Current network strategies require faster, larger, and more expensive hardware as your upload and mastering requirements increase. Instead of adding larger, expensive servers and network hardware, ImageNet allows for the addition of incremental storage space providing low-cost expandability of your network as needed. It also gracefully manages the removal of storage capacity should a system fail or get reallocated to another use.

Images are where you need them, when you need them. ImageNet delivers images to encoders as the schedule requires ensuring an efficient mastering process that is uninterrupted by network bandwidth delays encountered with conventional networks. When it’s time to master, images are temporarily precached on the encoder’s local hard drive eliminating costly data underrun problems. Images remain in the ImageNet virtual server available for re-mastering or access by a verification station until deleted.

Features

Distributed Image Storage

ImageNet’s configurable space manager directs images to available and optimum storage locations on the network. It maintains access information for available storage locations on the network, including user names and passwords. As a result, the operator is never prompted for location or access information.

Storage options include load balancing with images going to the target location with the most amount of free space or, alternate where images alternate between target locations until free space is used, or minimize network traffic where images are sent to local hard drive image space first.

Image Caching

Images are delivered to local encoder hard drives as directed by the scheduling system ensuring an efficient mastering process that is uninterrupted by network bandwidth delays of network bandwidth.

Queue Management

Images can be assigned to any number of user-definable groups in order to organize workflow. For instance, an image might be loaded to the “Input” group. Before the job is ready to be mastered, it might be moved to the “Mastering” group. This allows the a scheduling system to monitor and control job flow through the plant.

Use Existing Storage Capacity

ImageNet takes advantage of all existing hard drive capacity and make it appear as one location to the mastering process. Network storage locations are monitored to make sure they are still available. If not, the images in that location are not shown as ‘available’ to the scheduler.

Incrementally Expandable

Additional hard drive space can be added inexpensively and painlessly with ImageNet. Since images are cached to the target encoder before mastering, it is no longer necessary to provide for high throughput on a central server. Now you can simply add another hard drive or system to the network and register the location with the ImageNet’s SpaceManager. This can be done without taking the current image space offline. Image capacity is essentially unlimited.

Simple Integration to Existing Process

ImageNet components are designed to integrate into existing processes. In pre-mastering, an ImageCopy plug-in puts the images into ImageNet. Eclipse’s or your scheduler directs images into appropriate queues and makes them available to encoders. ImageVerify can connect to ImageNet allowing comparison to the stored image. ImageNet provides for easy, simple integration to existing processes.