By Jerry Mooney

We are no longer tethered to our living rooms, eating sub-standard frozen food because we don’t want to cook while our show is on.  No longer must we watch the six o’clock news at six.  We can watch at seven, or seven ten or whenever.  The broadcast industry has found a way to get entertainment to consumers faster, easier, more conveniently and on-demand.  

The landscape of broadcasting has changed.  The TV Guide is a relic.  Most broadcasts are now uploaded to a site where they can be watched or rewatched at the consumer’s leisure.  By doing  this,  though, the storage requirements of broadcasters has become the  new, big deal.  People now expect broadcasts to be available around the clock.  But this new world has new challenges.  On-demand viewing necessitates enormous data memory demands on broadcast

With this constant evolution in broadcasting, cost and flexibility remain the cornerstones of how companies, and certainly broadcasting companies, must adapt.  This is where AIC and the JBOD (Just a Bunch Of Disks) solution has become so vital.  While ever-expanding memory can be expensive, going cheap can be even more costly.  Losing data, corrupting hardware and a lack of flexibility can cost more than money.  Content and all of  the work involved to create it can be lost.  

Fortunately, at AIC, we have created our own, original JBOD technology that optimizes the flexibility and scalability sought after.  AIC’s JBOD servers are not merely re-purposed antiquated hardware.  Our products are designed, maintained and manufactured in-house.  They are manufactured specifically with the understanding that scalable, nimble and effective storage is required to accommodate the huge and growing needs of the broadcast industry.

By manufacturing our own JBODs we can ensure they are modular and components are compatible with each other.  This provides the highest level of flexibility and reliability.  Corrupt disks can be swapped out without having to replace entire servers.  Damaged spots don’t threaten entire works.  At AIC, our JBODs help manage the costs of the ever-expanding needs of the broadcasting world.  

• AIC JBODs don’t force you to buy more than you need at any time.

• AIC JBODs allow you to easily expand without interruption in service, loss of data or complicated and risky migration.

• AIC JBODs eases the challenges inherent in data migration and capacity expansion.

• AIC JBODs simplify the process of media transfers while reducing the system needs.

Additionally, the AIC JBODs are the industry standard.  Old memory technology is not repurposed.  Instead, AIC manufactures, from start to finish, chassis as well as the internal components.  Each unit is designed and created with the understanding that the memory must integrate easily and allow for future flexibility.  By doing so, AIC JBODs create seamless unit compatibilities.  This also establishes more system reliability in an ever-expanding world of data.

At AIC, we ensure that no one will have to under-cook dinner in order to catch their shows.  And our JBODs will continue to provide state-of-the-art, flexible and cost-effective solutions for the increasing demands of entertainment.  

Jerry Mooney is co-founder and managing editor of Zenruption and the author of History Yoghurt and the Moon. He studied at the University of Munich and Lewis and Clark College where he received his BA in International Affairs and West European Studies. He has recently taught Language and Communications at a small, private college and owned various businesses, including an investment company that made him a millionaire before the age of 40. Jerry is committed to zenrupting the forces that block social, political and economic justice. He can also be found on Twitter@JerryMooney 

Feature photo courtesy of Flickr, under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial license