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Media capturing systems are utilized by a wide range of fields and applications; everything from live streaming services, filmmaking, and news broadcasting, to automated manufacturing, and scientific research. As networking, resolution, and frame rate requirements continue to rise, so does the need for faster, denser storage solutions. Unsurprisingly, conventional SAS and SATA storage solutions are increasingly unable to keep pace with advances in media capture technology. High-speed 120 GigE networks are capable of accommodating transfer rates of 15,000MB/s. To put this in perspective, you would need a RAID 0 array comprised of 30 SATA SSDs capable of delivering 500MB/s of sustained performance in order to reach this threshold. Conversely, a handful of off-the-shelf NVMe SSDs can easily satisfy this requirement, with performance to spare! Despite SAS/SATA’s longstanding superior dollar-to-gigabyte ratio, it’s near impossible to ignore the stunning 10:1 performance advantage of NVMe media.
Increasing demands for High Resolution Media
It wasn’t all that long ago when 2K resolution considered the pinnacle of HD broadcasting. 4K is set to become the new normal, and even relatively inexpensive live streaming solutions routinely employ multiple 4K cameras. 8K broadcasting services are now up and running, and practical applications of 16K media are currently being explored.
Media Capture Hardware Platforms
Many professional grade media capturing systems utilize a range of recording devices linked to a host-system/server using an ethernet based network. Footage (video/audio) captured by these devices is then transferred to the system’s storage solution (which may be separate from the server hardware), via a second network connection. As such, storage solutions employed by media capture system must be able to keep pace with the entire network infrastructure, and may be called upon to fulfill multiple roles, such as that of a recording device, asset library and active workspace.
Applications
A wide range of media, scientific and industrial workflows rely on high-resolution media capturing systems. Such platforms require compact, fast and dense storage solutions capable of keeping pace with high-speed networking infrastructure.
Broadcasting & Live Event Coverage
Venues that host live events, such as sporting tournaments or concerts utilize large arrays of high-resolution cameras designed to record and livestream a tremendous volume of raw 4K and 8K footage. As live coverage lives little room for error, the storage solution’s transfer capabilities must be able to keep up with the network infrastructure while accommodating a host of other features, including instant replays and split screens. HighPoint’s high-port count SSD7500 PCIe Gen 4 NVMe RAID AICs are up to the task, and can deliver up to 55,000 MB/s of transfer bandwidth with a dual -card Cross-Sync configuration.
HighPoint NVMe RAID Solutions for High-Resolution Media Capture
HighPoint NVMe solutions are ideal for high-performance media capture applications, and are available for each networking tier. They offer substantial advantages over traditional SAS/SATA based storage solutions, especially in terms of performance and packaging, and are no longer limited to specialized platforms or applications. NVMe SSDs are now the default option for many, if not most factory-made computing platforms, and serve as both the boot drive and secondary storage device. As a result, NVMe SSDs are now common place, and are increasingly affordable, more reliable and faster than ever. The blazing speed, high level of reliability, and compact form factor make NVMe based storage devices ideal for high-resolution 4K & 8K media capture solutions.
HighPoint AIC RAID Solutions
It is important to remember that the transfer rates associated with each network tier refers to the sequential write performance of the storage solution. The number shown refers to the maximum score attained using the maximum number of disks configured into a RAID 0 array (which is typical for most NVMe-based capture solutions). Long term write performance will vary depending on the duration of the capture session and total disk space required.
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HighPoint NVMe RAID Solutions for High-Resolution Media Capture
HighPoint NVMe solutions are ideal for high-performance media capture applications, and are available for each networking tier. They offer substantial advantages over traditional SAS/SATA based storage solutions, especially in terms of performance and packaging, and are no longer limited to specialized platforms or applications.
NVMe SSDs are now the default option for many, if not most factory-made computing platforms, and serve as both the boot drive and secondary storage device. As a result, NVMe SSDs are now common place, and are increasingly affordable, more reliable and faster than ever. The blazing speed, high level of reliability, and compact form factor make NVMe based storage devices ideal for high-resolution 4K & 8K media capture solutions.
Unbeatable Storage Performance
HighPoint manufactures the industry’s fastest NVMe RAID solutions, many of which are ideal for Media Capture applications.
HighPoint NVMe controllers and enclosures are capable of fully saturating x16 lanes of PCIe Gen4 (4.0) or Gen3 (3.0) host bandwidth. This is due to our highly flexible, performance focused architecture, which was designed in-house and is unique to our NVMe product portfolio.
HighPoint’s hardware engineering expertise enable SSD series NVMe RAID AICs to incorporate and fully exploit the capabilities of high-performance PCIe Switch technology. Our 8-Channel PCIe Gen3 SSD7000 series RAID controllers can deliver up to 14,000MB/s, while the PCIe Gen4 SSD7500 series doubles this to 28,000MB/s.
Compact & Versatile Storage Configurations
Capturing platforms that require a discreet, compact storage solution should consider NVMe RAID AICs or enclosures built to support M.2 media. M.2 SSDs are directly hosted by the storage solution; drive bays, cabling and cooling hardware are not required – everything is handled directly by the PCIe card or enclosure. HighPoint’s compact single-width 8-Port PCIe RAID AICs can directly host up to 8 M.2 SSDs and up to 32TB of storage capacity that is suitable for HD media capture applications.
However, if the target platform already has internal drive bays, or the application calls for mass-storage capability, a U.2 or U.3 based NVMe RAID solution may be a better choice. HighPoint U.2 RAID AICs are even more compact than their M.2 counterparts (half-height form factor), and have cabling options that allow them to support any NVMe SSDs; yes, this includes M.2 models.
SSD7540
Quick Specs
Host Interface: PCIe 4.0 x16
Device Ports: 8x M.2
Form Factor: FL-FH
SSD7580B
Quick Specs
Host Interface: PCIe 4.0x x16
Device Ports: 8x U.2
Form Factor: FL-HH
SSD7140A
Quick Specs
Host Interface: PCIe 3.0x x16
Device Ports: 8x M.2
Form Factor: FL-FH
SSD7180/7184
Quick Specs
Host Interface: PCIe 3.0x x16
Device Ports: 8x U.2/U.2/M.2
Form Factor: FL-HH
The SSD7180 and SSD7184 are versatile, high-performance NVMe RAID AICs designed for PCIe 3.0 host platforms. The 8 independent NVMe device channels can be configured to support U.2/U.3 or M.2 storage configurations via a range of cabling accessories. The SSD7184's unique hybrid port configuration supports both internal and external storage configurations.