™ Avid Unity MediaNetwork System Overview m a k e m a n a g e m ove | m e d i a ™ Avid ®
Copyright and Disclaimer Product specifications are subject to change without notice and do not represent a commitment on the part of Avid Technology, Inc. The software described in this document is furnished under a license agreement. You can obtain a copy of that license by visiting Avid's Web site at www.avid.com. The terms of that license are also available in the product in the same directory as the software.
consequential Damages including lost profits, or damages resulting from loss of use or inability to use reseller’s products or the software for any reason including copyright or patent infringement, or lost data, even if Ray Sauers Associates has been advised, knew or should have known of the possibility of such damages. The following disclaimer is required by Videomedia, Inc.: “Videomedia, Inc.
Contents Using This Guide. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Who Should Use This Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Symbols and Conventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 If You Need Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Related Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
MEDIASwitch 16-4G and Fibre Channel Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 File Manager and Backup File Manager. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 MediaNetwork Drive Set . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 MediaNetwork Clients . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 MediaNetwork from the User’s Perspective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 MediaNetwork Data Flow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Illustrations A 16-Port MEDIASwitch 16-4G . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Small Form-factor Pluggable Connector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Rack-Mount MEDIArray ZX Drive Enclosure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 PortServer Workgroup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 PortServer Pro Workgroup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Using This Guide Congratulations on your purchase of an Avid Unity™ MediaNetwork workgroup. The MediaNetwork workgroup is a high-performance, highcapacity, shared media storage platform for a workgroup of connected MediaNetwork clients. n The documentation describes the features and hardware of all models. Therefore, your system might not contain certain features and hardware that are covered in the documentation.
Using This Guide Who Should Use This Guide This guide is intended for administrators who manage MediaNetwork workgroups. Symbols and Conventions Avid documentation uses the following symbols and conventions: Symbol or Convention Meaning or Action n A note provides important related information, reminders, recommendations, and strong suggestions. c A caution means that a specific action you take could cause harm to your computer or cause you to lose data.
If You Need Help Symbol or Convention Meaning or Action Double-click Click the left mouse button (Windows) or the mouse button (Macintosh) twice rapidly. Right-click Quickly press and release the right mouse button (Windows only). Drag Press and hold the left mouse button (Windows) or the mouse button (Macintosh) while you move the mouse. Ctrl+key k+key Press and hold the first key while you press the second key. If You Need Help If you have trouble using your MediaNetwork workgroup: 1.
Using This Guide Related Information MediaNetwork workgroup administrators should refer to the following documents for more information: • Avid Unity MediaNetwork Site Preparation Guide • Avid Unity MediaNetwork File Manager Setup Guide • Avid Unity MediaNetwork File Manager Failover Installation Notes • Avid Unity MediaNetwork Upgrade Notes • Avid Unity MediaNetwork PortServer Setup Guide • Avid Unity MediaNetwork Supported Configurations • Avid Unity MediaNetwork Management Guide • Avid Un
How to Order Documentation How to Order Documentation To order additional copies of this documentation from within the United States, call Avid Sales at 800-949-AVID (800-949-2843). If you are placing an order from outside the United States, contact your local Avid representative. Avid Educational Services For information on courses/schedules, training centers, certifications, courseware, and books, please visit www.avid.com/training or call Avid Sales at 800-949-AVID (800-949-2843).
Using This Guide 14
Chapter 1 MediaNetwork Hardware Overview A MediaNetwork workgroup provides shared access to audio and video files.
Chapter 1 MediaNetwork Hardware Overview MediaNetwork Hardware Components A MediaNetwork workgroup contains interconnected components, customized to meet the needs of video editing.
File Manager and Backup File Manager File Manager and Backup File Manager The File Manager is a rack-mount, dual-processor computer running the Windows 2000 Workstation operating system. The File Manager maintains the storage location information for the drive set by caching a complete set of file system metadata in memory.
Chapter 1 MediaNetwork Hardware Overview Each MEDIASwitch 16-4G isolates its ports, treating each port as an individual Fibre Channel Arbitrated Loop (FC-AL). This isolation localizes loop initialization events (adding or removing clients, or client restarts) to a particular port. This isolation also increases the stability of the Fibre Channel environment. All the connections and indicators are on the back of the MEDIASwitch 164G.
