AlphaTV needed to store huge amounts of television programming content while shrinking their storage footprint, creating efficient backups and reducing storage management costs.

1. IBM Systems and Technology Media & Entertainment
Case Study
AlphaTV changes
channels to digitized
content
with cost-efficient, space-saving IBM Linear Tape File
System and IBM LTO-5 technology
AlphaTV, a television station headquartered near Athens, Greece, has
been transmitting news and entertainment programming to millions of
Overview
viewers throughout the country since 1996. This translates to more than
The need 15 years’ worth of programming archives—from daily soap operas, to
AlphaTV needed to store huge amounts
movies, to documentaries. Not surprisingly, storage is an issue. The
of television programming content while
shrinking their storage footprint, creating archives were originally backed up on Betacam SP devices, and then
efficient backups and reducing storage moved to the DVCPRO Format over the past decade. But as AlphaTV
management costs. realized they needed a more efficient, cost-effective and robust storage
The solution solution to manage their vast programming library, they turned to
AlphaTV deployed the IBM Linear Tape IBM Storage for help.
File System™, IBM Linear Tape-Open
Ultrium 5 (LTO-5) tape drives and
IBM System Storage® TS3200 Tape Controlling the rise of storage costs
Library Express to handle their television Spurred by the economic troubles of their country, the station was look-
programming archive. ing for ways to save money. Constantinos Colombus, chief technology
The benefit officer at AlphaTV, says, “As Greece is now in a deep financial crisis, we
The IBM storage solution enabled had to consider economies of scale, and at the same time, consider that it
efficient, scalable, cost-effective archiving would be quite expensive to maintain all of the video tape recorders that
and backups with a small learning curve,
were needed to play back the tapes. We were also spending a lot on pro
a minimal footprint and improved
management capabilities. video tapes, which will soon be obsolete.” John Argiropoulos, head of the
film library at AlphaTV, adds, “I believe the situation in Greece pushed
us to find a new, more economical solution.”
When Colombus began comparison shopping for storage solutions that
would allow them to eliminate the expensive DVCPRO tapes, he says,
“I had to do the calculations for the IBM solution twice, because I could
not believe that the amount of savings could be true.”
But it was true. Since upgrading their storage system to IBM Linear Tape
File System and IBM Linear Tape-Open Ultrium 5 (LTO-5) tape drives,
AlphaTV can now store three times the number of Greek television series
for €60-70 (USD$79-92), versus €9,000 (USD$11,811) for one series on
DVCPRO.

2. IBM Systems and Technology Media & Entertainment
Case Study
Maintenance costs are also lower, as Colombus explains: “The cost to
maintain the 140 square meter (1,507 square foot) archive for the
“I had to do the old-fashioned tape was €30,000 (USD$39,369), and the new cost,
calculations for the for the smaller storage space required, can be lowered to just
€7,000 (USD$9,186).”
IBM solution twice,
because I could not Shrinking the storage footprint
believe that the amount Managing such a large programming archive has been an ongoing chal-
lenge for AlphaTV. After the station moved their programming archives
of savings could be true.” to DVCPRO, an improvement over the previous Beta SP format—one
Beta SP tape held 90 minutes of programming, while the DVCPRO
—Constantinos Colombus,
chief technology officer, AlphaTV
tapes held 120 minutes each—the station realized their programming
archives were still growing out of control.
Since upgrading their storage system to the Linear Tape File System and
LTO-5 tape drives, AlphaTV has seen huge space savings in their storage
library. One LTO-5 tape holds 200 times that of the DVCPRO. To give a
more concrete example, Argiropoulos says, “A Greek TV series stored on
100 DVCPRO tapes took up four shelves in our library; whereas one
LTO-5 cartridge now takes up the space of a pack of cigarettes.” The
Linear Tape File System is also expected to not only provide space sav-
ings, but to have fewer purchase requirements for cartridges, therefore
less expense required.
Colombus says, “We have been using 140 square meters (1,507 square
feet) to store the thousands of tapes that we have; using the IBM solution,
we are going to realize huge space savings—we will need just 36 square
meters (388 square feet).”
Panos Seremetis, playout supervisor at AlphaTV, says, “Before, we had to
control a large amount of DVCPRO tapes. Now, with the Linear Tape
File System, we use video servers. It’s much better, because we no longer
have to deal with videotapes—now we deal with data.” This is critical to
the playout department of the station, which is responsible for transmit-
ting all the television programs.
Adding up the benefits
When AlphaTV secured a deal to sell some of their program rights and
content to another television channel in 2010, they began the process
of digitizing and copying the content. This timing coincided with the
IBM storage upgrade, and the Linear Tape File System made the process
so much easier. Colombus says, “Linear Tape File System enabled us to
just copy and paste our files to the LTO-5 tape, rather than using any
proprietary software to do it.”
2

3. IBM Systems and Technology Media & Entertainment
Case Study
The new storage system was not difficult for the station’s employees to
learn. “The IBM storage system lets us manipulate the data by dragging
Solution components
and dropping, and it is much simpler and faster. It makes my job a lot
Software easier,” Seremetis says. “In just a few minutes, we have access to all of the
• IBM Linear Tape File System™
data that has been stored, and we can store more new data due to more
Hardware free space on our video servers.”
• IBM Linear Tape-Open Ultrium 5
(LTO-5) tape drives
File-sharing is faster, too. Argiropoulos says, “Now it is very easy for us
• IBM System Storage® TS3200
Tape Library Express to share programs with anyone who wants to use or view them. To copy
and send them electronically, it takes two minutes or less.”
The Linear Tape File System has also enabled a disaster recovery plan for
the station, which simply didn’t have one before.
Modernizing technology
Going forward, all of the station’s content—from movies, to television
series, to news—will be stored on the IBM LTO tape technology with
the Linear Tape File System.
Colombus says, “Technology is very important, as it has totally revolu-
tionized the way that we produce our content. We have been heavily reli-
ant on modern ways of editing content. After moving to the IBM storage
solution, we are finally modern in the way we store content, as well.”
Moving to the IBM storage system has opened up a world of new
possibilities—the station has already added the IBM System Storage®
TS3200 Tape Library Express. As Colombus puts it, “For the future,
we plan to invest the money that we currently save on tapes on new LTO
drives and new libraries. Plus, IBM LTO-6 technology will probably be
available in 2013—so we have invested in a technology that will not let
us down, one that can grow with us.”
For more information
For more information on these and other IBM storage solutions,
contact your IBM representative or IBM Business Partner, or visit us at:
ibm.com/storage/tape
For more information about AlphaTV, visit: alphatv.gr/Home.aspx
Additionally, IBM Global Financing can help you acquire the IT solu-
tions that your business needs in the most cost-effective and strategic way
possible. We’ll partner with credit-qualified clients to customize an
IT financing solution to suit your business goals, enable effective cash
management, and improve your total cost of ownership. IBM Global
Financing is your smartest choice to fund critical IT investments
and propel your business forward. For more information, visit:
ibm.com/financing
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4. © Copyright IBM Corporation 2012
IBM Corporation
Systems and Technology Group
Route 100
Somers, New York 10589
Produced in the United States of America
May 2012
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