Skywalker Sound Conquers Space and Time with Hitachi Data Systems.Business Editors/High-Tech Writers NAB2003 LAS VEGAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 7, 2003 Leading Audio Post Facility Consolidates Storage, Simplifies Management, and Increases Collaboration with Lightning 9980V Hitachi Data Systems See HDS. , a wholly owned subsidiary Wholly Owned Subsidiary A subsidiary whose parent company owns 100% of its common stock. Notes: In other words, the parent company owns the company outright and there are no minority owners. of Hitachi, Ltd. (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange : HIT), today announced that Skywalker Sound, a Lucasfilm Ltd. company and the premiere post-production sound facility in the world, has chosen Hitachi Data Systems to consolidate its storage and meet the demanding requirements for recording, design, editing, mixing and playing back film soundtracks in real time. "We needed a high-performance, highly scalable storage solution to maintain and manage hundreds of virtual volumes of sound and film files," said Tim McGovern, Director of Engineering for Skywalker Sound. "Our new Lightning 9980V has the performance power we require, and having centralized cen·tral·ize v. cen·tral·ized, cen·tral·iz·ing, cen·tral·iz·es v.tr. 1. To draw into or toward a center; consolidate. 2. storage instead of individual drives has greatly simplified that aspect of our IT management. Most importantly Adv. 1. most importantly - above and beyond all other consideration; "above all, you must be independent" above all, most especially , it creates a more integrated, collaborative environment for the editorial staff by making all soundtracks easily and instantly available to anyone on the system at any time." To create this shared environment, Skywalker Sound needed a centrally managed, fault-tolerant, highly available storage solution with flexible backup options and security to prevent unauthorized access. The company selected a Hitachi Freedom Storage(TM) Lightning 9980V(TM) system with 12TB of capacity to centralize cen·tral·ize v. cen·tral·ized, cen·tral·iz·ing, cen·tral·iz·es v.tr. 1. To draw into or toward a center; consolidate. 2. all of its editorial storage. The solution successfully scaled in performance to support 75 Macintoshes running real-time, highly dense audio tracks. Hitachi ShadowImage(TM) software was used to create point-in-time copies of Mac volumes that were then delivered to the recording systems. HiCommand(TM) Device Manager manages the whole array, saving IT staff the headaches of the previous, decentralized de·cen·tral·ize v. de·cen·tral·ized, de·cen·tral·iz·ing, de·cen·tral·iz·es v.tr. 1. To distribute the administrative functions or powers of (a central authority) among several local authorities. management system. Hitachi Data Systems worked with best-of-breed integrator San Solutions to implement the solution. "With the stringent real-time, high-scalability, and high-availability requirements of Skywalker Sound, the Hitachi Freedom Storage Lightning 9980 V is the best-in-class product to support the facilities needs of today and for their growing needs of the future," said Harry Aine, President and CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. , SAN Solutions, Inc. Prior to the new Lightning 9980V solution, Skywalker Sound relied primarily on removable hard drives to share soundtracks, physically walking them from place to place when an editor needed to work on them. By centralizing cen·tral·ize v. cen·tral·ized, cen·tral·iz·ing, cen·tral·iz·es v.tr. 1. To draw into or toward a center; consolidate. 2. data, the company can now more easily backup, manage and maintain soundtracks that previously had to be physically stored and manually inventoried. In addition, the data is more secure stored centrally versus the old format, which required the constant "spinning up and spinning down" of the drives. Skywalker Sound has edited many upcoming film soundtracks on the Lightning 9980V storage system since its implementation in November, including James Cameron's upcoming IMAX IMAX Noun a film projection process that produces an image ten times larger than standard feature, "The Ghost of the Abyss" and Pixar's summer 2003 offering, "Finding Nemo." Skywalker Sound was so impressed by the Lightning 9980V that it recently also purchased the Hitachi Freedom Storage Thunder 9570V(TM) system to manage its sound effects sound effects Noun, pl sounds artificially produced to make a play, esp. a radio play, more realistic sound effects npl → efectos mpl sonoros library. The Thunder 9570V storage system allows the sound production firm to store and maintain 5TB of digital sound effects for use in editing and sound design. "Skywalker Sound is the best in the business in sound production," said Fred Mills, senior director, Global Vertical Markets, Hitachi Data Systems. "Its problems with decentralized data storage demonstrate the need for highly-scalable, consolidated storage when dealing with the demanding environment of working with rich media. Hitachi Data Systems solutions can create more collaborative, easier to manage storage environments for companies in the entertainment and rich media production industries." About Skywalker Sound Skywalker Sound is known throughout the entertainment industry for its innovative and creative approach. The company has been recognized many times over for achievements of artistic and technical excellence. Skywalker Sound is the creator of multi-format audio experiences, ranging from Web sonification to IMAX presentations, from theme parks to video games See video game console. . Following the award-winning work on Star Wars, for which the company was created by George Lucas Noun 1. George Lucas - United States screenwriter and filmmaker (born in 1944) Lucas , Skywalker Sound quickly established itself at the cutting edge of post-production sound in modern filmmaking. The company has won 16 Academy Awards(R) for Best Sound, Best Sound Effects Editing, and Special Achievement in Voice Creation over the past 25 years. About SAN Solutions, Inc. SAN Solutions, Inc., with offices in Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. and Reno, is a best-of-breed network storage integrator. Focused in the rich media markets, SAN Solutions, Inc. architects, develops, and implements storage network infrastructures that have revolutionize the workflow and management of media assets throughout a studio. More information about SAN Solutions can be found at www.sansolutions.com. About Hitachi Data Systems Hitachi Data Systems is committed to enabling organizations worldwide to exploit the full potential of information. By following and deploying our TrueNorth(TM) strategy, we provide customers with a broad range of storage solutions to simplify, protect and optimize their information infrastructures. Our offerings include enterprise and modular storage systems and software, professional services (job) professional services - A department of a supplier providing consultancy and programming manpower for the supplier's products. , fully complemented by best-of-breed products through industry alliances. With 2,700 employees, Hitachi Data Systems conducts business through direct sales and resellers in the public, government and private sectors in over 170 countries on six continents Six Continents is a large retail PLC in UK which split into Six Continents Retail known as Mitchells and Butlers plc. The hotels and soft drinks business of Six Continents PLC is now known as InterContinental Hotels Group PLC. . Its customers include more than 50 percent of Fortune 100 companies. For more information, please visit our Web site at www.hds.com. About Hitachi, Ltd. Hitachi, Ltd., headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is a leading global electronics company, with approximately 320,000 employees worldwide. Fiscal 2001 (ended March 31, 2002) consolidated sales totaled 7,994 billion yen ($60.1 billion). The company offers a wide range of systems, products and services in market sectors, including information systems, electronic devices, power and industrial systems, consumer products, materials and financial services The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please [ improve this article] or discuss the issue on the talk page. . For more information on Hitachi, please visit the company's Web site at http://global.hitachi.com. Note to Editors: Hitachi Freedom Storage, Lightning 9980V, ShadowImage, HiCommand, Thunder 9570V and TrueNorth are registered trademarks of Hitachi Data Systems. All other trademarks are the properties of their respective owners. Hitachi Data Systems is registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office as a trademark and service mark of Hitachi, Ltd. |
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