Time Warner Cable Sports Keeps its Programming Secure withSony Portable Drives

Sony’s new professional hard drive

Content may be king, but for Time Warner Cable Sports,
reliable, portable storage is critical. The network is using
more than 50 of Sony’s new portable storage drives — a
combination of 256 GB solid state drives (model PSZ-SA25) and 1
TB hard-disk drives (model PSZ-HA1T).

“We use them on a daily basis for our original programming and
day-to-day workplace storage,” said Mark Coleman, Vice
President, Operations at Time Warner Cable Sports Regional
Networks. “Storage might have the perception of being just a
‘commodity,’ but in reality it’s anything but that. If we lose
content, we lose time, we lose money, we lose productivity and
we lose the ability to tell the story. So the Sony drives are
very valuable.”

Much of TWC Sports’ programming work – including its signature
behind-the-scenes documentary franchise featuring the
“Backstage: Lakers” and “Backstage: Dodgers” series – is shot
on location, where the drives’ small form factor and durable
construction are especially handy.

“Our staff can easily carry them, stick them in their backpack
and go,” Coleman added. “We need them to be very small and
compact, but still able to handle demanding transfer speeds and
provide reliable back-up.”

A TWC Sports team may have as many as four drives in use for
one production, “so that could give us 4 TB of capacity,”
Coleman said. “That level of capacity and convenience is
important for certain shows when we have drives going to and
from the facility. The field teams need peace of mind that
their content will be secure while being transported around.”

Time Warner Cable Sports also uses Sony 4K cameras for image
capture in the field, so they appreciate the drives’ fast
transfer speeds and ability to easily handle high-bandwidth
content. “We need to get material from the camera as quickly
and reliably as possible,” Coleman said.

Each of the Sony drives features USB 3.0and Firewire 800
interfaces, allowing users to transfer video at up to 400MBper
second (SSD) and 120MBper second (HDD) via USB 3.0. At these
speeds, users can transfer approximately 30GB of video to the
SSD drive in less than 90 seconds via USB 3.0.

The drives are also durable.

“When we first started using them, it was obvious they could
withstand the rigors of field production,” Coleman said,
“whether it’s in a production truck, or outside in the rain or
dirt. Weather-proof qualities are one of the main things we
look for in a portable drive.”

They can also take a fall.

“We’ve dropped them from six feet on to hard surfaces and there
was no problem,” Coleman said.

Ultimately, the real test of a drive is convenience and the
performance of its main task – storing and securing data.

“The Sony drives are well-conceived products,” Coleman said.
“They stack well, connect easily and work well both in the
field and on a desktop.”