IT as a Service Model Future Proofs Arc Productions’ Network

CASE STUDY

Arc Productions

Industry: Media & Entertainment

Stats: 250+ artists/technical directors

Location: Toronto, Canada

Website: arcproductions.com

Background

Arc Productions is one of the longest running successful CG animation and

visual effects companies in Canada with a well-earned global reputation

for quality, efficiency and reliability. With over 250 artists and technical

directors, Arc Productions brings the vision of both major Hollywood studios

and independent producers to life in a wide array of formats including

theatrical features, television, DVDs, shorts, and game cinematics.

The Arc Productions Systems and Infrastructure team had run out of expansion

space on their core network and were in the market for new technology that

would increase the capacity of the system.

Procuring the network in 60 day windows

Animation projects place excessive demand on the network. The process of

rendering models into 2D and 3D animations requires a high-bandwidth, stable

infrastructure. Terry Dale, Vice President of Systems and Infrastructure at

Arc Productions, understood that any

investment in a brand new network

infrastructure would require a large

capital outlay. Not only this, Arc

Productions would need to place its

bets and hope the technology they

selected would serve them over the

years to come.

S c a l a r D e c i s i o n s I n c .

CASE STUDY: ARC PRODUCTIONS

“We started to

discuss ways to

increase the capacity

of the networking

system without having

to replace the entire

core, reworking

everything.”

Objectives

• Increase capacity of the core network

• Future proof the network

Solution

• Brocade Network Subscription

• 2 VDX 6740 port-switches

Results

• Access to new networking technology while avoiding large capital expense

• Ability to easily scale up and down as network demands change

“We started to discuss ways to

increase the capacity of the

networking system without

having to replace the entire core,

reworking everything,” said Dale.

The Scalar team introduced the

idea of procuring the network

as a subscription service rather

than incurring the large capital

expenditure necessary to upgrade

their aging technology. “IT as a

service allows Arc to consume the networking on an as-needed basis, adding

and decreasing capacity as requirements change,” said John Morch, Account

Executive at Scalar Decisions. “The real win is that it future proofs their

technology – rather than running the networking gear for 6 years, they can

now think of it in 60 day windows.”

Solution

Brocade Network Subscription

“The thing that has impressed me about Scalar is their willingness to come

to the table and learn. They do not come at us with products, instead they

listen to our problems and work with us to come up with solutions,” said

Dale. “For a small outlay, we are into the new technology and have sped up

our central core.”

Arc Productions selected two Brocade 48-port switches, which are connected

together and trunked to the legacy core switch. They moved the storage and

infrastructure servers onto the Brocade fabric. “We can link as many Brocade

switches together as we like, allowing us to expand as we grow,” said John

Hickson, Head of Systems Engineering and Rendering at Arc Productions.

CASE STUDY: ARC PRODUCTIONS

S c a l a r D e c i s i o n s I n c .

“The thing that

has impressed me

about Scalar is their

willingness to come to

the table and learn.

They do not come

at us with products,

instead they listen to

our problems and work

with us to come up with

solutions.”

“Now, if we are testing a new piece of

hardware and we need more ports, we

can just call them up.”

“Scalar has a good group of engineers

that know these products very well. Our

confidence was pretty high going into

this project,” said Dale. It is important

not to disrupt workflow, as even half an

hour of downtime for Arc Productions

is very costly. The Scalar and Brocade

teams worked closely with Dale and

Hickson to design a solution that would

work with the existing core network,

resulting in a smooth deployment of the

new technology.

Looking into the future

Scalar and Arc Productions enjoy a long running collaborative relationship

that promotes a healthy dose of learning on both sides. “I have been very

happy with my relationship with Scalar. They are knowledgeable about their

products, they want to learn about me as a customer and understand our

business so they can bring their expertise to the table, augmenting our in

house team.” said Dale.

For more information, please visit http://www.scalar.ca For the latest news, visit our blog at http://blog.scalar.ca

CASE STUDY: ARC PRODUCTIONS

“I have been very

happy with my

relationship with

Scalar. They are

knowledgeable about

their products, they

want to learn about

me as a customer

and understand our

business so they can

bring their expertise

to the table,

augmenting our in

house team.”

S c a l a r D e c i s i o n s I n c .