Yash Raj Films Acquires Dell EqualLogic SAN

Generations of Indian film lovers have watched movies produced by Yash Raj Films Pvt. Ltd (YRF) and relished several unforgettable dialogs.

Digitally archiving these movies, which are the lifeblood and core revenue stream of the studio, will allow future generations to watch these films in their original format.

Always a step ahead of the changes taking place in the entertainment industry, YRF has plans to scale up its production output every year and grow its existing catalog of 55 films. While the advent of digitization has given the studio greater flexibility to expand its film distribution over multiple media platforms, YRF needed a solution to archive its movies.

Dilip Patil, senior manager, digital and systems, YRF explains: “With the increasing number of digital platforms available through the internet and mobile technology, and growing global interest in the Indian film industry, our films are being distributed and watched more than ever before. To meet this demand we needed a single solution capable of archiving our expanding film repository of films for future audiences.”

YRF needed a dedicated storage solution that would ensure HA and reliable data protection of its archived films. Following discussions with Dell, Inc. representatives, the studio reviewed the EqualLogic PS6500E virtualized iSCSI storage array with SATA disk drives, and found that the storage array was the fit for its needs.

Single storage solution improves responsiveness
YRF has the flexibility to access and use its archived catalog of films for a range of media projects across platforms such as YouTube, Netflix, and iTunes. As more and more film lovers use these platforms, having an accessible film catalog that is searchable down to the level of the single frame is critical to ensure YRF’s global distribution.

“With our films now archived within a single location, we have the ability to expand our audience for both current and back catalog films. We can respond to requests within days now, while previously it used to take weeks, and deliver exactly what our partners and media require,” Patil says.

The ability to take snapshots and then restore specific data was a critical requirement for the studio, a feature provided by the redundant and hot-swappable STA disk drives.

“A big advantage was the snapshot restoration feature of the Dell EqualLogic SAN where we could restore a single frame that may have been corrupted, rather than having to restore the entire film. That saves us a sizeable amount of time and ensures we experience no delays during the film’s promotion and distribution,” says Patil.