SRG - tpc ag Switzerland deploys DataMiner at new all-IP broadcast facility

DataMiner is in charge of the end-to-end umbrella management of the entire media data center, from ingest to media asset management and master control room up to the playout. Based on an SMPTE ST-2110 infrastructure, plenty of new complex IP-centric technical and operational workflows came into play that all need to be managed. DataMiner looks after the full stack, which includes infrastructure, virtual machines, operating systems and media software applications. As such, the platform provides a 360° visibility on each individual service but also understands how the individual layers in the stack work together to deliver the media service and ensures optimal operational effectiveness and efficiency.

In subsequent phases, all existing monitoring solutions at SRG SSR, of which TPC is a subsidiary, will be migrated towards DataMiner to streamline processes and workflows in order to ensure operational continuity across all SRG locations. The fact that DataMiner proactively monitors all the components enables operators to identify threats or risks before customers get impacted. DataMiner will also interface with the SRG OSS layer, for example with the existing ticketing system, and will connect all departments in all SRG locations across Switzerland with a single unified DataMiner platform.

“We’re very excited to be part of TPC’s ambitious project, which is really right up our alley,” commented Bart Reynaert, Sales Manager at Skyline Communications. “The first step is to monitor all new systems in the new technical center and to integrate already existing systems to be visible. All the different levels of information will be aggregated in order to be displayed on the monitor wall. In other words, DataMiner allows operators to intuitively manage and control any device, software function or media service from a single pane of glass.”

“We will also deliver our highly innovative and awarded DataMiner Service and Resource Manager (SRM) suite,” Bart Reynaert continued. “This state-of-the-art solution will be used to monitor services dynamically, end to end, cutting straight across all vendor and technology boundaries. In order to do so, DataMiner tightly integrates any product from any vendor, either interfacing directly with those products or alternatively via domain or vendor-specific controllers, such as the BFE broadcast controller and the Nevion VideoiPath software. DataMiner receives event information from the broadcast controller and exchanges media flow information with the other controllers in the system. Combining all of this with the vast amount of additional metrics collected from the underlying physical and virtual infrastructure, such as PTP information, DataMiner creates rich and dynamically updated visuals of all services, their performance and availability metrics, and their flow through the infrastructure. As such, Skyline’s DataMiner is truly unique because the system integrates with literally any product from any vendor, including open specifications like NMOS IS-04 & IS-05, which is crucial for TPC as this gives full freedom to go for a best-of-breed solution. With the end-to-end DataMiner platform, the technical center in Zurich will be able to tackle the challenges that accompany the move from SDI to IP.”

“That is indeed one of the key strategic reasons we decided to go for DataMiner,” explained Andreas Lattmann, CTO at TPC Switzerland. “We are aiming for a true future-proof, full-IP SMPTE ST-2110 UHD/HDR-ready system with open standards so that we are entirely free to select only the best-of-breed components, today and any time in the future. Another huge factor in this decision was the previous successful partnership with Skyline for our new all-IP UHD OB truck. And in general, whereas in the past end-to-end management might have been considered as a nice-to-have, today it is simply an absolute must to be able to deal with the complexity and volatility of an all-IP and highly virtualized media operation.”