Cache-A Slashes LTO Copying Times

Cache-A Corporation announced the availability of Simul-Copy, a new LTO tape duplication and verification capability for its archive appliances.

For more information visit: www.cache-a.com


Unedited press release follows:

CACHE-A SIMUL-COPY™ SLASHES LTO-TAPE COPYING TIMES

Breakthrough archiving advance, of simultaneous tar and LTFS LTO copies, delivers productivity gains and better insurance policy to content owners

MORGAN HILL, Calif., Aug. 13, 2013 — Cache-A Corporation (www.cache-a.com), manufacturer of award-winning archiving appliances, today announced the availability of Simul-Copy™, a brand new LTO-tape duplication and verification capability that slashes the time needed to create multiple LTO-tape copies. Cache-A has brought Simul-Copy to market in direct response to the media and entertainment industry demand for digital video content to be rapidly and securely archived to multiple LTO-tape copies as soon as possible after origination. Cache-A will spotlight Simul-Copy, along with a host of additional trailblazing archiving features, at IBC 2013, Amsterdam, 13-17 September, (Hall 7.A04).

“Safeguarding content is a chief priority for completion guarantors, production companies and post production houses today,” said Jim Totman, sales director of UK reseller XTFX, which specifies camera-to-post workflows on features and TV shows. “With Simul-Copy, Cache-A has broadened the LTO safety net. The ability to make simultaneous, duplicate LTO-tape copies delivers huge time-savings and greater levels of reassurance that content is properly protected.”

Simul-Copy – fast, simultaneous LTO-tape duplication:
Ultimately, Simul-Copy dramatically improves archiving workflow by speeding-up the delivery of LTO-tape copies for production, post production, working archive and offsite disaster recovery. It is especially helpful on longform projects that can produce several Terabytes of RAW camera data every day.

Simul-Copy harnesses advanced replication technology, developed by Cache-A. It enables users to simultaneously make multiple tar or LTFS LTO-tapes copies, rather than sequential copies, at close to the same speed as a single copy. It works with Cache-A’s LTO-4, LTO-5 and latest LTO-6 generation appliances.

Source content, on network-attached volumes (SAN/NAS), direct attached storage devices, or Cache-A’s own RAID, needs to be only read once to be written to multiple tapes simultaneously. This has the added advantage of reducing wear and tear on disk systems and avoids strain on network resources. Using Simul-Copy, Power-Cache systems can create up to four simultaneous LTO-tape copies, while Pro-Cache models can create two simultaneous LTO-tape copies. These copy drives can be in Cache-A’s Library24 and Library48 accessories, in rackmount expansion chassis, or in Cache-A’s newly released LTO-Sidecar expansion drive.

First Simul-Copy adopters:
First adopters of Cache-A’s Simul-Copy include REDLab Digital, a leading digital lab and post production facility in Toronto, Canada, and NOW Productions, in Los Angeles, California.

“One of the biggest challenges we face is dealing with, and being responsible for, vast amounts of data. On major productions this can easily amount to a couple of Terabytes per day for the duration of the shoot,” said Andy Hunter, owner and Flame artist at REDLab Digital, whose company has provided post and archiving services to Sony Pictures’ 3D stereo motion pictures Resident Evil: Retribution and Pompeii.

“Traditionally we have run 24/7 making dual LTFS LTO copies back-to-back of the day’s RAW camera footage. However, Simul-Copy on Power-Cache6 has slashed the delivery time in half, as we can now make two LTFS LTO-6 copies simultaneously. It’s a rock-solid capability saving us many hours, providing greater security to our clients and the larger capacity of the LTO-6 comes in very handy too,” said Hunter.

“We have over 80,000 pieces of original audio and video media going back over 40 years and, as we ingest, we’re protecting it on dual LTO-tapes stored at separate Hollywood locations,” said Richard Price of NOW Productions, which uses Simul-Copy on Power-Cache, plus several Pro-Cache units, in its archiving and original media workflows. “The beauty of Cache-A’s Simul-Copy is that while I am archiving to two LTO-tapes in tar format at the same time, I can also upload my next project to the Power-Cache. Simul-Copy is a major, time-saving step forward for us, and shows Cache-A’s deep understanding of the tools media professionals really need today.”

Simul-Copy Availability:
Simul-Copy is available for Internet download as a standard software update for Cache-A systems running v3.0 at http://www.cache-a.com/uprequest.php. Detailed release notes are available at see http://www.cache-a.com/support.php.

Cache-A at IBC 2013 (Hall 7.A04):
Cache-A will premiere its complete LTO-6 product family at IBC 2013: desktop Prime-Cache6, flagship Pro-Cache6, high-performance Power-Cache, flexible Library 24/48 automation systems, and brand new LTO-Sidecar expansion drive. Along with the new Simul-Copy feature, the company will also showcase the broad range of capabilities that allow Cache-A appliances to fit into any workflow, be it on-set, production or post-production applications, and demonstrate how Cache-A can make any customer’s archiving easy.

About Cache-A Corporation:
Cache-A’s award-winning, archive appliances are employed daily by thousands of users worldwide, in media/entertainment, Fortune 500 corporations, government departments, higher-education and houses of worship, to securely archive, search and retrieve vital digital assets. The company was founded in 2008 with a dedication to make archiving easy, and combines extensive experience in data storage and video media, with a reputation for delivering innovation and excellence to digital media professionals at a reasonable cost. Cache-A’s product range includes desktop and rack-mount appliances that are compatible with Windows, Mac OS and Linux/Unix networking infrastructures. Renowned for their ease-of-use, Cache-A products deliver leading-edge performance in video and digital film workflows, and lead the field in using the secure, portable, interchangeable, industry-standard LTFS and tar formats on LTO-6 media. Cache-A’s Pro-Cache was awarded Creative Cow’s prestigious Blue Ribbon in 2011 for “Best Archiving System”, and Power-Cache won Studio Daily’s 2012 Prime Award for “Best User Interface/User Experience”.  www.Cache-A.com