SUNNYVALE, CA--(Marketwire - February 3, 2010) - NetApp (
NASDAQ:
NTAP) announced today that
Weta Digital, a world leader in digital effects and animation, relied on
NetApp® storage for the production of the record-breaking film "Avatar."
"Avatar" was filmed with revolutionary new motion-capture techniques, which
generated more data than any other movie in history (more than the entire
Lord of the Rings trilogy combined), creating a new set of challenges never
before faced by the digital effects industry. The key data storage
challenge for Weta Digital during the production of "Avatar" was how to
efficiently manage the huge amounts of data generated and rendered during
production. They also needed to provide the artists with fast access to
that data when changes were made to the master texture files. (A texture
file is a picture of an object used in "Avatar," such as a leaf or a thread
of hair, which is wrapped around a 3D model during the rendering process.)
Because reliability and data management were of paramount importance, Weta
used its NetApp storage arrays to store all of the high-value,
artist-generated data. Weta had to deal with a large number of unique data
hosts, a read-heavy workload, and very high numbers of medium-sized files.
Weta worked with NetApp and Fujitsu New Zealand to develop a scalable
storage solution, which reduced the amount of manual data management
required in the process of rendering files and maximized the
price-to-performance ratio for its storage environment.
Together, NetApp and Weta devised a system that allowed Weta to
automatically balance the throughput requirements of the renderwall (the
computer system used for real-time rendering) to provide more than 35,000
rendering cores with the fastest possible access to frequently used texture
files. This solution was based on NetApp FlexCache® to maintain high-speed
access to the updated texture files to all users simultaneously. By taking
advantage of NetApp FlexCache systems, Weta Digital reduced manual data
movement and management by 95%, greatly reducing pressure on technical
staff and speeding production time.
"A traditional storage approach would have made it very difficult to manage
the workload required for 'Avatar,'" said Paul Ryan, CTO of Weta Digital.
"Having partnered with NetApp successfully for 10 years, we were delighted
they delivered an innovative, efficient storage environment that reduced
our data management overhead costs by 95% and increased our storage
price-to-performance ratio by over 40%. Most importantly, this led to
faster rendering time and more productive artists."
Weta's complete storage solution includes a NetApp FAS6000 series storage
system with four SA600 FlexCache cluster units running NetApp Data ONTAP®
and connected to 450GB Fibre Channel drives. This is supported by two 16GB
solid-state Performance Accelerator Modules in each system, which maximizes
read performance and allows more artists to access the same information
simultaneously without the need for more expensive disk. This system is
then linked to the renderwall via two 10 Gigabit Ethernet connections so
that processed artwork can be rendered and finalized immediately.
"Our relationship with Weta is an example of how NetApp continues to meet
the market's demand for solutions that address real business challenges and
enable business breakthroughs," said Patrick Rogers, vice president of
Solutions and Alliances at NetApp. "Our solutions are efficient, powerful,
and smarter, and they help our customers achieve exceptional storage
results while delivering end products that can be faster and cheaper."
Discuss this news in the NetApp Community, where you can exchange thoughts
and ideas on a variety of topics with our community members. Collaborate
with our company and engage in conversation with NetApp leaders and
employees, our customers, and our partners. Participate in our passion to
go further, faster. Join now at
www.netapp.com/us/communities.
For more information about NetApp FlexCache, visit
www.netapp.com/us/products/platform-os/flexcache/.
About NetApp
NetApp creates innovative storage and data management solutions that
accelerate business breakthroughs and deliver outstanding cost efficiency.
Discover NetApp's passion for helping companies around the world go
further, faster at
www.netapp.com.
NetApp, the NetApp logo, Go further, faster, Data ONTAP, and FlexCache are
trademarks or registered trademarks of NetApp, Inc. in the United States
and/or other countries. All other brands or products are trademarks or
registered trademarks of their respective holders and should be treated as
such. The word "partner" or partnership" does not imply a legal partnership
between NetApp and any other company.
Contact Information: Press Contact:
Nathan Phillips
NetApp
(408) 822-7284
nathan.phillips@netapp.com