Sponsored Article: How to move big files to the cloud (and beyond!)

How to move Big Files

How production companies can take advantage of the cloud to quickly move and store large media files with Signiant Media Shuttle.

In many ways, the cloud is an ideal environment for production facilities that regularly need to transfer and store big media files. With 30 minutes of HD footage typically coming in between 25 and 60 GB and 4K content even larger, the network and storage resources required to efficiently handle high-resolution video files are substantial. Rather than own the necessary resources and services, many companies prefer to “rent” them from the cloud’s virtually unlimited supply and pay only for what they use.

Moving Large Files Between People

Signiant’s Media Shuttle is the only true cloud based or SaaS (Software As A Solution) large file acceleration solution on the market, meaning Signiant takes full responsibility for the cloud environment by managing and maintaining it for users across multiple levels of redundancy with multi-tenant architecture. It is not a product that was originally built for on-premises and simply deployed in a cloud environment, which still requires customers to manage virtual machines or pay additional fees for someone else to.

Media Shuttle uses the elastic nature of the cloud, automatically spinning up or down any server support needed to match the data output of each company. It is very easy to use and to deploy anywhere in the Internet connected world, and has brandable web interfaces that allow you to promote your company or a particular project. With trustworthy speed and a pay-as-you-go pricing model, Media Shuttle provides an affordable large file transfer service many companies can’t do without. Media Shuttle also gives customers complete control over their storage.

Storing Large Files in the Cloud

When Signiant first introduced Media Shuttle over three years ago, many customers were uncomfortable using cloud storage. They wanted to keep their most valuable digital assets close and onsite. But a few forces have been rapidly changing that perspective. The biggest is probably the sheer growth in file sizes, and associated shrinking on-premises storage, as we’ve moved from SD to HD to 2K to 4K and even 8K.

Given the changing nature of file sizes and project demands that most production facilities deal with, it’s very difficult to predict storage needs and they often fluctuate. As a result, many companies end up over or under provisioning their on-premises storage. Either they bought too much and they are paying for unused capacity, or they bought too little and it fills up, leaving them in a freeze waiting on budget approval and new storage installations. With cloud storage, however, you only pay for what you use; you could use a full terabyte one month and only half the next.
Today, the operational benefits of using cloud storage have begun to outweigh the reservations most people had, and Signiant has responded by adding a cloud storage option to Media Shuttle. Customers can choose between Amazon S3 or Microsoft Azure integration.
Aside from the way cloud storage fits so well with the fluctuating storage needs of media production, cloud storage backed Media Shuttle has some other major benefits.

New customers that choose to deploy Media Shuttle using cloud storage face an extremely pared down process. You simply buy the service; attach your storage using your cloud storage credentials and start transferring files anywhere you need to. Because no on-premises infrastructure is required, you won’t have to worry about procuring servers or rack space.

Also, just as the Media Shuttle file transfer technology layer is SaaS, the storage also becomes a service. You won’t have to worry about managing cloud servers. Signiant manages your cloud storage wherever you need it in the world, including load balancing, redundancy and auto scaling. And upgrades are automatic, so you’ll have zero downtime.

Media Shuttle will always support companies that prefer to use their on-premises storage exclusively to transfer big files. And, with large deployments, you can always mix and match between both on-premises and any one or several clouds if you need the extra flexibility. Both cloud storage and on-premises portals can be established within a single Shuttle deployment. But for production facilities that want to utilize the cloud both for the fast transfer of large files and for storage, Media Shuttle will support you.

Want to try sending a large video file with Media Shuttle? Give it a try for free or visit us at Signiant.com.