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Creative Media Company Streamlining Cloud Storage and Collaboration
Company Situation
The company operates within the creative media production industry, managing a rapidly growing volume of digital media assets. Their team is expanding quickly, and they currently handle multiple petabytes of storage, with projections nearing six petabytes within the next year. Their workflow includes extensive remote collaboration and heavy use of cloud and on-premises storage solutions.
Existing Workflow
The company currently uses a combination of object storage (MINIO), cloud-based file streaming technologies, and on-premises servers. They have relied on tools such as Suite for user-space file systems with FUSE support and have experience with services like Lucid Link. Their workflow includes using multiple platforms for media review, approval, and storage, including integrations with iconic tools and Frame.io. The IT team manages their own Proxmox-based servers, which adds complexity.
Issues with the Existing Workflow
The company’s storage needs are growing rapidly, outpacing the capacity of their existing on-premises infrastructure.
Their current setup involves multiple disparate systems, leading to a fragmented media tech stack that is costly and complicated to maintain.
The use of multiple third-party services results in ballooning expenses and added administrative overhead.
There are challenges around managing metadata and user permissions across different platforms.
The IT team faces difficulty maintaining custom server environments without deep expertise in certain technologies.
Limitations exist in integrating preferred “bring your own storage” (BYOS) models with existing streaming file systems, with some providers not supporting this option.
The company expresses concerns about the layering of file system abstractions, which can create inefficiencies and complexity.
How Shade Would Change Their Workflow
Shade offers a unified media management platform that consolidates storage, streaming, and collaboration into a single interface. Their proprietary streaming file system, ShadeFS, supports user-space file streaming over cloud or on-premises storage, including BYOS models with S3-compatible APIs (such as Dell’s PowerScale). The upcoming Shade Vault cold storage tier will help companies manage metadata efficiently while reducing costs for rarely accessed data.
In collaboration with Dell, Shade is developing shared cache solutions that integrate on-premises servers seamlessly with cloud storage. This hybrid approach allows users to access media locally via cached content without sacrificing the convenience of cloud workflows. Shade’s GUI simplifies media access and review workflows, reducing reliance on multiple disparate platforms. The ability to bring existing object storage into the ecosystem supports gradual migration and flexibility.
Benefits
- Consolidation of disparate media management tools into a single platform
- Support for large-scale storage needs (up to multiple petabytes) with scalable cloud and on-premises integration
- Flexible BYOS options using S3-compatible object storage, enabling companies to leverage existing investments
- Reduced IT complexity and improved ease of management compared to custom server setups
- Cost-effective cold storage tier to manage metadata and infrequently accessed assets
- Enhanced remote collaboration with seamless streaming file system access
- Simplified user experience with a modern GUI on top of complex storage architectures
- Partnership with hardware providers to optimize hybrid cloud/on-prem workflows
Technologies Used
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