Living with Video Servers in a Digital Broadcast Facility

The Disney Channel has been playing to air from video servers since November I, 1996. Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, all programming and promotional materials play to air from a pair of redundant video servers under the control of an automation system. Living with video servers is becoming a reality for all broadcasters. Whether servers are used facility-wise or only in isolated areas, broadcast engineers must understand how to use them effectively and be aware of their particular failure modes. Experience with computer operating systems and modern computer networking techniques is not only helpful, it is essential. The Disney/ABC Cable Group's Network Operation Center (NOC) in Burbank, CA., was built in the summer of 1996. The NOC went into operation in November 1996, with the origination of the Disney Channel from a new all-digital facility with ITU-R 601 digital component video and four channels of AES/EBU digital audio. Many rules have changed in moving from the analog VTR world to the digital server world. Simultaneous introduction of a digital facility, automated network playback system, and video servers taught the Disney engineering staff many lessons. In this paper, we intend to relate our experiences to help others plan and understand the coming change to server-based facilities.