MEDIArray ZX4 Drive Enclosures Small Form-factor Pluggable Connector SFP connector MEDIASwitch 16-4G MEDIArray ZX4 Drive Enclosures The MEDIArray ZX4 drive enclosures, see “Rack-Mount MEDIArray ZX Drive Enclosure”, hold the drives in the MediaNetwork drive set. Each storage subsystem has at least one MEDIArray ZX4 drive enclosure. You can connect up to six MEDIArray ZX4 drive enclosures to the MEDIASwitch 16-4G to expand the capacity of the storage subsystem. Each enclosure contains 16 drives.
Chapter 1 MediaNetwork Hardware Overview Rack-Mount MEDIArray ZX Drive Enclosure Keyboard/Monitor/Mouse Assembly (Optional) The KMM assembly provides a convenient 1U keyboard, monitor, and mouse that can be rack-mounted to control whichever computer the keyboard/video/mouse switch selects. This assembly eliminates the need for multiple keyboards, monitors, and mouse assemblies, and allows you to save on rack space. For more information, see “Keyboard/Video/Mouse Switch (Optional)” on page 20.
PortServer and PortServer Pro Systems PortServer Systems The PortServer system connects to the Fibre Channel network. It can mount and share up to 21 workspaces; this number is limited by the number of available drive letters under the Windows 2000 operating system. The workspaces are mounted in alphabetical order. If you have more than 21 workspaces, you can rename them to control which workspaces are mounted. For more information, see the Avid Unity MediaNetwork PortServer Setup Guide.
Chapter 1 MediaNetwork Hardware Overview PortServer Pro Systems A PortServer Pro system provides all the same features as a PortServer workgroup, with the added benefit of being able to play, record or digitize, and edit DV-50 and other low-resolution media on Windows 2000 or Macintosh workstations. A PortServer Pro workgroup includes a dedicated Ethernet switch that facilitates the real-time media transfer between the PortServer Pro system and its clients.
MediaNetwork Editing Clients A MediaNetwork workgroup can support up to 24 Fibre Channel editing clients. Clients can be Macintosh, Windows NT, Windows 2000, or Windows XP systems. MediaNetwork clients run a variety of Avid applications, collectively known as the Avid Composer Products software. n For an complete updated list of all supported systems and clients see the Avid Unity Release Notes that ship with your system.
Chapter 1 MediaNetwork Hardware Overview 24
Chapter 2 MediaNetwork Workgroup Overview This chapter provides an overview of a MediaNetwork workgroup, including: • MediaNetwork Architecture • MediaNetwork Data Flow
Chapter 2 MediaNetwork Workgroup Overview MediaNetwork Architecture The components of a MediaNetwork workgroup (see “MediaNetwork Architecture”) enable multiple MediaNetwork clients to: • Connect to a set of shared drives (collectively called the MediaNetwork drive set). • Digitize or record, play, and edit video and audio media. Several editing clients can access the data stored on the MediaNetwork drive set simultaneously. MediaNetwork Storage Subsystem Client Client Client . . .
MediaNetwork Architecture MEDIASwitch 16-4G and Fibre Channel Network The Fibre Channel network is a high-bandwidth network that supports the high throughput required for multiple MediaNetwork editing clients to share video and audio files. The MEDIASwitch 16-4G is the backbone for the Fibre Channel network. It directs communications among the MediaNetwork clients, File Manager, and MediaNetwork drive set.
Chapter 2 MediaNetwork Workgroup Overview MediaNetwork from the User’s Perspective MediaNetwork clients mount workspaces in one of several ways: • By mapping drives or using the Connection Manager on Windows Fibre Channel clients • Using the Chooser on Macintosh Fibre Channel clients • Using the Connection Manager on Windows or Macintosh Ethernet clients Several MediaNetwork clients can mount the same workspace concurrently.
MediaNetwork Data Flow The typical MediaNetwork editing client data flow consists of the following steps: 1. The MediaNetwork client issues a request to the File Manager through the MEDIASwitch 16-4G. 2. The File Manager locates the requested file in its cached copy of the file system metadata and sends the file’s location to the MediaNetwork client. 3. Using the location information it received from the File Manager, the client retrieves the data from the drive set through the MEDIASwitch 164G.
