Cloud Cost Tool

StorageDNA is proud to announce a cloud data sharing workflow designed specifically for organizations with a remote creative workforce. DNAfabric allows creative users to share work-in-progress media and metadata (projects, bins, sequences) across geospread distances for editorial, graphics, grading and more.

How can StorageDNA help my Avid environment?

Enables Multiple Avid Data Tools

Enables backup, snapshot, business continuity, archiving, tiering and Nexis replication

Works on Projects, Bins, Workspaces

Enables services at multiple levels of granularity including projects, bins, workspaces

Across Disk, Object, Tape

Choose from on-premise filesystems/object/lto or cloud based object stores as a target

Backup, Snapshot & Disaster Recovery

Protect Bins, Projects

Enables automated and incremental back ups for large project spaces and bins

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Secure Media Workspaces

Protects entire workspaces and media files to on-premise or cloud storage

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Time Rollback Retrieval

Retrieve previous file copies or rollback entire workspaces to a previous point in time

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(Project/Bin Rollback)

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(Workspace Rollback)

Camera Master, Project and Media Archive

Archive & Search Camera Masters + Sony.Ci, Frame.IO

Archive camera masters to on-prem (LTO, disk) or cloud storage (S3 glacier, Blob archive, Sony.Ci, Frame.IO) or create proxy only uploads to Sony.Ci and Frame.IO

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Archive Avid Projects & Media

Archive Avid projects and related media to on-prem (LTO, disk) or cloud storage (S3 glacier, Blob archive, Sony.Ci, Frame.IO)

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Selective Retrievals
via ALE

Enables intelligent retrievals minimizing egress enabled via ALE parsing, searching and downloading of selected bins, sequences

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Stub links for Projects & Media

Creates space saving stub links on any primary filesystem (e.g. Avid Nexis) driving lower primary storage costs with the ability for end users to self retrieve assets

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Multi-site Avid Nexis Replication

Multi-Way Replication

Enables single way, two-way and multi-way replication for Avid project and media workspaces with locking and versioning capabilities

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Acceleration & Security

Utilizes multi-stream, multi-part acceleration, on-the-wire and at-rest encryption for accelerated and secure transfers

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Onsite, Remote and Cloud Replication

Replicate Avid Nexis and compatible NAS/SAN across multiple sites and cloud for backup, DR and collaboration workflows

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Support for Avid Nexis, NAS/SAN

Supports Avid Nexis and other Avid FS based storage including Editshare, SNS Evo, Facilis, ScaleLogic and more

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FAQ

A. Backup for Avid projects and bins

What is Avid Attic?

Avid Attic is an “auto-save” feature of Avid Media Composer. It is designed to periodically save bins so you can roll-back to previous versions or retrieve corrupted bins.

How does Avid Attic help protect Avid bins and projects?

Avid Attic is largely designed to protect work in progress Avid bins and projects from a limited set of failure scenarios. This includes failures related to operator error (e.g., accidental deletion of clips/sequences etc.) or corruptions.

Why do I need to delete Avid Attic files periodically?

  • Since Avid Attic automatically backs up bins/project files it can quickly fill up. Hence it is recommended that the files be manually deleted periodically as files can accumulate quickly especially for larger projects.
  • DNAfabric on the other hand can keep an unlimited set of backups on another target e.g., cloud without slowing down or occupying extra space.

What are some of the disadvantages of Avid Attic?

While Avid Attic does provide a protection net, numerous error cases are not covered. Scenarios not covered by Avid Attic includes:

  1. Storage corruption or failure where the original and backup bins can be both lost.
  2. Site wide disasters where temporary or permanent data loss can occur.
  3. Malicious attacks like ransomware where entire data volumes can be rendered un-useable.

How does DNAfabric enable stronger protection than Avid Attic via incremental snapshots to backup Avid projects, bins?

DNAfabric can incrementally backup bins, projects and settings files. In addition, it can preserve previous point in time copies or snapshots, allowing users to restore from any of these previous versions. DNAfabric can maintain numerous copies configurable by the administrator.

How does DNAfabric’s ability to rollback for Avid projects and bins work?

DNAfabric allows two types of rollback retrievals in case of a disaster scenario.

  1. File Rollbacks: In the first case, admins or users can retrieve individual files e.g. avb, avp files to their last version or one of the previous versions.
  2. Volume/Workspace Rollbacks: In the second case, admins or users can request entire directories or volumes be rolled back to a previous version.

Which Avid project/bin corruption scenarios does DNAfabric help recover from?

Since DNAfabric allows for individual files, folder or workspace rollbacks, multiple failure scenarios are covered. This includes the following:

  1. Bin/Project deletion or corruption
  2. Malicious attacks through ransomware, malware etc.
  3. Storage failures
  4. Site wide disasters

Which targets can DNAfabric backup and snapshot to?

