Interview conducted by Jean-Luc Renaud [February 2002]

[In the Swiss town of Neuchatel, a company has spent the last five years developing a high-speed, high-capacity DVD library which is now being taken up by broadcasters and other organisations to deal with heavy mass-storage requirements].

In the search for the most appropriate storage media, why did Swissstorage choose the DVD-RAM media?

There were several reasons. Large capacity is, clearly, very important for the type of clients we are looking to service – for instance, those in broadcasting, the medical profession or companies generating large amounts of documentation that require archiving.

Of course, cost is important: DVD-RAM is a relatively low-priced media compared to tape, which is less stable and less durable, and DVD-RAM is considerably cheaper than the hard disc approach.

Then there’s the fact that since it is not subject to electromagnetic damage optical media is the most reliable for long-term storage of data.

As you know, DVD-RAM is an official DVD Forum format accepted by the industry at large and, no small point this, by the Hollywood majors in particular. If we look at sourcing, DVD-RAM drives are readily available in quantity and at reasonable prices.

What are the main features of your storage solution?

Rémy First, I would say, it has a capacity to handle up to 10,750 discs. And that represents approximately 100 Terabytes of storage space.

Then there’s the ability to fit up to 320 DVD writers/drives. We have built the system for high-speed loading and unloading: the robotic arms can transport eight discs simultaneously and two disc-loading bays enable the loading and unloading of 100 discs each into the central disc holding area.

We felt it important that the entire collection of discs could be accessed by each of two parallel transport systems. If one robotic arm should malfunction, the other is able to take over.

The high number of disc drives available on the machine obviously increases the number of requests that can be processed per hour.

It could be argued that a client requiring increase storage capacity could simply chain together a number of robotic libraries. Why bother with a giant library system such as yours?

Compared to a jukebox chain of equivalent storage capacity, our library offers a higher utility. For example, discs that contain information that is used often can be left in the readers without reducing the churn rate. Also, discs can be read on any reader and not just on dedicated readers. This is not the case when discs and readers are compartmentalised.

Discs are loaded into the system without stopping or even slowing it down and it’s worth mentioning that as discs are manipulated in a conditioned environment There is no contact with the data surfaces.

The functionality of your giant DVD robot is certainly impressive but, from a marketing perspective, what sets your machine apart from the competition?

The large capacity is, I believe, unique. And I would like to think the number of drives marks us out. Likewise, the built-in intelligence of the system – it provides the library with advanced auto-control which continuously checks its performance.

The level of redundancy is one aspect of our storage solution that we are particularly proud of as it virtually eliminates down time.

How does your machine interface with the outside world, the client’s environment?

Our storage system interfaces with the client’s own network through the tried and tested NAS (network-attached storage) configuration, using the industry standard. We do not use propriatory architecture because we wanted from the outset to be able to guarantee flexibility of use.

The configuration and management of the library is handled via an Internet browser. The system can service online, near-line and offline needs.

I know you have only recently completed your marketing plan but has anyone installed your DVD storage system?

There is a lot of interest and, yes, we have made sales. A public broadcaster in the Benelux is using our machine to programme the content of their radio channels. Playlists, advertising, interviews, etc. are selected and memorised. The library plays back the material over three channels simultaneously.

A commercial television station in France wants to use our solution to archive their programming output in high-quality digital format. A point worth mentioning here is that once stored in this format the material is effectively available for distribution on DVD-Video.

Beyond broadcasting, a large national library is installing our machine. They want to archive all their video and audio documents and they have a plan to link 60 consoles to the library in order to make their archive material available to researchers.

What these clients, and many others that we have talked to, have understood is that network storage is no longer an experiment. Today, it is a business solution.

But to succeed in the market, the solution must have two crucial attributes: it must be inexpensive and it must recognise that down time is no longer acceptable.

We are looking at the video and photography markets because image files – colour and high resolution – require particularly heavy files.

Consumer photography is going digital from the camera down to photo finishing equipment. Right now, the storage of the annual consumer photography output would, in Europe alone, require 27 Petabytes (27 million Gigabytes) of space. As storage costs diminish, key players among photo finishers will integrate storage services for customers’ images.

And don’t forget these days a high proportion of business documents contain images – so that makes big business a target market, too.

Do you see the application of your product in entertainment sectors?

Absolutely. Television and film companies are attracted by innovative solutions for the forthcoming digital broadcasting market.

I believe the rapid growth of DVD in video applications opens up an important market for storage equipment adapted to this media. Take, for example, the archiving of television productions, especially when they start from a digital source.

But there are other markets opening up. The DVD library can deliver fast and simple access to a patient’s medical record. Our opportunity lies in the fact that imaging, in volume terms, is the largest source of data to be found in a patient’s file.

In general, the more digital technologies penetrate the entertainment and other industries, so the opportunity for storage solutions will grow.

In summary, what are the attributes of your giant robot that client feedback have highlighted?

People certainly appreciate the fact that our robot has been built using Swiss know-how. What that means for them is the machine will be both robust and highly reliable.

There is real excitement about the large – very large – storage capacity and the facility for multiple access.
Many businesses and organisations today are looking to achieve important efficiency gains by sharing documents with, say, for example, their supply chain partners. The giant DVD library is offering them a way to handle their digital assets more effectively than ever before.

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