Chapter 2 MediaNetwork Workgroup Overview 30
Chapter 3 MediaNetwork Management Overview Understanding your MediaNetwork storage and how it is configured is part of your management tasks. Several tools help you set up and manage your MediaNetwork workgroup. This chapter provides an overview of the storage, the tools, and the tasks you perform with them.
Chapter 3 MediaNetwork Management Overview MediaNetwork Storage Overview MediaNetwork simplifies the management of your storage hardware by combining all your physical data drives into a drive set that contains a single, large file system. To use the MediaNetwork file system, you must first assign all data drives in the drive set to allocation groups — individually managed file system partitions that span multiple physical drives.
MediaNetwork Storage Overview Physical (Hardware) Perspective Logical (User’s) Perspective Allocation Group 1 (Drives of Size X) The drive set is partitioned into one or more allocation groups. These groups are transparent to the user, who sees only one or more available workspaces.
Chapter 3 MediaNetwork Management Overview Spare Drives The MediaNetwork drive set can also include optional spare drives that you can swap for bad data drives if a drive fails. When you replace a failed drive, it appears as a raw drive and must be converted to a spare drive before it can be added to the drive set and an allocation group.
Management Tools Management Tools The MediaNetwork software provides three tools that run on the File Manager, allowing you to set up the hardware and perform day-to-day management tasks. The tools are: • The Setup Manager • The Administration Tool • The Monitor Tool The following sections provide an overview of each tool. n There are several advanced configuration and troubleshooting tools that you should not need to use unless instructed to do so by Avid Customer Support.
Chapter 3 MediaNetwork Management Overview Setup Manager For more information on the Setup Manager, see the Avid Unity MediaNetwork Management Guide or select Help > Setup Manager Help. Administration Tool The Administration Tool is the primary tool for the initial setup and day-today administration. It also allows you to monitor storage usage. You use the Administration Tool to: 36 • Create, view, rename, and delete allocation groups. • Add drives to and remove drives from allocation groups.
Management Tools “Administration Tool” shows the Administration Tool. You can open the Administration Tool on the File Manager, or on any Windows or Macintosh Fibre Channel client (the Administration Tool does not run on Ethernet clients). Administration Tool For more information on the Administration Tool, see the Avid Unity MediaNetwork Management Guide or select Help > Administration Tool Help. Monitor Tool The Monitor Tool provides low-level performance-monitoring functions.
Chapter 3 MediaNetwork Management Overview • File Manager memory usage • Log messages • Counts and service times for client requests You can also use the Monitor Tool to start and stop the File Manager software and to set advanced MediaNetwork features, such as resetting the administrator’s password. “Monitor Tool” shows the Monitor Tool. You can open the Monitor Tool only on the File Manager.
Chapter 4 Other Supported MEDIASwitches Avid no longer ships the original 1-Gb and 2-Gb MEDIAswitches, 7X00 and 9X00 respectively. An Appendix in the MediaArry ZX4 manual provides information on how to configure the MEDIArray ZX4 with those switches if you have purchsed a MEDIArray ZX to be connected to an system containing those MEDIAswitches.
Chapter 4 Other Supported MEDIASwitches MEDIASwitches The older MEDIASwitches can have either 8 ports or 16 ports, and your MediaNetwork workgroup can have 1 or 2 switches. The switch allows you to connect the File Manager, several PortServer or PortServer Pro systems, several MediaNetwork Fibre Channel clients, and up to 7 MEDIArray II (or 6 MEDIArray ZX(3)) drive enclosures (either individually or in pairs of daisychained enclosures) together.
MEDIASwitches 0 MT Act/C ol MG 10 2 23 RS SFP connector 8 7 6 5 4 MEDIASwitch 3 2 1 SFP connector Small Form-factor Pluggable Connector 41
Chapter 4 Other Supported MEDIASwitches 42
Index A W Administration Tool described 36 Administrator tasks 34 Allocation groups introduced 32 Workspaces 32 D Drive enclosure description 19 drive enclosure 16 Drive enclosures 27 Drive sets 32 E Enclosures MEDIArray 27 M MEDIArray enclosures 27 MediaShare F/C controller board 16 Mirroring See Protection P Protection 33–??
Index 44
