MUMBAI: Isilon Systems which works in the area of clustered storage has announced that US media conglomerate NBC Universal will use Isilon IQ to archive and access growing stores of media programming including entertainment TV and production, movies, news, and sports.

Under the multi-year agreement with Isilon, NBC Universal plans to deploy multiple Petabytes of Isilon IQ clustered storage in its main production and broadcast operations to maximize the value of their media assets across NBC Universal‘s media properties. Isilon also announced that NBC is deploying Isilon IQ to facilitate its coverage of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.

NBC Universal director, storage solutions, global operations David Evans says, "With the rapid move to digital media and broadband connections, the broadcast industry has forever changed. This shift in the broadcast paradigm -- multiple distribution channels, formats, and consumption models -- has resulted in massive increases in the amount and importance of archived media.

" It is not enough to simply store this content; it must also be always on-line and instantly accessible. Isilon IQ is uniquely architected to address the business needs of NBC Universal, enabling us to transform our digital media assets into new breakthroughs in the creation, management and delivery of high-quality programming."

Isilon says that it is being deployed to complement and, in some cases, replace traditional tape based technology which allows for faster access times and increased reliability. With major deployments of Isilon IQ, NBC Universal‘s multiple broadcast and production units now have instant access to the vast libraries of media programming regardless of physical location, enabling NBC Universal to enhance live broadcasts or create new breakthroughs in the delivery of programming through NBC Universal‘s multiple media distribution networks.

Next year in Beijing, NBC is primed to deliver the first-ever television broadcast of the Olympic Games availablen completely in High Definition. Following NBC‘s successful use of Isilon IQ for the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens and the 2006 Olympic Winter Games in Torino, NBC is storing the majority of the 2008 Beijing Games proxy and broadband content on Isilon clustered storage, providing NBC producers with access to critical content for rapid review, identification and selection operations necessary to quickly produce and deliver coverage of Beijing Olympics in the US.