The media and entertainment industry is experiencing explosive growth in digital storage needs, projected to reach 122 exabytes by 2025, up from 24 exabytes in 2019. This surge necessitates a reevaluation of storage and access methods, moving away from traditional tape libraries and on-premise systems. Sports leagues, corporations, and various content creators are adapting to new distribution channels and heightened viewer expectations for on-demand, high-resolution media.
The transition to cloud storage offers scalability and global accessibility, but introduces new considerations. Dave Simon, senior director of media and entertainment alliances at Backblaze, highlights the shift to “hybrid, cloud-native workflows,” emphasizing the move from fixed on-premise systems to agile, consumption-based cloud models. While cloud storage offers advantages, challenges include retrieval fees and unpredictable monthly bills. Global collaboration, increasingly important in remote and hybrid work environments, requires fast and secure access to shared assets. Furthermore, the rise of AI and machine learning necessitates massive datasets, making cloud storage attractive, but only with predictable costs, as Simon notes: “AI is consumption-based.”
The rapid pace of media workflows, demanding near-real-time updates, necessitates agility. Delays in accessing footage directly impact monetization opportunities. The initial rush to migrate data to major cloud platforms revealed unexpectedly high costs, particularly concerning "egress fees" for data retrieval. Additionally, lower-cost storage tiers may involve lengthy access times or extra charges. The logistical challenges of retrieving data from on-premise tape libraries, including vulnerabilities to physical damage and potential data loss, remain a concern. Simon cites a case of data loss due to a simple “air-conditioning leak”.
A hybrid approach, combining cloud storage for essential data and on-premise solutions for archives or specialized tasks, is gaining traction. This allows for a gradual migration without abandoning existing infrastructure. Simon observes that many organizations, after initial enthusiasm for the cloud, are reevaluating their strategies and finding a balance between on-premise and cloud solutions, concluding that “each environment…has pros and cons”. He also notes the trend of starting with cloud solutions for short-term projects and progressing to a deeper integration after a financial evaluation.
Backblaze, with its focus on predictable pricing and immediate data access ("hot storage"), aims to alleviate the friction associated with high retrieval charges and long wait times. Their commitment to an “open-cloud philosophy” allows for integration with various media asset management tools and cloud environments. The increasing significance of generative AI further underscores the need for cost-effective, scalable storage solutions, with Backblaze attracting interest from AI startups requiring petabyte-scale storage.
The current landscape of media storage is characterized by experimentation and a search for the optimal balance between cost, performance, and accessibility. Organizations are adopting hybrid or multi-cloud strategies, emphasizing the importance of partnerships and interoperability. Simon emphasizes the need for flexibility, stating that “cloud storage doesn’t have to be expensive or complicated” with strategic workflow planning. The ultimate goal is to avoid compromising creativity or content quality due to storage costs.