Video Systems in an It Environment: The Basics of Professional Networked Media and File-Based Workflows

As a professional who serves the broadcast, IT, and mobile content distribution business, I was already a fan of the first edition of this book, and purchased several copies for my staff and colleagues since its first printing. With the rapid changes in the IT business including storage and networking, this updated (2nd) edition has fresh content that's current with the state of the art in digital media networks. This second edition is typeset a little tighter than the first edition, which cuts out some pages and weight without sacrificing content. In fact, there's even more content in this new edition -- just more efficiently placed for easier reading. Either way, this is a hefty volume packed with hundreds of detailed illustrations and lots of examples. When it comes to understanding principles of modern networked media for video and audio, this Focal Press work deserves a prominent place in any serious video or IT engineer's reference library. Although this book is oriented towards the professional media or broadcast systems engineer (as opposed to a video consumer building a home media network), the author does a nice job of weaving together the essentials of networked media from "A to Z" including a handy glossary of terms for those of us who can't keep our acronyms straight. I've known the author, Al Kovalick, who's a well regarded figure in the broadcast community. His breadth of knowledge is evident throughout each chapter, yet he writes in a witty, practical style that's both educational and fun to read (including some pretty subtle humor that will make an engineer chuckle). Without sacrificing depth, this book takes a complex technical subject and brings it down to earth, making it suitable even for less technical (but motivated) readers. Bottom line, this book is for you if you're seeking a solid overview of key engineering considerations when designing or recommending networked video architectures, including networking fundamentals, virus and firewall protection, video servers, NSPOF (no single point of failure) storage design including RAID and RAIN methods, as well as other innovative architectures. Several real-world case studies complement the teaching benefits including specific examples by leading-edge media companies and broadcasters. Chapter Highlights: Networked Media in an IT Environment The Fundamentals of Professional Networked Media Storage System Basics Storage Access Methods Software Technology for AV Systems Reliability and Scalability Methods Networking Basics for AV Media Systems Integration Security for Networked AV Systems Systems Management and Monitoring The Transition to IT: Issues and Case Studies A Review of AV Basics