Point360 Installs Polaris RAID From Media Distributors

Media Distributors, provider of services, systems, and products for professional audio and video production announced that Point360, a post-production and visual effects firm, has installed the company’s next-generation Polaris RAID storage solution for use across Point360’s growing network of post-production sites. The Polaris RAID solution was introduced an event at the Sheraton Universal Hotel in Universal City, California.

The result of several years of consultation and design implementation, the Media Distributors Polaris RAID system is the industry’s most affordable RAID storage solution.

Media Distributors’ Line 1 Media division will market the Polaris RAID to production customers that require large-scale storage for video and effects workflow. The system – at $11,999 – offers the most competitive price for its storage capacity.

Point360 has installed Polaris RAID as a second-tier storage solution for its company, which distributes rich media in electronic form worldwide, and provides editing, mastering, reformatting, and archiving solutions for its television and film production clients. The company uses the Media Distributors Constellation VCM’ workflow system to provide an enterprise-wide asset management and retrieval solution.

"We have created a storage operation, using an Archion SAN, that now has a solid back-up RAID system, thanks to the Polaris RAID product, and we have a high-powered, cost-efficient way to manage our operation as we grow," said Brian Ehrlich, general manager of Point360’s Burbank, California facility. "The Polaris RAID system enables greater levels of security, control, and multi-site distribution for all departments of our operation."

The Polaris RAID system consists of an array of 24 one Terabyte (TB) Hitachi Serial ATA drives. The 4 gigabit per second (Gb/s) fiber channel system combines a next-generation interface with superior protection characteristics and a dual controller that delivers fast and reliable performance. The Polaris RAID’s e-mail event notification feature requires no physical supervision, and is ideal for production environments.

"Point360 is an innovator in our industry; the company consistently delivers high-quality work and has defined the 21st-century video production environment. We have built the Polaris RAID system to serve a wide range of customers, and the Point360 team embodies an ideal large-scale facility implementation of the system," said Steve Klein, CEO of Media Distributors. "The hybrid production and post-production facility requires an organic, cost-effective solution for video storage, and the Polaris RAID solution, combined with our Constellation VCM workflow solution, is a powerful tool for content creators."