OpenDrives Shows Cloud-Native Astraeus On-Premises Data Solutions

Introduction to OpenDrives’ Astraeus: A Cloud-Native Data Service Platform

Professional media and entertainment workflows require high-bandwidth and low-latency storage to support rendering, transcoding, and other applications. Many companies provide various types of storage for this industry, and cloud storage has been widely adopted. However, cloud applications and storage can be expensive, leading many media and entertainment (M&E) facilities to use a combination of on-premises and cloud storage. Bridging the gap between cloud and on-premises storage can be challenging, but OpenDrives claims to have a solution with their new Astraeus platform.

What is Astraeus?

Astraeus is a cloud-native data services platform that enables IT departments within enterprise organizations to configure, store, orchestrate, manage, secure, and deploy mission-critical applications dynamically on-premises, in the cloud, or in hybrid environments. According to OpenDrives, Astraeus drives operational efficiencies and cost savings over cloud-dependent workflows and data environments by controlling data fragmentation and sprawl. The platform is built on cloud-native principles with a Kubernetes-based architecture and cluster-first design, creating a cloud-like experience.

Benefits of Astraeus

During a recent event at OpenDrives’ headquarters, several industry professionals shared horror stories about the dangers of cloud-first or cloud-only video production environments, where cloud applications were not stopped after active use, resulting in large expenses. Having data only in the cloud can also create a data silo, making it hard and expensive to use the data elsewhere. OpenDrives’ approach with Astraeus is different from current cloud and on-premises or even multi-cloud data environments. The company’s CEO, Sean Lee, emphasizes that outcome-based data services are the right approach, allowing IT departments to deploy cloud workflows locally while managing disparate data storage from a unified namespace that can scale out when needed, including bursting to the cloud.

How Astraeus Works

Astraeus is designed to work seamlessly with OpenDrives’ data storage and management platform, allowing customers to choose the storage that meets their workload needs. The Atlas data storage and management platform provides network-attached storage (NAS) with high-bandwidth and low-latency performance that meets media workflow needs. The Atlas Cloud Plus services extend this performance into the public cloud. A demonstration at the event showed how Astraeus can work with a single GPU on an older Lenovo P620 computer with three Optane NVMe storage nodes in the network, delivering good performance characteristics for a media workload.

Cost Advantages

A slide presented at the event highlighted the cost advantages of Astraeus with a GPU approach compared to using AWS. The Astraeus approach offers a predictable GPU node cost of about $1,312 per month or $0.030 per minute, providing a full month of GPU use. In contrast, the equivalent cost on AWS would only provide about 6 hours of HEVC transcoding. This significant cost savings can be a major advantage for M&E facilities looking to optimize their storage and workflow costs.

Conclusion

OpenDrives’ Astraeus cloud-native data service platform offers a promising solution for M&E facilities looking to bridge the gap between cloud and on-premises storage. With its Kubernetes-based architecture and cluster-first design, Astraeus provides a cloud-like experience while controlling data fragmentation and sprawl. By offering a predictable and cost-effective solution, OpenDrives is poised to make a significant impact in the media and entertainment industry.