Introducing VCMC: VSPP Content Migration to the Cloud - MediaKind

Introducing VCMC: VSPP Content Migration to the Cloud

September 13, 2024

Video Storage Processing Platform (VSPP) is announcing cloud innovation with VSPP Content Migration to the Cloud (VCMC) offering the flexibility of a hybrid storage system. VSPP, the world’s number one cloud DVR (digital video recording) solution with 70+ deployments and few hundred petabytes cloud DVR content stored, is known as an on-prem “Swiss knife” for RTSP & OTT (over-the-top) delivery, for any linear or non-linear use cases, over any network, for both operators set-top boxes or OTT devices.

VSPP was originally built to optimize resources exposed by COTS appliances, the two main factors in sizing the platform being throughput and storage capacity. The introduction of cloud storage is changing the limitations of such model.

In this post, we will discuss:

• How end-users’ behavior and new services have changed the storage paradigm.
• How VCMC introduces new storage optimization approaches.
• Advantages of VCMC innovation for VSPP operators and how it is bringing the foundation for the evolving needs of today’s technology landscape.

Shifting storage paradigms

The evolution of cloud DVR should be viewed in the context of large ecosystems and changing lifestyles: when defining storage technology for video content, solution providers are facing an equation where performance and cost are key variables, directly influenced by the changing behaviors and demands of end-users.

A few illustrations of this dynamic:

• Linear delivery is about going as fast as possible from ingestion to delivery to ensure minimized end-to-end delay, and storage performance on writing/reading in that chain would immediately impact end-user viewing experience.
• Timeshift content is maintained in storage for limited duration (24 hours to 4 days on average) over rolling buffer and require high-performance storage as subject to high demand (as a user we all like to “replay” the goal of our favorite team during FIFA World Cup).
• On-demand content (VOD or cloud DVR) storage performance is directly subject to end-user behavior and popularity of content. In general, the trend is: the older the content, the more it is played by unique user sessions.
• On the other hand, some popular content demands significant resource performance. We refer to this as the “James Bond movie effect,” a term coined during a customer deployment when the latest James Bond movie became available in the VOD catalog, leading to an unusually high volume of requests.

For OTT delivery, the caching layer will help optimize storage performance for high throughput on the origin; however, single playout sessions will increase storage requirements on the caching layers too.

Storage technology selection needs to undergo over performance requirement qualification and the fragmentation of the storage solution positioned needs to be rationalized with the operational cost and complexity.

VSPP Content Migration to the Cloud

With software-defined storage, VSPP is aggregating storage resources exposed by appliances into one single volume per point of delivery. Introduction of different storage performance capabilities is possible; however, content needs to be ingested across multiple points of delivery. The storage TCO (total cost of ownership) must consider the benefit of a different storage scheme versus the induced cost of duplicating the same content multiple times, on top of operational constraints.

With the introduction of VCMC, VSPP brings the capability to introduce a new storage scheme, object storage, concurrently with the software defined storage.

This now allows in VSPP the selection of two different data storage approaches, one being based on file hierarchy through a file system, and the other being based on object or blobs, leveraging advantage induced by each of the technologies.

VCMC also introduces the automatic recognition of the popularity of content, based on configurable criteria and the constant analysis of the consumption of the content.

With VCMC, VSPP software-defined storage would be sized for popular content and content identified as unpopular will automatically be migrated to the object storage, following different archive strategies based on their consumption.

VCMC key value

• Hardware investment optimization: VCMC is designed to maximize the value of existing hardware investments, reducing the need for significant capital expenditure while improving performance and efficiency.
• Seamless transition: The upgrade from VSPP software defined storage to VCMC is automated, minimizing downtime and disruption for current deployments.
• Enhanced capabilities: VCMC offers a foundation for advanced features and functionalities that cater to the evolving needs of today’s technology landscape, providing a future-proof solution for our customers.

Summary

MediaKind, in partnership with Tech Mahindra, is proud to announce this significant evolution on VSPP. This new functionality enables a seamless evolution path for existing deployments, introducing advanced capabilities that meet the ever-growing demand of modern infrastructure, and managing hardware lifecycle.

To learn more and explore how MediaKind can help you enhance your cloud DVR service with VSPP, please contact us.