Ross, Cisco Demo Virtualized News Production

Today, Ross Video and Cisco announced the availability of a joint whitepaper, Newsroom in a Box … in a Data Center, which showcases a virtualized news production proof-of-concept (PoC) that the companies produced together.

According to the companies, the PoC successfully demonstrated how a workload that is formally defined in human-readable text files can be transformed into both a Cisco Cloud Center GUI for control, monitoring and life-cycle management; and a Ross news production workflow comprising OverDrive (automation), XPression (graphics), Inception (news authoring) and Streamline (MAM).

The end result, the companies said, “was 14 rack units of Ross gear virtualized into 2 rack units of Cisco’s Unified Computing System (UCS) with a workflow that looked and behaved exactly like a non-virtualized newsroom production system.” The key highlights from this whitepaper will be presented in a jointly hosted webinar on Nov. 16 at 11 a.m. ET.

“The promise of virtualization including increased equipment utilization, flexibility, and resilience is undeniable,” said John Naylor, technology strategist, Ross Video. “Our virtualized newsroom PoC with Cisco highlights that a dual technology solution where data center technology combines with SDI infrastructure is the next practical step for most broadcast operations today.”

 “Our work with Ross Video to produce and present a cloud-based newsroom workload demonstrates our commitment to driving innovation in this industry,” said Roger Sherwood, director of business development, service provider business, Cisco. “Despite the challenges involved with virtualizing live video production, we are demonstrating that the cloud is well-suited to manage primary and secondary broadcast distribution today.”

Ross Video participates in the Cisco Solution Partner Program.