DataCore positions AI-enabled Perifery as its edge

Multi-protocol storage SW supplier DataCore is setting up a Perifery edge division with AI+ services it says provide preprocessing tasks at the edge of media and entertainment company workflows.

DataCore Perifery first surfaced in September last year when DataCore partnered shared storage supplier Symply to place its software in the Symply Perifery media archiving appliance. This has S3-native object storage software using DataCore’s acquired Caringo Swarm technology. The Perifery appliance integrated with workflows used in media production, post-production, studios, sports, and in-house creative teams.

Dave Zabrowski, DataCore’s CEO, said in a statement: “Building on the recent acquisitions of Object Matrix, Caringo, and MayaData, Perifery was created to bring a clear focus and attention to the needs of high-growth, data-driven markets. With the launch of our Perifery division, we’ve invested in extremely talented and experienced individuals in the space, and we look forward to bringing innovation to the edge.”

Abhijit Dey

Perifery division GM and COO Abhijit Dey quoted a Gartner finding that, by 2025, over 50 percent of enterprise-managed data will be created and processed at the edge, and said: “With the Perifery family of workflow solutions, we are addressing the evolving requirements of high-growth edge markets while helping customers avoid unpredictable public cloud service and transfer fees.”

Dey was DataCore’s Chief Product Officer and has spent 24 years of his working life as a backup guy at Veritas, Symantec and Druva. DataCore has set up a Perifery website with a leadership page that looks like DataCore’s leadership page. Perifery almost looks like an independent company or a new face for DataCore.

Perifery AI+

The first Perifery division product is AI+ and it is aimed at providing media workflow processing at the edge, so-called preprocessing, where the media is generated and can, with AI+, be worked on before it’s sent up to the public cloud or to a datacenter. AI+ is a set of application-centric services for content production workflows. It is integrated with the Perifery Transporter on-set media appliance, Swarm software, and Perifery Panel for Adobe Premiere Pro.

The outfit’s Symply Transporter

The Transporter is a content shuttle with a rugged eight bay desktop design and dual 25Gb Ethernet interfaces. This is for physical transfer of large content files from edge locations to datacenters.

Dey said: “Many media production organizations have adopted AI cloud-based apps and services to process their digital assets. But the cloud has an unpredictable cost model and requires significant time and effort to upload, download, and manage processing services coming from various sources.”

The first preprocessing functionalities available on Perifery AI+ will include object recognition and smart archiving. DataCore says AI+ will  improve customers’ workflow efficiency, reduce costs, speed up time of delivery, and monetize digital assets faster.  

DataCore has moved its Object Matrix Appliance, Cloud and Quattro products as well as its Swarm software and Swarm CSP offerings into the Perifery division. The division also houses the Symply Appliance and Transporter.

There are more than 400 Perifery channel partners worldwide to help distribute DataCore’s Perifery offerings from the get go. Perifery will demonstrate its Transporter running containerized Swarm with Perifery AI+ and third-party object recognition software at the 2023 NAB Show in Las Vegas at booth N1331.

Get a Symply Perifery solution brief here.