Avid Nexis
Introduced in 2016, Avid Nexis is a network-attached storage system from Avid Technology optimised for large media creation workflows. Nexis servers are most commonly used in post-production and broadcast facilities and are often installed alongside other Avid Products such as Media Composer, Pro Tools, and Media Central. A Nexis server works by virtualising storage capacity and/or cloud storage into a single pool of shared resources. Users can allocate space to custom workspaces from a web console which can then be mounted either through a drive letter or a UNC path on workstations networked to the Nexis.
Nexis storage engines
Avid offer a variety of Nexis servers with different capabilities. These are:[1]
- Avid NEXIS | Pro
- Avid NEXIS | F2 SSD
- Avid NEXIS | F2
- Avid NEXIS | F2X
- Avid NEXIS | F5 NL
- Avid NEXIS | F5
The F2 and F5 series engines support external system director appliances (SDA+), which further increase Nexis's throughput, storage capacity, file count, client count, and redundancy.
Connecting to a Nexis
A workstation connects to a Nexis via a LAN. Users must use Avid-qualified network switches to connect workstations to the Nexis. Workstations with a network speed below 1 Gigabit Ethernet (1 GbE) will not be able to write files to the Nexis. A common codec used in the offline/online workflow is DNxHR LB which runs at a bitrate of 36MB/s. With a 1GbE network connection, a user will only be able to playback three streams of video without dropping frames. Therefore, Dual 1Gbe, 10GbE, and 40GbE connections are ideal as the additional bandwidth will allow a user to playback more streams simultaneously.
The Nexis Client Manager allows users to mount workspaces; workspaces appear as network drives in Windows or Mac. The typical workflow is to create a workspace per project rather than have multiple projects within a single workspace. System administrators can decide which user has access to which workspace, which is of value to TPN compliant, high-security media production facilities.
Nexis with Avid Media Composer
Avid Unity ISIS (Nexis's predecessor) was originally pioneered to enable editors to collaborate on the same Media Composer project without overwriting each other's work. One integral feature of a Media Composer and Nexis system is Bin Locking, which automatically toggles a Media Composer bin to read only when a user opens it. Users can simultaneously open the very same bin on two different workstations, but the workstation that has opened that bin first will win the read/write privileges. The second user can read, but not save that bin to the Avid project. This eliminates accidental bin and thereby sequence overwrites.
Bin locking works by Media Composer writing a .lck file in the same location as the bin. When a Media Composer workstation reads a bin with an associated .lck file, the lock icon will turn red in the bin's ribbon. Likewise in the bin container window, the bin's name will have changed to bold, and the name of the workstation that has first opened that bin will be displayed. The user who won the read/write privileges will need to close the bin before another user will be able to write to it.
Avid offers an array of Media Composer packages: Media Composer First, Media Composer, Media Composer Ultimate, and Media Composer Enterprise. Nexis bin locking only works for workstations running Media Composer Ultimate, or Media Composer Enterprise. Users with a Media Composer license will be able to save media to the Nexis, but won't be able to lock a bin, thereby vulnerable to another user overwriting their sequence.
The bin-locking concept was first introduced by Avid and has since become a mandatory function of any professional editing application.
Other Nexis applications
Pro Tools audio systems within a post-production facility are often networked to a Nexis system as the facility is already using Nexis for their video editing suites. However, in an audio post environment, there is generally little need for multiple audio specialists to work on the same project simultaneously. Likewise, Pro Tools doesn't have a bin/sequence system; every piece of media is stored and edited in one mix window within a project. Hence, Pro Tools does not have an overwrite protection system like Media Composer.
Avid Nexis integrates with Avid MediaCentral's asset management capabilities. Through a unified interface, users can search, access, and organize media assets stored on Avid Nexis. This system is commonly employed in a newsroom or large broadcast environment where there is a lot of media to manage.
Competitors
There are a number of competing shared storage systems; some are simple NAS systems aimed at smaller productions, and other solutions have reversed-engineered Media Composer's bin locking system. Below is a list of some of these:
- EditShare EFS (EditShare Flow)
- Projective IO: Strawberry
- Quantum StorNext
- Studio Network Solutions (SNS)
- Apace Systems
History
- Avid Unity: The history of Avid NEXIS is closely tied to Avid's previous shared storage solutions, particularly the Avid Unity line of products. Avid Unity was one of the earlier shared storage systems that Avid introduced for media production. It allowed multiple users to access and work on the same media files simultaneously.
- Avid ISIS: Avid ISIS (Infinitely Scalable Intelligent Storage) was introduced as a successor to Avid Unity. It was designed to offer improved performance, scalability, and reliability for collaborative media workflows. Avid ISIS used a scalable architecture that allowed users to expand storage capacity as needed.
- Avid NEXIS: Avid NEXIS was introduced as the next generation of shared storage systems for media production. It aims to address the evolving needs of modern media workflows by offering enhanced scalability, flexibility, and performance. NEXIS is built on a software-defined storage architecture, which allows users to allocate storage resources according to their requirements.
Over the years, Avid continues to refine and develop the NEXIS platform with software updates and hardware enhancements. This includes improvements in performance, capacity, and connectivity options.
References
This article "Avid Nexis" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Avid Nexis. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.
