TFKA
Nothing has ever come close to the level of simplicity that Synology provides. And at the same time it’s so satisfying performance-wise to meet our intensive daily workloads. With Synology at service, the team now devotes wholeheartedly to creativity and production, without ever worrying about file access and latency. Nicholas Chee, Founder of TFKA
The Company
The Challenge
Before adopting Synology TFKA worked with local and external drives as the norm of its video production workflow. Only one editor can access the drive at a given time. Management quickly became an issue when editors had to go over the entire collection of external drives to locate a footage. On top of that, the increasing amount of overseas clients meant that the traditional forms of HDD courier delivery isn't the most time/cost effective. The basic file servers that TFKA tried did not have Link Aggregation or 10GbE support that can allow multiple streams for video editing. Frequent drop-frames led to frustrations and less productivity. The available SAN solutions out there that actually could meet the needs were mostly beyond budget.
The Solution
TFKA started off with Synology on a DS1813+, and it was an immediate match - a cost effective NAS with 8 hard drive bays plus LUNs and link aggregation capabilities. The recent upgrade to DS1817+ further enables the collaboration process by introducing 10GbE network through the additional adapter. The reference video files are all available on the NAS now where video editors can access through high-speed LAN and work on different sequences of the same project.
When the editing work is complete, data manager exports them to the archive server DS416play, where the work is classified and backed up to an external drive periodically. As for the final content delivery, TFKA picked a basic personal cloud server connected to external fiber internet for customers to download with protected file sharing links offered by Synology.
The Benefits
Synology is future-proof with network adaptation interface and storage scalability - as has been proven in how it accommodates the increasing amounts of 4K workloads. Thin-provisioning allows us to flexibly allocate new resources as we go - a "must" feature for film production companies like TFKA. The Synology NAS also comes with password protected file sharing options, built-in tools for backup data to external drives periodically, plus the ability to transcode and stream to Apple TV for playback and team review - all of which make Synology an inseparable part of our productivity.
Recommended Models
- DS1817+
- DS416play
- DS216j
Recommended Features
- 10GbE network connectivity through E10G15-F1
- iSCSI & thin-provisioning
- Protected file sharing for content delivery
- Streaming through AirPlay for presentation