x10studio with QNAP 10GbE NAS solution
x10studio
QNAP NAS allowed x10studio to accelerate CG production workflows and provided more time for trial-and-error processes, greatly improving the production quality.
“For us CG creators, stress-free IT environments lead directly to the quality of work. QNAP NAS is reassuring and provides us a stable IT environment.”
– Atsushi Matsumoto, CEO of x10studio
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Background
x10studio is a Japanese video production company, founded in 2012 by staff who previously worked at leading post-production companies. x10studio produces TV advertisements, corporate videos, game cinematics, VR content, and has established a reputation for high-quality CG production, live-action compositing, and high-level VFX technology.
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Challenges
There were no system engineers among x10studio’s founders, and many of them lacked IT expertise. In the studio Atsushi previously worked for, multiple bespoke NAS systems were used for specialized purposes (such as storing CG shot data and simulation data). However, in that operation, the studio faced several difficulties – unsmooth settings transfer and little documentation was available, not to mention that tailor-made IT solutions can be difficult even for IT professionals to manage. The need for a better solution occurred to them when they discovered that data was lost in the middle of a project due to backup failure. When Atsushi founded x10studio, he sought a highly scalable storage system that would have fewer system failures and problems even if the amount of data and staff members increased in the future.
Solution
The 10GbE TS-1279U-RP NAS was chosen based on its easy installation, setup, great performance, price and flexible configuration. After several years of staff and data increase, x10studio acquired a TS-253 Pro and TVS-1672XU-RP with two 10GbE expansion cards and connected to 10GbE network switches.
Results
x10studio can now focus on their business requirements without worrying about data management and security issues. By using the file sync app Qsync, data can be synced between studio-based staff and remote workers to ensure work efficiency. When projects must be outsourced, Atsushi uploads a tutorial video on operations and simply generates a share link for updating documentation. This method is especially useful when sharing confidential projects that cannot be uploaded to cloud services. x10studio has peace of mind knowing that their QNAP NAS supports the snapshot function – where data can be restored even if it is accidentally modified or deleted – to protect projects from delays caused by data loss. When initially starting up, they saved on their initial investment by installing the minimum number of hard drives, as QNAP NAS offers flexible and scalable RAID configuration. NAS setup can be performed by non-IT professionals, with them able to set up a NAS themselves during an instance where they needed to quickly purchase an additional NAS due to large amount of simulation data resulting in decreased rendering speeds.
