It’s been a little while since we’ve done a deeper dive blog focusing on our partner EditShare, which is perhaps unfair considering the updates and product releases they have put out over the last 9 months or so. We want to dig into the new Ultimate line of hardware and the startling value proposition it makes, as well as the significant updates in EditShare’s Flow software released in the last weeks with version 25.1.
EditShare EFS Ultimate Servers – Good, Fast and Cheap?
Online and nearline storage is the bedrock of post production facilities, it doesn’t have to be flashy (unless you’re dealing with DPX files) and novel features are very rarely going to sway a purchasing decision. What does make a storage platform appeal is where it plots on the venn diagram of performance, reliability and price.
The received wisdom here is that you can’t have all 3. I can buy a COTS NAS and have a perfectly good system that’s cheap and reliable but not fast, fine for nearline. If I load up that COTS NAS box with NVMe drives, as many people have, I have fast and cheap but a support desk that is not used to media workflow or the performance and reliability that comes with a media-centric filesystem. I could opt for a reliable and fast system from a media specific manufacturer and pay a reassuringly expensive bill for speed and reliability
Since the release of EditShare’s EFS filesystem in 2014 EditShare has been well in the camp of systems you can consider very reliable and performant. On price their storage hardware has always tracked consistently with the market competition, with a consensus in the industry that you must pay for the speed and reliability that you need to underpin your business.
Now with the release of the Ultimate range of storage appliances, which are being offered alongside their enterprise range based on HPE hardware, EditShare are significantly reducing the cost of entry to running an EFS filesystem.
The cost reduction does not carry a tax on performance or flexibility; Ultimate replicates the range of capacity and form factor variants and bandwidth metrics are a slight improvement on the HPE models.
EditShare Ultimate EFS
For Ultimate, the underlying hardware changes from HPe to an OEM hardware platform. EditShare are reluctant to talk about who the OEM is, but it doesn’t take a keen eye to note the similarity to the last pre-HP models and we’re sure they will be as robust as that venerable range was. Where you do make a sacrifice is in the loss of the HPE worldwide support infrastructure, but with a significant UK base and well-established engineering knowledge both in EditShare UK and partners like Tyrell, that’s not going to change the user experience for 90% of users.
Most startling though is price and this is the piece that boots the EFS ultimate range close to the intersection of our venn diagram. Taking a typical entry level system of a single 96TB server, the Ultimate range represents 40% savings on the HPe hardware EFS alternative. The Ultimate series represents a game changing price point.
EditShare release EFS 25.1 – The extra value
As we mentioned, before the bombshell of the Ultimate series, EditShare EFS platforms tracked closely in price to competitive systems. Where EditShare has had a very successful edge in the market is on the software ‘value add’ represented by the FLOW suite of production and media asset management tools that comes bundled in with their storage hardware.
Most readers will be aware of FLOW at some level, so we’ll stop short of a full ‘what is FLOW’ section. However, with the release of version 25.1 bringing in the new unified interface of ‘EditShare One’, alongside remote workflows via Swift Link it’s clear that the whole FLOW and EFS ecosystem is becoming increasingly coherent and powerful. The applications for FLOW and EFS are wide ranging and it’s unlikely that any user would find themselves utilising the whole suite, equally there will be very few facilities out there that don’t have a use case for at least one of its features, so it’s worth a quick review;
Proxy viewing and logging via Organize.
View and play back media directly within the interface. Add or update metadata for better asset tracking and searchability. Customise panels and views to match specific workflows (e.g., logging vs. managing).
- Updates with 25.1 – New flexible layouts in the Organize module make media navigation easier than ever. Users can customise their workspace, drag multiple assets with ease, and benefit from the new Manage Viewpoint, giving simultaneous visibility into media spaces and projects. Enhanced search tools and smarter navigation features eliminate unnecessary clicks and duplicated searches.
EFS filesystem (Remote workflows with EFS Swift Link)
Swift Link is a new set of features including VPN, file system updates and a bandwidth monitoring algorithm that, together allow remote users to securely connect and work on proxy/offline material as if they were on premise. Updates to the EFS filesystem have also improved on-premise throughput at higher bandwidths and better management of small file workflows.
- Updates with 25.1 – The EditShare OS has been optimised for better hardware support, increased throughput, and improved hybrid environment compatibility, all unsurprising now that EFS sits across 2 hardware variants. A new installer speeds up system reimages, while the clean UI keeps everything sleek and intuitive.
Automated ingest, transcode and processing with FLOW Automation.
FLOW automation is a node-based workflow management tool that is perfect for taking repetitive tasks such as metadata tagging (AI or manual), transcoding camera rushes or indeed anything that can be governed by a logical flow.
- Updates with 25.1 – Users can now trigger workflows directly from EditShare One. You can scan assets, launch automations, and manage templates — all from a simplified, centralised interface. Batch uploads now support advanced metadata tagging and even proxy generation on the fly, while real-time upload tracking keeps your team in sync.
File auditing and compliance with Guardian (RAM upgrade needed for this one)
Data auditing and compliance is key to meeting MPA requirements adopted by our favourite OTT platforms. EditShare Guardian helps production companies meet streaming platform requirements by providing powerful, real-time auditing and monitoring across the entire media workflow. Who accessed what and when from where? Who deleted that lost cut? Guardian delivers all the events and metrics you need across your filesystem.
- Updates with 25.1 – The Guardian monitoring system has moved away from an Elastic/Kibana backend, now features faster dashboards built on OpenSearch, smarter event filtering, exportable reports, and cleaner audit logs — all while staying resilient through server changes.
Value stacked on value
As with the HPE range of EditShare servers, the new Ultimate range has these software features bundled in. Making Ultimate a staggeringly good value proposition by including the software features that have made EditShare an industry favourite on a significantly lower cost platform.
Get in touch
If you are interested in learning more about EditShare’s Ultimate range of storage servers and want to understand how this new generation can integrate with existing EditShare estates or anything EditShare related then get in touch with the EditShare experts at Tyrell.
Email: sales@tyrellcct.com
Tel: +44 (0) 207 148 6201 or +353 (1) 888 1118
Written by Greg Abell
