The specification and construction of a mass storage system for A/V archives is a major undertaking, but several archives have already done so. There are as many as options for the investment in this system as there are in any major IT investment, and as in many such projects a key investment, should you decide to execute the project internally, will be in your personnel and skills base.

You will also need to decide upon the architecture of your system; this may be prescribed for you due to your existing IT infrastructure, or by the existing broadcast asset management systems you will need to interface with, but there will probably be a degree of flexibility available whatever these may be. These are all issues which you can bring in help to deal with. There are storage consultancies and systems integrators with great experience in this field who may be invaluable in helping you build your storage system, as they have in other archives.

Select one of the following aspects of mass storage systems to explore the relevant options in each area or to review some relevant companies and organisations