Data storage is a key element in the digital transformation of video content creation, conversion and distribution. Data capacity, lowered product prices, digital editing and various forms of distribution are significant components in the continued growth and development of entertainment. IT and creative departments are now working together to optimize file-based workflows for managing and delivering content to a wide range of media outlets.

The media entertainment industry has an insatiable appetite for larger and larger storage capacity, especially with the latest trend to transcode high-definition video and real-time broadcast video to many different formats at once, making the same content available in several spatial resolutions and frame rates. WHIPTAIL can bring an enormous amount of bandwidth to this increasing need. We can actually take an input source file, such as a 4K video, and transcode it into 2K 1080p and numerous mobile formats all at the same time. We do this in parallel, instead of sequentially (as done on a standard storage array), and we do this in data rates exceeding 7 GB per second.

By reducing the cost of image sensors, companies like REG-Sony allow even the non-studio houses to produce high quality masters in 4K and 8K video. This, in turn, brings the need for high-speed storage to everyone in the video mastering community. While all this video can be produced, it can’t necessarily be manipulated at the desired speeds. So, traditional storage arrays just can’t handle large scale transcodes, especially with the growing need for video on mobile devices, with each device requiring its own individual format.

WHIPTAIL technology adds tremendous value to those in the media entertainment industry by allowing the product to get to market faster. We can convert a master video file into 30 different formats simultaneously – there’s no need to convert them individually.

News and entertainment programs create vast amounts of video every single day, and want to get that content to the widest possible audience every single day. Bottom line: the sooner the content gets to the market, the more revenue they can drive.

The beauty of WHIPTAIL products is the ease with which they can be added to an existing infrastructure. They plug in, as if they were another storage array. Regardless of the brand of block-based storage in which a media establishment is invested, the existing storage is simply unplugged, WHIPTAIL is plugged in and the data is migrated to our product with no interface difference from a block presentation protocol standpoint.

The explosion of multi-platform content distribution opportunities has dramatically altered the media and entertainment landscape, where WHIPTAIL provides technology to maintain a competitive, profitable edge.