archived press 2004
1 Beyond and Sanbolic Announce Harmony II, a Cost Effective SAN for DV, SD, HDV and Compressed HD Formats
Available immediately starting under $15,000

Somerville and Watertown, MA, July 27, 2004 -- 1 Beyond, Inc., a leading provider of digital video editing and compositing systems and Sanbolic Inc., an innovative developer and manufacturer of storage area network (SAN) software for shared storage solutions, today announced the 1 Beyond Harmony™ II shared Storage Area Network, a new cost-effective, lower format version of the original award-winning Harmony uncompressed HD SAN.

Jointly developed by 1 Beyond and Sanbolic, Harmony II is powered by Sanbolic’s file sharing SAN software including, Kayo™ and Melio FS™ and LaScala™, Sanbolic’s clustered volume management software. 1 Beyond is offering Harmony II in several system and storage configurations depending on the application and budget requirements. 1 Beyond is uniquely able to offer end to end turnkey solutions including editing and graphics workstations for all video formats and integrated render farms. These complete turnkey solutions including Harmony II are available immediately.

With basic configurations starting at just $15,000, the 1 Beyond Harmony II SAN offers a cost effective solution designed for users who do not have the throughput requirements of uncompressed HD. It is capable of supporting multiple streams (from 2 to 32 editing, compositing and on-air systems) of DV, SD, HDV and compressed HD video, allowing multiple editors and artists to access the same assets simultaneously without constantly moving files.

“Following the initial success of Harmony for uncompressed HD, we have once again made high-performance yet cost effective Storage Area Networks available to all who need it. With the Harmony family of systems, we now have a solution to meet the needs of all users, for both broadcasting and film who require up to 32 seats of uncompressed HD video to small facilities who need to share DV footage between a couple of editors and everything in between,” comments Terry Cullen,1 Beyond’s founder and CEO.

“With its centralized management, anytime administration, configuration flexibility, storage consolidation and data replication features, Harmony II has been designed for broadcasters and post-production facilities of all sizes who are looking for a scalable, high-performance yet affordable shared storage solution that can handle the full range of available video formats,” says Eva Helén, Sanbolic's VP of Business Development.

Like all other 1 Beyond and Sanbolic systems, Harmony II is built on an open architecture and based on world standards. This means that users can build their pipeline on heterogeneous systems and make the most efficient use of the systems and storage capacity that they already own.

Harmony is also unique in its ability to be dynamically partitioned with full volume control and can be expanded with additional controllers and disk arrays while the SAN is operating live.

Harmony II Key Features:

Complete Scalability:
- 2-32 1 Beyond Editing / Compositing Workstations
- The number depends on the mix of DV, SD, HD Workstations
- Virtually unlimited video (thousands of hours depending on format)
- Plus hundreds of thousands of stills, audio tracks, titles etc.
- Performance scalable from DV to SD to limited full 1080i HD

High Performance:
- Fiber or Gigabit controllers or mixed
- Fiber Channel connection at 2 Gb/s
- Simultaneous multiple reading and writing

Reliability:
- Distributed file control means no single point of failure
- Storage hardware offers various levels of redundancy
- SAN software efficiency allows HW Raid redundancy

Flexibility:
- Central shared storage confidently located wherever suitable
- Up to 1 KM Fiber Channel workstation connection
- Can be utilized for all asset management
- Can be tied into 1 Beyond’s Redline Render™ shared processing engines

Efficiency:
- Each workstation has an automatically variable amount of storage
- No requirement for Max storage per workstation as in direct connect storage
- Improved efficiencies, lower TCO and higher ROI

Manageability:
- Central backup of all media assets
- One location for storage maintenance and management
- Total open systems environment
- Control SW options: 1 write / many read, many read / many write
- Dynamic File System

Workflow Improvement:
- No need for file copying to gain access (significant for multi-GB files)
- All graphics, stills and video immediately available to all departments
- Simultaneous reading and writing means editing can begin while video is still loading

About 1 Beyond
Founded in 1996, 1 Beyond, Inc. manufactures professional PC-based video editing and compositing systems at a fraction of the cost of traditional high-end systems. This value leadership is due to constant technical innovation including 8 years of industry firsts. 1 Beyond delivers turnkey video systems that provide customers with the highest performance and quality digital workflow in DV, SD and now full 10-bit uncompressed HD. The company offers a wide range of systems including award-winning Laptops, Desktops, Mobiles and Rack mounts used in all phases of editing and compositing. All 1 Beyond’s systems are designed with true open architecture and built on products which are based on world standards. This insures the customer a continued upgrade path and hence, the longest period for ROI and non-obsolescence. For more information visit www.1Beyond.com. 1 Beyond is a government GSA approved company.

About Sanbolic, Inc.
Sanbolic, Inc. is a privately held company incorporated in 2000 and located in Watertown, Massachusetts. Sanbolic, Inc. provides the market with software for sharing and access of data. The product offerings are Kayo, volume-sharing software, first released in 2000, Melio FS, a shared file system with heterogeneous operating system support and LaScala™ Clustered Volume Management software. For more information visit www.sanbolic.com or write to info@sanbolic.com.

Sanbolic, Kayo, LaScala, and Melio FS are registered trademarks of Sanbolic, Inc. All other company and product names contained herein are trademarks of the respective holders.

+ 1 Beyond and Sanbolic Announce Harmony II, a Cost Effective SAN for DV, SD, HDV and Compressed HD Formats (pdf) 120KB

related press release:
+ 1 Beyond and Sanbolic Join Forces to Integrate and Market High-End SAN Solutions for Broadcast, Film and Video Content Creation