Multiple backup targets are supported for replication and snapshots:

  1. Disk/FS targets
  2. Public object: AWS S3, Azure Blob, Google Cloud Object, Wasabi (*), Backblaze B2, Google Drive.
  3. Private Object: S3 compatible e.g. MinIO.
  4. LTO/LTFS (*via DNAevolution)

B. Backup for workspaces, volumes and entire Avid Nexis

What is Avid Nexis Cloudspaces?

Avid Nexis Cloudspaces is a “cloud-backed workspace” available on an Avid Nexis filesystem.

How does Avid Nexis Cloudspaces work?

  • Avid Nexis Cloudspaces are special workspaces on an Avid Nexis. These workspaces look like other workspaces but when data is written to them, it is stored in the cloud (more specifically Azure Blob) rather than the local storage.
  • When data is needed, it is restored from the cloud and brought back down.

What are some disadvantages of Avid Nexis Cloudspaces?

While Avid Nexis Cloudspaces is an easy, built-in feature, it does have the following drawbacks:

  1. Need a data backup engine that can periodically backup on-disk workspaces to a Cloudspace.
  2. If users are not careful, accessing files stored on a workspace can result in egress from the cloud which can be costly and time consuming.
  3. Cloudspaces is tied to a single cloud vendor and cloud tier with higher costs on storage and egress.

How does DNAfabric backup and snapshot MXF media workspaces?

  • DNAfabric can incrementally backup and snapshot native Avid Media workspaces to one of many targets including filesystems, public object, private object, LTO and LTFS (*via DNAevolution).
  • DNAfabric can work on single workspaces or entire workspaces if needed.

How does DNAfabric backup and snapshot AMA/linked media?

DNAfabric can backup and snapshot AMA or linked media folders and volumes as well. One or more media folders can be scanned and incrementally backed up.

How does DNAfabric help recover from entire workspaces getting deleted or corrupted?

DNAfabric time rollback feature allows users to select a previous point in time to “rollback” a volume to. When this is performed, the volume is rolled back and can be accessed as it was at a previous time. This protects from a number of failure scenarios.

How does DNAfabric help recover from media files deletions and corruptions?

Since all media files and accompanying database files e.g., pmr, mdb etc. are backed up and snapshotted, DNAfabric can help recover from a number of failure scenarios:

  1. Media file(s) deletion or corruption
  2. Malicious attacks through ransomware, malware etc.
  3. Storage failures
  4. Site wide disasters

How does DNAfabric backup Avid Nexis metadata?

DNAfabric does not backup the internal file-system metadata structures of Avid Nexis or an Avid file-system. However, this can be achieved by backing up the project/bin and related Avid application databases. This allows for a quick recovery when the primary storage recovers or a recovery to an alternative storage platform.

C. Archive for Avid media, projects, and media workspaces

What are stub links?

DNAfabric can optionally create “stub link” files on the primary filesystem after archiving a file. These stub files are tiny HTML files that are left behind after the primary copy has been archived. The primary file is moved to a quarantine location for deletion and the original location is replaced with an HTML stub file.

How do stub links enable archiving for Avid MXF media and linked/AMA media?

  • Stub files can be created both for native Avid media files and linked/AMA media files.
  • For native Avid Media files, stub files are created in a sub-location of the Avid MediaFiles/MXF/1 or Editbay folder. This is done to prevent auto-quarantine of these files by Avid Media Composer.
  • For linked/AMA media, stub files replace the original files. For linked/AMA media, Avid Media Composer is less strict about quarantining the stub file.

What types of project archiving capabilities are supported for Avid?

DNAfabric supports the following types of archiving for an Avid Media Composer environment:

  1. AAF based: Finished sequences of projects can be exported as an AAF. DNAfabric can parse the AAF and archive the related media assets.
  2. Workspace/Folder based: Entire workspaces or folders can be archived as well.

How does DNAfabric integrate with Frame.IO and Sony Ci? (** Features in Beta as of Q2, 2021)

DNAfabric enables synchronization of assets to and from Sony Ci and Frame.IO. This includes syncing original/hi-res files

Which on-premise and cloud targets are supported for Avid bin, project and media workspace archiving?

  • Disk/FS targets
  • Public object: AWS S3, Azure Blob, Google Cloud Object, Wasabi (*), Backblaze B2, Google Drive.
  • Private Object: S3 compatible e.g., MinIO.
  • LTO/LTFS (*via DNAevolution)

How does ALE-based selective restores enable faster and more cost-effective retrievals?

DNAfabric enables ALE based retrievals enabling selective retrievals of bins, sequences and projects from any of the above-mentioned targets. This allows a reduction in costs from cloud providers that often charge based on the amount of data egressed.

D. Replication for Avid Nexis and other Avid shared storage platforms

What types of replication does DNAfabric enable for Avid Nexis and other Avid shared storage platforms?

DNAfabric enables one-way, two-way and multi-way/multi-site replication allowing multiple Avid Nexis and other Avid filesystems to be replicated. It can accelerate and secure while managing project/bin locking. It can handle both workspace updates and bin/project updates.