Success Stories
Seamless Broadcasting: Infortrend Unified Storage Elevated WQED-TV Broadcasting Company Efficiency
Organization
WQED, USA
Challenges
- Growing data occupied all the capacity of the existing storage
- The throughput performance of the customer’s old storage was also insufficient, which caused video playback stuttering and project delays
- Excessive IT maintenance efforts were required for the outdated storage
Solution
EonStor GS 4060 Gen2 unified storage is connected to an encoder server and fourteen high-performance workstations. The solution delivers:
- 1PB storage capacity
- 10GB/s read and 5.5GB/s write speed to ensure smooth M&E workflows in editing, playback, and encoding
- High availability, easy management, and low maintenance efforts
Seamless Broadcasting: Infortrend Unified Storage Elevated WQED-TV Broadcasting Company Efficiency
Founded in 1954 and based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, WQED is a renowned American company that specializes in public media and broadcasting. It is one of the first community-supported television stations in the United States and has since grown to become a leading producer of educational, cultural, and entertainment programs. WQED aimed to replace its outdated storage with a high availability solution able to fit in the advanced infrastructure and provide required performance for M&E post-production.
Challenges and Requirements
The existing storage solution didn’t satisfy the needs of WQED-TV broadcasting company. It didn’t provide enough capacity for the growing amount of content. Neither the throughput for M&E post-production workflow was enough, which caused video playback stuttering, inability to expedite, edit, encode videos on time resulting in project delays. Moreover, the outdated storage required excessive maintenance, which was time- and cost-consuming for IT support department.
Solution: EonStor GS 4060 with Intel® Xeon® D CPU Fit in 100GbE Environment
Provided by Infortrend’s partner, Intelligent Technology, WQED upgraded to unified storage EonStor GS 4060 Gen2 with four 25GbE host controllers. It is paired to an encoder server and fourteen high-performance Intel® Xeon® Gold 5416S workstations running Adobe Creative Cloud suite. The storage solution is loaded with 1PB of storage capacity in 4U form factor and delivers a throughput performance of up to 10GB/s read and 5.5GB/s write speed to ensure smooth M&E workflows in video editing, playback, and encoding.
All the videos that are already edited or undergoing editing are stored in the GS 4060. When the videos are ready to air, they are sent to the encoding server. After encoding, they will be stored at Infortrend’s EonStor DS, ready to air.
The EonStor GS provides high availability through its redundant design, ensuring minimal downtime. Additionally, the GS components are modular and hot-swappable, allowing for easy maintenance. IT staff can monitor the GS system through the intuitive browser-based management interface, EonOne, providing convenient centralized control.
Network Topology for Post-Production and TV Broadcasting
Why Infortrend
- Outstanding performance and 1PB capacity at a competitive price
- Simple scalability to accommodate the growing volume of video assets
- High availability design to ensure minimal downtime
- Modular design for convenient hardware maintenance
- Exceptional experience with Infortrend storage products
About WQED-TV
WQED-TV is one of the first community-sponsored television station in the United States. Located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, it has a rich history of producing educational and cultural programs. For more information, please visit: https://www.wqed.org