Concurrent Advances Storage for Streaming Servers

Concurrent Computer Corp. (CCUR) has added tiered asset management (TAM), developed to accommodate multitier storage architectures in operator networks, as part of a major software release for its MediaHawk line of streaming video servers.

Soaring demand for streaming of live events this year, more and bigger movie rental and purchase services, greater VOD user and video sharing, have collectively created network architecture challenges that center on server, storage and bandwidth use.

TAM, the vendor contends, takes into account the performance characteristics of the available storage when making content placement decisions for its servers. With higher-performance storage, such as solid state drives, and lower cost media, such as SATA drives, it’s increasingly important for the system to prioritize placement based on the usage profile for each content asset as well as the input/output bandwidth rates for each media type.

“As we migrate towards regional and national VOD architectures, with ever-increasing storage requirements, intelligent management of content will be essential to keep storage costs low and maintain a high quality of service,” said James Brickmeier, vice president of product line management for Concurrent, in prepared comments.

TAM was developed as part of the ongoing partnership between cableco Bright House Networks and Concurrent, and represents continued enhancement and support for the cable operator’s Start Over deployments. So-called “start over” functionality enables consumers to start a TV show over if they miss the beginning of the live broadcast. The attractive feature draws on server storage infrastructure.

TAM will be available in the first quarter of next year for all MH 4500 and MH 4000 models of Concurrent’s servers upgraded with the applicable software release, according to the vendor.

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