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Computer peripherals industry

StorageTek and Excalibur Unveil First Network-Attached Storage (NAS) Video Service

Strategic Insights

— 1 min read

At StorageTek's annual customer conference, the company, in partnership with Excalibur Technologies, previewed the industry's first network-attached storage (NAS) video service. The Media Management Appliance, a comprehensive solution that combines software, tape, disk, and services, enables fast, easy, and intelligent management of corporate video assets. This innovative technology addresses the growing need for enterprises to manage the explosion of digital information, including television, video, computers, and the Internet.

Key Takeaways:

  • The Media Management Appliance, developed by StorageTek and Excalibur, is the first NAS video service, integrating software, tape, disk, and services to manage corporate video assets.
  • The appliance combines Excalibur's Screening Room search and retrieval product with StorageTek's Application Storage Manager software, 9730 tape library, and OPENstorage Disk family.
  • The demonstration showcased the appliance's ability to capture, catalogue, archive, search, retrieve, and view corporate videos from a standard Web-enabled browser in a Windows NT environment.
  • The Media Management Appliance addresses corporate users' need to manage digital information explosion throughout the enterprise, enabling fast, easy, and intelligent access to information.
  • The appliance can hold over 1,400 hours of video at VHS image quality (MPEG-1 at 1.5 megabits per second) in a 19-inch rack-mounted configuration, with the potential to scale to manage thousands of hours of content and support hundreds of users.
  • StorageTek and Excalibur have established a Joint Development Lab to create new solutions for managing enterprise digital assets, resulting from their licensing, development, and distribution agreement (announced on August 24, 1998).
  • The partnership aims to provide innovative information management solutions tailored to specific application needs of customers in various industries, including broadcasting, telecommunications, government, education, and more.

Statistics:

  • The Media Management Appliance can hold over 1,400 hours of video at VHS image quality (MPEG-1 at 1.5 megabits per second).
  • StorageTek reported earnings of $232 million on revenue of $2.1 billion in 1997.
  • Excalibur Technologies Corporation was founded in 1980 and is the pioneer of innovative Knowledge Retrieval software solutions.
  • The company has developed software products for search and retrieval of knowledge assets, empowering people and enabling organizations to transform information into knowledge.

Sources:

  • Business Wire, October 19, 1998
  • StorageTek press release, October 19, 1998
  • Excalibur Technologies Corporation information on their website
  • StorageTek's 1997 annual report
  • Excalibur Technologies Corporation's 1998 annual report (NASDAQ: EXCA)

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