Aspera, an IBM Company, Unveils Expanded On Demand Transfer Platform for Big Data

-- Aspera extends breakthrough high-speed transfer platform to transfer, sync and stream media in the cloud

AMSTERDAM, Sept. 10, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced at IBC 2014 that Aspera, an IBM company and creator of technologies that move the world's data at maximum speed, has expanded its unique software platform for moving Big Data and media with new capabilities that allow media enterprises to efficiently transfer, synchronize and stream content of any type, resolution and size across distributed cloud and on premises systems, even at global distances.

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The evolving digital media ecosystem is undergoing rapid innovation and change with the explosive growth in size and volume of digital content, the proliferation of multiple video formats, and the insatiable appetite of audiences to consume more media, more quickly on more devices. As a result, media companies are struggling to scale their systems to handle the ever-growing complexity of global production workflows and are ultimately unable to optimally monetize their content. The cloud, with virtually unlimited computing and storage resources, has emerged as a viable alternative to fixed-capacity data centers, but the challenge of moving Big Data into and out of the cloud quickly and effectively prevented these organizations from fully realizing their potential.

With the introduction of Aspera On Demand, Aspera addressed this fundamental problem by enabling high-speed transfers of large media to, from and across cloud infrastructures, directly to cloud storage. At this year's IBC show, Aspera will debut the latest Aspera On Demand Platform built on FASP 3.5 technology. Any content can now seamlessly move across distributed cloud and on premises systems while meeting fluctuating demands in real time with speed, control and ease.

Customers such as Viki, PERFORM and WDR mediagroup have already demonstrated how the transfer platform can help dramatically scale their business by powering both on premise and cloud deployments with options to automatically shift workflows to cloud environments to increase capacity on demand as needed.

New products and technologies announced at IBC 2014 include:

• Aspera On Demand Platform with FASP 3.5 – The latest version of Aspera's industry-leading high-speed transfer solution supports the transfer and synchronization of the largest ultra HD files or millions of small files direct to cloud storage and seamlessly integrates with every major cloud storage provider.
• Auto-scaling Transfer Platform – Building on the direct-to-cloud storage transfer capabilities, the Auto-scaling Transfer Platform automatically scales and expands transfer capacity of Aspera server software in the cloud, providing media companies the ability to expand capacity as needed and leverage the most cost-effective infrastructure. Companies can control and predict content ingest, delivery and distribution times, regardless of media volumes, infrastructure distance or network quality.
• Aspera ScaleDB – All transfer performance statics are captured by a new scale out data store for distributed, high throughput collection, aggregation and reporting that provides key metrics on usage patterns, transfer performance and service levels.
• FASPStream APIs – FASPStream APIs allow media applications to transport live video and data feeds over global Internet WANs in real time with predictable speeds, enabling live and near live production on remote cloud systems, such as scale out video processing, transcoding and distribution.  At IBC, Aspera, EVS and Elemental will announce and demonstrate an integrated platform that utilizes these technologies for high quality live and near live streaming for sports.
• Aspera Drive (now on OSX) and Aspera Drive for Mobile – Designed for content producers, creative teams and other end users of the Aspera Transfer Platform, Aspera Drive for Mobile and OSX allow them to remotely browse, drag-and-drop transfer, sync and exchange person-to-person rich media content and files. Unlike similar applications and services, Aspera Drive supports content sharing of any size from any remote cloud storage directly in the desktop or mobile device at speeds many times faster and with greater reliability. 
• Aspera faspex and Shares –These newly released versions of Aspera faspex and Shares apps power the file-sharing ecosystem on the backend. Enterprises can control user access, authentication and sharing privileges, while end users enjoy the easy, ultra fast and versatile experience of Aspera Drive.
• Aspera Orchestrator – New plug-ins have been added to the library of over 50 third-party applications that can be invoked within an Aspera Orchestrator workflow, including support for ADI.XML Cablelabs verification, DPP format validation, ISM and M3u8 verification, thePlatform media management, Vidchecker verification, MediaInfo and SNMP monitoring. New inline file validation capabilities added to Aspera server and client software verify incoming media and metadata formats against ADI and DPP standards in the most innovative broadcast, file-based VoD distribution and post-production workflows.
• Aspera App for Microsoft SharePoint – The Aspera App for Microsoft SharePoint seamlessly enables users of the SharePoint document library to transfer any size files and directories quickly and at full available bandwidth regardless of distance. It automatically allows SharePoint content repositories to scale to unlimited sizes with built-in transfer to any cloud or on premises storage.

"Consumers are watching media and streaming videos at unprecedented rates while pushing the limits of content providers' abilities to meet these rising expectations," said Michelle Munson, President and CEO, Aspera. "By utilizing the power of cloud to its fullest and speeding the movement of Big Data and media files, Aspera is helping media companies serve consumer needs today while allowing them to open the door to new and innovative services in the future."

To learn more about these new solutions, please visit Aspera at IBC 2014 in Hall 7 G30 for a demonstration.

About Aspera
Aspera, an IBM company, is the creator of next-generation transport technologies that move the world's data at maximum speed regardless of file size, transfer distance and network conditions. Based on its patented, Emmy® award-winning FASP™ protocol, Aspera software fully utilizes existing infrastructures to deliver the fastest, most predictable file-transfer experience. Aspera's core technology delivers unprecedented control over bandwidth, complete security and uncompromising reliability. Organizations across a variety of industries on six continents rely on Aspera software for the business-critical transport of their digital assets. Please visit http://www.asperasoft.com and follow us on Twitter @asperasoft for more information.

Contact information:
Sean Audet
IBM Media Relations
spaudet@us.ibm.com 
+1-781-665-5213