ATTO: total connectivity for audiovisual environments

ATTO Technology has been offering the industry's broadest portfolio of high-performance storage and network connectivity products for more than 25 years. Now, thanks to Thunderbolt 2 technology, ATTO devices achieve unprecedented performance, flexibility and simplicity. The new ATTO Thunderbolt 2 ThunderLink Desklink offers the video and broadcast professional accelerated access to external storage, representing the next wave in connectivity technology in professional environments.

In editing and post-production environments, connectivity is always a handicap. Even more so when high resolutions, 4K and higher, are making a strong splash in audiovisuals, demanding high transfer rates and storage capacities.

It is precisely in these critical environments where relying on reliable solutions makes the difference between a project becoming crazy or an agile and flexible workflow. And talking about reliability is talking about ATTO Technology. Headquartered in Amherst (New York), this North American company is a world leader in storage and infrastructure connectivity solutions for data-intensive applications. Its wide range of products allows you to store, manage and deliver data more efficiently.

Among its solutions most in demand by audiovisual professionals, the ATTO ThunderLink Desklink desktop devices stand out. Thanks to their proprietary technology, they allow computers and laptops with Thunderbolt ports to access external SAS/SATA storage, Fiber Channel SAN networks and Ethernet networks with performance levels previously unattainable through FireWire or USB connections.

ATTO ThunderLink Desklink devices have two 20Gb/s Thunderbolt 2 connections (with daisy chain support), and you can choose between 6Gb SAS/SATA, 8 or 16Gb Fiber Channel and 10Gb Ethernet networks.

But what has made these devices preferred by professional users? The answer is found in the advanced and reliable technology developed by ATTO over the last twenty-five years to provide computers with Thunderbolt ports with connectivity solutions with the highest performance.

ATTO ThunderLink Desklink desktop devices integrate with SAS/SATA drives, Fiber Channel SAN networks and 10 Gb Ethernet networks, offering high-performance storage and networking solutions in a small format. Additionally, ATTO's unique ADS technology provides the lowest latency and highest data transfer in digital content creation, post-production and audio/video editing environments, as well as database and data center applications.

Users who want to take advantage of the impressive performance of the latest generation of laptops and desktop computers like the new Mac Pro have ATTO technology as a perfect ally to get the most out of the latest multicore processors.

Thanks to Intel's high-performance 20 Gb/s Thunderbolt 2 technology, Mac, Windows and Linux users in markets such as digital content creation can now migrate to high-performance storage and network connectivity solutions capable of handling high transfers. Traditionally, these clients have been using GbE, USB, FireWire or eSATA connections, while now ATTO technology becomes the perfect interface to a world of full connectivity.

Video professionals, audio engineers and designers in need of extra bandwidth and workflows who work in video editing and post-production for television, film, advertising, corporate, educational... find in ATTO's leadership in storage and network connectivity a perfect ally in capture and ingest, guaranteeing connectivity at the highest performance to both laptop and desktop computers.

Additionally, ATTO solutions are easy to use, plug and play, with native software drivers for Mac, Windows and Linux and proven interoperability with leading hardware and software vendors.

Small but tough

ATTO ThunderLink small form factor desktop devices enable PCs and laptops with Thunderbolt ports to access external SAS/SATA storage, Fiber Channel SANs, and Ethernet networks with performance levels previously unattainable via connections such as FireWire or USB.

Additionally, ATTO's exclusive ADS technology provides the lowest latency and highest data transfer in critical editing and post-production environments.

The next generation of ThunderLink devices, featuring the latest revolutionary Intel Thunderbolt 2 technology, offer 20 Gb/s bandwidth, enabling reliable access to massive data-intensive applications such as 2K, 4K and 3D media edits, multi-layer uncompressed and real-time media edits, and HD footage.

ATTO's new Thunderbolt 2 products include one model for connecting to 16Gb SAN networks and two models for connecting to 10Gb Ethernet networks: ThunderLink FC 2162 (Thunderbolt 2 at 16Gb Fiber Channel), ThunderLink NS 2102 (Thunderbolt 2 at 10GbE in optical SFP+ LC configuration) and ThunderLink NT 2102 (Thunderbolt 2 at 10GBASE-T via RJ45 on copper).

Among these proposals, the new ThunderLink FC 2162 stands out, which allows computers and laptops with Thunderbolt 2 ports to be externally connected to a 16 Gb Fiber Channel SAN network. With a dual channel configuration, it offers two Thunderbolt 2 ports and two 16 Gb FC ports. It offers native software drivers for Mac OS X 10.9 or later and for Windows 7 and 8.

