A-Series is a network-attached device so it can be directly connected to any network and accessed by every edit workstation, networked server, graphics devices, or other computer based video equipment on the network.
Because it uses LTO Ultrium 3 tape, the LTO-3 A-Series delivers a 30-year tape archive life to protect professional video, audio and data assets better than any video tape backup. Each cartridge holds 400GB of information and allows faster-than-real-time transfer rates of up to 544 Mb/sec. And, because each LTO Ultruim 3 tape contains key MXF metadata in a tape-based file directory, your media is transportable and exchangeable for seamless application independence.
- Easy to Deploy – With its included gigabit Ethernet interface and built-in FTP, the LTO-3 A-Series products can be easily attached to any network where it becomes accessible to every workstation and server through Windows Explorer and standard browsers. The system can be used in stand-alone rack-mount and table-top configurations as well as integrated into the full range of robotic tape libraries.
- Flexible – The data tape format of the LTO-3 A-Series includes a file system on the tape, making any cartridge readable anywhere, anytime. Traditional video archiving uses proprietary management software which dictates that tapes must remain locked in a library system in order to restore any data. Quantum’s A-Series LTO Ultrium 3 cartridges are free from this constraint – they can be easily moved between libraries, stand-alone drives and even video facilities. With this flexibility, LTO-3 A-Series products are ideal for serving the full range of video applications — from hand-carrying video content out to a truck for live production to a facility-wide, long-term, secure archive.
- Secure Yet Accessible – Quantum’s A-Series LTO Ultrium 3 data cartridges have a robust 30-year archival life that ensures the longevity of precious video content. At the same time, the LTO-3 A-Series system is an ideal solution for archiving content because files are easily accessible. The LTO-3 A-Series makes partial restores of subclip files by timecode or even metadata with an ease unlike any other data tape solution – a new level of accessibility in data tape that defines “working storage.”
- Unmatched Performance and Capacity – At a native 68 MB/s, data transfer is many times faster than real time, even in HD. At a native capacity of 400 GB per tape, a single tape can accommodate more than 7 hours of 100 Mb/s HD content.
- Cost-Effective – In addition to its file-based, faster-than-real-time access to HD, SD and data assets, the new LTO-3 A-Series is a much more cost-effective storage solution than video tape. Because it is built on Quantum’s popular, industry-leading LTO platform, the LTO-3 A-Series system benefits from significant economies of scale.
