The video server is the hub of the broadcast facility. The video server stores the important clip data to be used by the broadcast facility, in particular for playout.

SGL has worked with all of the major video server manufacturers, to allow seamless interaction between the server and the archive when called upon by the user. Data that is no longer required for short-term storage, such as news clips that have played to air, can be moved from the video server directly to the archive. Data that resides in the archive that is required for play-out or edit is easily restored, either via the video server interface or through a playout request system governed by Automation software.

Data transfer between the archive and video server is primarily achieved through FTP. Many video servers have a simple FTP interface that enables FlashNet to communicate with them; others, however, initiate the FTP transfer using proprietary interfaces unique to the server, and FlashNet has been developed to work with all of these interfaces. For example, Quantel uses the ISA Gateway to communicate, and Pinnacle servers use the PAX (Palladium Exchange) interface. In the case of Grass Valley Profile servers and MAN systems, transfer is made using a combination of FTP data transfer and specialised communication protocols developed by Thomson Grass Valley and SGL.

Partial File Restore
FlashNet has been developed to enable Partial File Restore (PFR) with certain video servers. PFR allows the user to request restore of only a certain part of a data clip, rather than restoring the entire clip to the video server. PFR is currently available for Grass Valley Profile video servers and Seachange video servers, and is achieved when the video server passes a defined portion of the clip to FlashNet for restore. The clip start and end frames are calculated by the video server, and FlashNet uses these to determine where in the data archive to begin and end the restore.

PFR will soon be available for the universal MXF format, which is intended to be a widely-accepted format to be used by all of the major video server manufacturers.