The Omneon Spectrum™ media server system is the industry's most open, scalable, reliable and cost-effective video server and storage infrastructure for television ingest, production and playout applications.
The industry-leading Omneon Spectrum media server offers broadcasters and video production facilities unparalleled reliability, flexibility and efficiency in the deployment of file-based workflows. Architected as a modular system, Spectrum can be configured with just a few channels and entry-level storage, or with many dozens of channels and storage for hundreds of hours of content. With support for a wide variety of SD and HD formats and numerous industry standards, a Spectrum system can be easily adapted over time as customer needs change and grow.
The Omneon Spectrum media server system has a modular architecture that allows for maximum configuration flexibility and adaptability to future changes. Every system can be precisely tailored to each customer's unique requirements, and new channels, storage or even system bandwidth can be added at any time as a customer's needs change. Because major elements of a Spectrum system are contained within discrete components that are independent of each other, reliability and fault tolerance are maximized. In the unlikely event of a failure of one component, the rest of the system can continue to operate uninterrupted.
Because of the Spectrum server's unique modular architecture, adding storage or channels is as simple as plugging in a new component. Omneon Spectrum media servers are designed with Smart Scalability, ensuring that the investment is always protected. Virtually every function of the system is independently scalable; meaning that the system can grow in smart, manageable increments as needs change. Users can easily add to an original system as new data, audio and video formats become available. In many cases, these upgrades and additions can be performed on a system without taking it off the air.
As the industry's leading media server platform, Spectrum has been deployed in hundreds of broadcast facilities worldwide, taking advantage of its inherent ability to support virtually any broadcast workflow:
The Spectrum system is designed to streamline workflows by providing the broadest support for multiple video formats and file wrappers. Because of the modular architecture of Spectrum, users can choose exactly the components that match their requirements, rather than having to adjust to a limited selection of video formats. Spectrum also provides a wide range of powerful media processing functions needed across many different types of facilities:
Platform flexibility also extends to the applications used to drive broadcast operations. The Spectrum media server system uses industry-standard media wrappers (including QuickTime and MXF) as well as open networking protocols (including FTP, AFP and CIFS) to enable direct access to content by any file-based media application. Combined, these features give broadcasters the freedom to choose from the widest range of best-of-breed applications for an end-to-end solution.
Media servers are complex, and have a huge number of both moving and non-moving parts—all of which can potentially fail. The measure of reliability for a media server is not how rarely a component fails, but rather what happens to the overall system when a component does fail. Omneon Spectrum media server systems are designed specifically to eliminate all single points of failure and isolate potential failure points so that a failure of one component does not disrupt operations across the rest of the system:
MediaDirectors™ are the core of the Spectrum system, actively managing the flow of data to and from other Spectrum components, such as MediaStore™ storage arrays and MediaPort™ media I/O modules. MediaDirectors provide the necessary processing power and interface connections to support a wide range of configurations and workflows. Each MediaDirector contains processing power that can be dedicated to either real-time or IP packet processing, as well as a number of interfaces for both internal and external connectivity, including:
Multiple MediaDirector units can be linked together while still sharing a common file system to create massive scalability of channels or IP bandwidth or both. MediaDirectors, individually and as a cluster, strictly manage overall system bandwidth to ensure uninterrupted real-time operations, even under heavy IP file transfer loads.
MediaDirectors are designed with a Flash®-based real-time OS for fast start up and diskless operation, eliminating the risk of a system disk failure. MediaDirectors utilize software RAID file system management for more efficient recovery of data in the event of a disk drive failure. To ensure system resiliency and maximum reliability, all MediaDirectors have redundant power supplies and cooling fans for uninterrupted operation.
