Scaling up distribution is next level IP
Scaling up distribution is next level IP
The promise of IP is one that creates a new dimension in terms of reach and scale while dynamically delivering high-quality content. A unified IP network catering for both contribution and distribution services replaces arcane signal transport with a new essence-based mechanism that frees the media business from the chains of infrastructure.
When media organizations have moved systems to software and solutions can be deployed in the cloud or on common of the shelf (COTS) hardware it can start to introduce the operational flexibility that will pay dividends.
Suddenly, any format and any combination of audio, video, and metadata can flow bidirectionally across a facility or between facilities using the same protocols, the same switchers, the same common IT architectures.
But we have not reached the end zone. In fact, the operational changes that IP workflows offer media companies have barely been scratched. IP has been accepted as a technical overhaul of the solid but inflexible infrastructure of SDI but what this should mean in practice is the ability to finally match internet streamers at their own game.
Services must evolve
Services today must also evolve very rapidly to keep pace with their core audience demands and need to be able to spin down as fast as they are spun up.
It is no longer enough to just up output level – productions must scale vertically and horizontally across formats, versions, language, device types, and platforms to meet an increasingly diverse audience footprint. Added to this, broadcasters and content producers around the globe must balance the spiraling demand for content with rising production costs.
Delivering greater volumes of content more efficiently is a major driving force behind the industry’s transition to more flexible and scalable IP-based infrastructures and workflows. It opens up new ways of working, like remote and distributed production.
Deliver greater volumes
The transition to 100GE, IP, virtualized, and hybrid cloud environments is gathering pace as media organizations seek greater agility and scalability to keep pace with dynamically shifting markets.
IP-based networks whether in the studio, playout, or OTT are quickly evolving from the traditional best-effort delivery model to one where performance and reliability need to be quantified and, in many cases, guaranteed with Service Level Agreements (SLAs).
Security remains on high alert. As pay-TV broadcasters, sports franchises and major studios look to cash in on the seismic demand for viewing OTT, cybercriminals are following the money.
A recent Verizon Media survey of streaming media service executives revealed that half had already suffered security breaches. OTT Security | Cyberattack Defense | Verizon Media Platform.
Tamper-proof network
The challenge for broadcasters and content owners is to simultaneously meet consumers’ expectation so their services remain competitive and relevant, and to do this in a commercially viable way. Old models and workflows simply don’t scale to meet the level of demand. Innovation is essential to unlock the promise of IP as content acquisition and primary distribution feeds are handed-off across on-premise, multi-cloud, hybrid and managed and unmanaged infrastructures.
This is definitely a challenge, but one that Net Insight media processing solutions are proven to handle from source, through distribution, to the edge.
When it comes to IP contribution and distribution the Net Insight array of solutions offer a completely secure, reliable transport and orchestration for applications. Our technology offers fully redundant paths and media flows for the content even while routed across various IP architectures and scenarios.
Once again, Net Insight has taken the lead. Recently we announced the successful implementation of the world’s first 100GE IP Media Trust Boundary for the delivery of an uncompressed IP playout solution to Red Bee Media. The deployment is used in Red Bee Media’s IP-based, software-only Managed Playout Service, enabling highly flexible and qualitative service distribution and monitoring. The IP Media Trust Boundary strictly controls which data is allowed to pass along the 100GE WAN ensuring the network remains tamper-proof.
It also includes the first deployment of Net Insight’s new Media Pro Application, a fully programmable, adaptable and scalable foundation for handling high data volumes of ST 2022 and ST 2110 IP video, audio and data for the most demanding live events and production workflows.
Flexible and scalable infrastructures enabled by Net Insight’s media over IP innovations are achievable giving broadcasters unprecedented choice to deliver reliable, flexible and future-proof services.
Previous blogs:
The evolution of distributed live production
Microservices and advanced orchestration drives personalized streaming
Real-time streaming takes live sports to next level
The transformation journey that broadcasters need to make
Switching to remote has massive upsides for the sports broadcast industry
