SGL debuts fully scalable digital archive and management software FlashNet6

NAB, Las Vegas
24th April 2006

Software Generation Ltd (SGL), a leading provider of digital video storage/archive management software, has unveiled for the first time its fully redesigned data archive and management software, FlashNet6 at NAB2006 on booth SL1513 V. Featuring open standards such as MS SQL and standard IT components, FlashNet6 presents media and entertainment companies of all sizes with a fully flexible, scalable and powerful solution with unlimited storage capacity providing full redundancy at all levels of hardware and software.

FlashNet6 has been completely redesigned around a clustered architecture, which scales from just a single archive server to an infinite number of I/O (input/output) nodes. As data throughput requirements increase, the cluster can be augmented by further nodes, which simply plug into the cluster and get straight to work without having to shut down the system.

More servers mean greater I/O capability. FlashNet6 uses multiple data transfer servers, called nodes, to increase data throughput to and from the archive. All nodes are connected directly to the storage environment via fibre channel, so the cluster is never waiting for a particular server to become free before the transfer is initiated. If required, each node can be separately configured to process specific tasks, such as background data migration or copy tasks initiated by SGL's StorageManager module.

High availability is a key theme in FlashNet6's new clustered architecture. All nodes are in constant communication with the central database server, reporting their status every few seconds with a 'heartbeat'. If a node fails or is taken off-line for maintenance, its workload is automatically redistributed throughout the cluster, keeping the flow of data to and from the archive consistent and uninterrupted. In standard configurations the main database server is also fully redundant, using the latest clustering and mirroring techniques and software to ensure that data is available 24x7x365.

Bernie Walsh, SGL's Sales and Marketing Director, commented: "FlashNet6 is unbeaten on price performance, reliability and pow er. The scalability of the software means that broadcasters of any size can increase capacity with complete confidence in the open architecture, which provides redundancy and failover. FlashNet6 is expandable, powerful and reliable."

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Software Generation Limited is a privately held archive management software company headquartered in Southampton, England. SGL has been in business since 1989 and its flagship FlashNet product is installed in over 5000 customer sites around the world. More information can be found at www.sgluk.com.