To ensure cross-compatibility, ATTO Thunderbolt 2 products support most operating systems, ports and controller options, allowing users to preserve their existing Thunderbolt investments and maintain compatibility with multiple platforms. Additionally, it is possible to cascade up to five Thunderbolt devices.

ATTO's versatility allows you to build storage platforms with high-performance SAS, SATA, Fiber Channel, or Ethernet infrastructures to meet the demands of rapidly evolving work environments.

With Thunderbolt 2, a door has been opened to unprecedented performance, flexibility and simplicity, and ATTO's ThunderLink Desklink devices are a good example of how far you can go in a connectivity environment based on this protocol.

SAS, LAN or SAN: ATTO has an answer

Whether you want to connect to external SAS storage, high-speed LANs or a SAN, ATTO offers the perfect solution. If you need to connect external SAS storage to a Thunderbolt-enabled laptop or computer, ATTO ThunderLink provides LTO SAS/SATA disk or tape storage connectivity to Thunderbolt-enabled devices.

If you need to access high-speed LAN networks (Local Area Networks), ATTO ThunderLink Ethernet 10 Gb devices are based on proven Intel technology and offer without a doubt the highest performance.

For those professionals who want to connect their Mac to a high-performance SAN, ATTO ThunderLink takes advantage of this company's position in the Apple audio and video and digital content creation markets, to offer the highest data transfer for 16 Gb SAN connectivity over fiber.

Trovideo y Viacom:

maximum performance with ATTO

ATTO devices have not only revolutionized the way in which a user relates to a small-scale shared storage network, but also large production companies, post-production companies and broadcasters have chosen their technology to ensure maximum reliability in large projects.

In Spain, Tangram Solutions has carried out, in collaboration as SM Data, as the only official wholesaler of ATTO Technology in the country for 19 years, two outstanding projects at the highest level.

One of them is found in the new facilities of the Extremaduran production company Trovideo, constituting one of the largest projects carried out in Europe with ATTO technology on an XSAN network.

Created in 1994, Trovideo has two offices where it offers a wide range of audiovisual services. The headquarters, of 1,200 m2 and located in Almendralejo, has a main building with 2 floors (offices and technical area) and another annex building with 2 television sets, of 300 and 150 m2 respectively. Recently, the Extremaduran production company has inaugurated a second headquarters located in the town of Villafranca de los Barros. In a 4,300 m2 audiovisual complex, between buildings, sets and exteriors dedicated to production.

The main set, 1,050 m2 and 11 m. high, it is a space technically prepared to host large-scale audiovisual productions.

In its post-production area, Trovideo opted for Apple's high-performance Storage Area Network, which allows all editing, composition and finishing positions to read and write to the storage volume at the same time. In this case, it has around twenty ports connected to fiber through ATTO Thunderbolt 8 Gb/s.

Javier Gil, technical manager of Trovideo, highlights that this production company "has the most recent technical means in the audiovisual technological panorama, we are talking about ENG and EFP equipment, for outdoor production, fully equipped sets with production control, video and audio post-production rooms, in short, technical means with broadcast quality and formats in SD, HD, Ultra HD, 2K and 4K, aimed at providing services to any branch of the audiovisual sector. As a differentiating element for many companies in the sector, Trovideo has had, since 2004, a fully equipped infrastructure, with systems that enable shared storage, cataloging and searching for data on the network, managed by several Apple

On the other hand, Viacom Spain (connecting its XSAN to all editing and graphics positions) or Chello Multicanal are also other good examples of what ATTO technology can achieve in a framework of extreme efficiency.

In the case of both Viacom and Trovideo, Tangram has installed an 8-port 8Gbit StoreData RAID DRAC SM Data storage with a capacity of 60 3TB disks in a single array (180TB in a single array) connected to a QLogic SANBOX 5802.

Victor Ceruelo, director of Tangram Solutions, has highlighted that "integrating ATTO has numerous advantages. On the one hand, it is the leading manufacturer, unique in this market, since the rest are OEMs of this multinational. On the other, its solutions stand out for their ease of integration, as well as for considerable cost savings since these devices incorporate fiber transceivers as standard."

For his part, Jordi Sabiol, general director of SM Data, emphasizes that "the StoreData RAID DRAC systems include a multipathing software driver for OSX, Windows or Linux certified by ATTO, through which redundant access to the array and therefore high availability is obtained, as well as an increase in performance by providing load balancing between the eight ports of the RAID system and the SAN clients. Therefore, the set of ATTO connectivity products and the StoreData RAID arrays DRAC are ideal in high-resolution post-production environments, but at a completely affordable cost.