Computer Weekly looks at how a picture library overhauled its
storage and delivery systems
Having an effective system for retrieving documents is important
for any company with an extensive archive. But when that archive is
the basis of your whole business, it is vital.
This was the situation that faced Pictor International, a
London-based picture library that supplies images to the publishing
and marketing industries.
To improve access to its image library, cut delivery times and open
up new markets, it has developed an online strategy, adopting a
novel storage method to support the delivery of images via the
Internet.
The company began offering access to its images via the Internet at
the beginning of 1999. The problem was that the original images
were scanned on to CD-Rom and stored at a scanning house in Hong
Kong. So although low resolution copies of the images were
available on its Web site, customers wishing to purchase an image
had to have the high resolution file delivered from Hong Kong.
This meant the service was very limited. Customers could request
images on the Web site but the company had to locate, scan and
e-mail the images to the customer manually. And because the file
transfer protocol server and all original images were stored in
Hong Kong, any problems there could lead to delays. Staff in Hong
Kong had to provide 24-hour cover to make sure that images were
delivered on time.
"That was the intermediate stage," says Pictor's IT manager Kevin
McGrory. "But it was still a lot quicker than the old stage."
McGrory says the main purpose of the Web site was to show that the
company had an online presence. In practice, the human element and
the labour-intensive nature of the fulfilment process resulted in
delays. And when the volume of business increased, it started to
look unsatisfactory.
"It gave the illusion of a fairly seamless system but it did have
flaws," admits McGrory.
However, despite its limitations, Pictor stuck with the system,
based on "fairly clumsy manual fulfilment from CDs", until the
beginning of 2001.
To improve the image retrieval system and increase the speed of
delivery of high resolution images, Pictor moved control of its
online archive in-house. But this raised issues, not least the
question of storage.
Pictor could not store the images on its main server as they would
take up too much space. And if the server went down, customers
would be denied access to the images.
The company wanted to introduce a system that was scalable, in line
with its long-term goal of storing all images digitally. It had
three main options - CD, DVD and optical. CD was cheap but offered
limited storage capacity. Optical offered high capacity but was
expensive. DVD offered suitable capacity at an affordable
price.
Having chosen a storage medium, the company still needed to choose
or develop a system - a problem that was solved when it saw a
demonstration of a jukebox system at a trade show. "We didn't
really have an option," says McGrory "It was the only way to
go."
The installation process took six months. McGrory says that
consolidating all the images, converting files and reorganising
them so they could be retrieved quickly was a massive task. Pictor
also had to design the retrieval system it required.
"We were one of the first companies in the market to use the
jukebox for this purpose and the software wasn't available,"
explains McGrory. "It was a case of developing and evolving as we
went along. It hasn't been easy but it has been worth it."
The company chose storage management software from QStar to control
and manage data on the jukebox while the retrieval software was
written by ObjectView. The bulk of the images are stored in a
logical directory tree structure, whilst frequently used images are
stored in QStar's cache to provide faster access.
Now the system is up and running, newly processed images are put
straight onto the system after being retouched. And these images
are archived automatically. The process from submission of an image
to sale and delivery is conducted via digital workflow. Human
intervention has been removed.
The high resolution original of the image is taken off the system
after a month to be stored offline on DVD in a racking system. But
the high resolution "deliverable" image, which is sent to
customers, is kept online.
The Plasmon jukebox has a storage capacity of 1.2 Tbytes of
DVD-Ram. And because the system is separate, it does not interfere
with the daily running of the business.
The system has resulted in cost savings. The company is not paying
staff in Hong Kong to back up the old system. But McGrory explains
that it is an investment. "It has given us the opportunity to
expand into other markets and perform more efficiently on our own,"
he says. "Before, it was all done with smoke and mirrors."
Whereas previously it could take more than an hour to get an image
to a client, it now takes a few minutes, claims McGrory. Customers
simply log on to the Web site, purchase and download images on the
spot.
"It is scalable and will grow with our company - it is absolutely
100% central," says McGrory. "We've got the proper back-end
delivery system we always needed."