MediaCenter™ is a multi-channel controller for Spectrum media servers that combines integrated storage with MediaPort connectivity to deliver moderate channel counts and flexibility at an exceptional value. MediaCenter supports up to 16 TB of storage, up to three fully populated external MediaPort I/O devices for four to 12 channels of multi-format record and play, and all Spectrum-compatible software applications. Like all Spectrum family products, MediaCenter provides the highest degree of reliability and serviceability through redundant and hot-swappable components, such as power supplies and disk drives.
MediaDeck™ 7000 delivers the broadcast quality and mission-critical reliability of the world’s leading transmission server in a convenient and cost-effective package. The integrated system packs up to four video channels, Gigabit Ethernet connectivity and 3+1 RAID storage into a compact 1-RU chassis. With MediaDeck 7000, even the smallest broadcast and video production operations can implement robust server-based ingest and playout operations — or sophisticated file-based workflows — for a broad range of video formats. Based on the proven Spectrum architecture, MediaDeck 7000 is immediately deployable with over a hundred third-party automation and production applications.
Spectrum ChannelPort™ speeds the cost-effective deployment of new SD and HD television channels by integrating clip playback, dynamic branding and master control switching on a single device. The module makes it easy to add rich branding elements to video playout using standard graphics applications and image formats. Support for a broad range of automation systems offers customers the freedom to choose what’s best for their workflows.
ChannelPort modules provide plug-and-play compatibility with MediaPort 7000 I/O components and MediaDirector 2200 and MediaCenter controllers, so they can be installed into existing Spectrum infrastructures at any time — and scale out as requirements evolve. ChannelPort may even be installed directly into MediaPort 7000 or MediaDeck 7000 chassis to conserve rack space and further ease system installation.
MediaStore provides scalable and reliable high-performance disk-based shared storage for all content stored in the Spectrum system. MediaStore storage arrays contain up to 16 high-performance Fibre Channel disk drives with several disk capacity options that allow broadcasters to further tailor a system to their needs. Since all of the disk subsystem management is provided in software by MediaDirectors, including all file system and RAID information, there is no hardware controller required, allowing the disk drives to be arranged in a simple Switched Bunch of Disks (SBOD) configuration.
Spectrum supports advanced prefailure storage diagnostics, allowing operators to proactively replace drives before critical errors might occur. User-configurable alerts and notifications further enable broadcasters to maintain and manage MediaStore storage systems. Independent and redundant hot-swappable power supplies with automatic failover, hot-swappable disk drives, hot spares and integrated fans all combine to offer the highest level of hardware resiliency.
MediaStores support 7 TB of usable capacity in a single 16-disk array when equipped with 600 GB drives. One to 24 arrays may be linked in a single Spectrum system, creating a shared pool of storage as large as 168 TB. Configurations with 300 GB and 450 GB drives are also supported. Storage capacity can be added at any time without disrupting on-air operations. Deterministic Fibre Channel connectivity between MediaStores and the rest of the system ensures guaranteed bandwidth required for real-time media operations.
Spectrum MediaPort I/O modules perform system-wide encoding and decoding for real-time ingest and playout of content. The modules attach in manageable increments so that systems can be configured to meet exact requirements for channel count and video compression formats. When expansion is needed, additional MediaPorts can be added without taking down the system. MediaPorts for different media formats can be combined within a single system, including support for both SD and HD at the same time. Every channel can be individually controlled by an automation system or a hardware controller.
Video, audio and timecode information is stored as data on the Spectrum. MediaPorts accurately capture and replay all information contained in the video stream — including VBI and VANC. The modules support up to 16 channels of embedded audio, fully supporting even the most demanding multi-language broadcasting requirements.
MediaPorts support a broad range of formats, channel counts and record/play capabilities. The flexible MediaPort 7000 series offers a wide range of features and formats through modules to create a Spectrum system that supports both current and future requirements. Up to two modules fit in a MediaPort 7000 chassis. MediaPort 7100 and 7300 modules support DV and MPEG-2 SD and HD functionality, and MediaPort 7600 modules support DV, MPEG-2 and AVC-Intra.
