The Usage of Network Media Technology: the Needs of the Interacting Platform - Research Paper Example

Abstract: To utilize the benefits of instant collaboration and worldwide distribution of the media, Network Media technology is developed and implemented by variety of industries. The modern society in closely interlinked with the ongoing information revolution, which have integrated computers for communications, thereby paving way for a networked system of media that could be easily transferred and shared via the internet protocol. This indeed provides with new opportunities for connectivity, storage and media management. Complying with the standards of DLNA, the Network Media enables interoperability and sharing of digital media between the multimedia devices. With a decentralized mass communication, data portability and collaborating practices, Network Media delivers an efficient content access and a distributed workflow. However, the limitations of the media have to be taken into consideration by providing appropriate solutions in order to gain expected performance results. The modern businesses incorporate innovative Network Media technologies into their organization for improving its efficiency and performance. Choosing the right Network Media by identifying the specific needs and purposes of the organization forms the basic foundation for implementing the Network Media in any scenario. Summary: Networked Media creates a major impact in the way the media is produced and distributed among the systems of the organization. Unlike the conventional means of sharing methods, this Networked Media allows new possibilities for connecting, storing and handling the media. It relies on new methods of media processing and managing, so that the media gets transferred from one place to another through a high-speed network that lets the users to store, move and manipulate the media files, right at their desk. The Network media is used among the internet platform for providing interaction between networks of computers in an efficient way, especially for sharing and accessing contents. This technology, evolved from the emergence of internet and media-sharing in the past decades, and is greatly applied in different business sectors. Often, technology is used as a communicative tool that plays a vital role in the sharing of information among the connected network within the organization or between their client organizations. To be productive, modern business firms use Inter-networking between the computers, and also for achieving greater reach in the globalized world. In this report, we would discuss the technology of Network Media, its features and standards along with the advantages and limitations it possesses. Technology functionality and usage: Networked Media is based on the technological process known as Convergence, through which different kinds of media such as images, videos, texts, 3D graphics and audio could be distributed, consumed, managed and shared among various networks like the internet through Fiber, Wi-Fi, WiMAX, 3G, GPRS and any convenient medium. On contrast to the conventional audio and video equipments, Network Media relies on using IT related equipments such as SDI router, Ethernet or Internet Protocol for its networkability. There also exist few technologies and components that are used in the Network Media. The direct-to-disc access allows the clients to use the data directly from the arrays and edit or share as if it is stored in the local. This Networked Attached Storage (NAS) method allows a real time performance to the delivery networks. It requires no file transfer, thereby facilitating improved workflow and faster editing times. While in case of Storage Area Networking (SAN) method, the clients are provided with a common storage access, not a common file access. Thus, Network Media allows the data to be edited and played out from anywhere anytime with the access of the network. The media is used as a resource that allows sharing and distributing right from one network to another for the rear end consumers to access it. The WAN or LAN connectivity and routing is done using Ethernet, Fiber Channel, SONET/SDH, commensurate switching and few other IT methods too. The networkable components are the IT connected devices such as Ingest ports, data servers, caches, proxy stations and more. “Networked Media sector needs to start taking into consideration the continuous advancement of key technologies such as Information Technology, Networking, Electronic Equipments and Content production/consumption, all of which are needed to achieve and provide useful Networked Media services.” (“Networked Media of the Future” 5). One of the usages of Networked Media is in Cloud Computing, which refers to the use of different web based applications, computing systems and services to be accessed from anyplace and anytime through web based browser. This concept widely helps in gaining control over one’s data and also software applications, just with the use of internet. On the flip side, there are concerns about the privacy of the data, its ownership and control for the copyrighted material. Also, loss of access to the applications in the Cloud may create hindrances for the businesses. Visual private cloud computing with service level undertakings gives a positive response to these hindrances. Standards: Getting to the standards of the Networked Media, it is essential to know that certain guidelines are formulated for the sharing of digital media between devices and networks. DLNA, a non profit organization establishes guidelines for the digital sharing media, and for the interoperability between devices using industry standards. It uses Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) for managing and controlling the media. DLNA suggests TCP/IP as the basis for network connectivity and web standards such as HTTP, HTML, XML, and SOAP are provided for the device recognition, control and presentation of media. These established industry standards are developed by the special interest groups like Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), Motion Picture Experts Group (MPEG), and Universal Plug and Play Forum (UPnP). Thus, DLNA expects all devices to provide Ethernet, Wi-Fi or Bluetooth network connection as well as use TCP/ IP for its connectivity. SOAP or HTML is implemented for transferring and managing the media. In addition to these, certain media formats are also suggested; such as JPEG for images, LPCM for audios and MPEG-2 support for videos. These interoperability guidelines are implemented through a detailed certification process which is required for the devices to ensure the customers that the products are based on the DLNA guidelines, thereby delivering good and safe browsing experience. Features and Advantages: Network Media involves not just broadcasting of media, but also delivers and shares information and news to the targeted audience. There are few key features that distinguish it from the former ones. Network media is decentralized and democratic in nature involving a set of computers networked together for the purpose of sharing and collaborating. Relying on the concept of decentralized medium of mass communication, it allows the targeted individuals to actively participate in producing the media. With the internet revolution, the access to the media content has become easier enabling collaborative user-generated content (UGC), which would play a major role in the future internet era. Meanwhile, advancements in visual technologies such as Digital applications and processing provide an immense level of quality experience to the web users. At the same time, it gives rise to notable virtual technologies and innovative applications. Being a decentralized media of communication, it requires a good network capacity that will provide quality collaborating platform which enables the users to act as contributors as well. On the other hand, Networked Media enables data portability which is a pivotal component to data management and sharing. In addition, data portability is the option to use for the sharing of the personal data between trusted applications and vendors for promoting the idea, even as the individuals have control over their data by determining how they use it and who use it. With the development in media field, users gain more control and opportunities to interact and manipulate the media for sharing. This greatly changes the use of internet and IP-based services by developing expansion of media influences and social networks. The advantages of Network Media are numerous which pushes the business concerns to embrace this technology readily into their organization. Network Media has a fast content access which allows the local and remote consumers to browse or edit the data that is readily available for use through direct-to-disc or file transfer methods. It also has a distributed workflow using the WAN and LAN connectivity which gives a virtual facility for distribution beyond physical and geographical limits. For instance, one can ingest a video at Tokyo, while editing could be done at New York and finally would be streamed over the London auditorium. This is quite possible with the Network Media technologies of present days. In addition, Network Media allows a reliable file transfer methods with data archiving instead of the traditional video tape archives providing with little or no tape handling. “Video assets are available on disc (on, near or offline storage) or via archived data optical discs or robotic tape access. Camcorder tape based acquisition will play an active role for the next few years until disc/optical based camcorders are mature.” (Kovalick 3). Various format agnostic methods could be chosen by the user for archiving the media, as the media choices are expanded. In addition, massive disc storage of media would definitely improve the workflows forever. Network Medias facilitates Media Asset Management (MAM) through which one can catalog, browse and use the assets available. The present transition in IT will allow the MAM solutions to yield creative ways. The infrastructure components widely help in riding the performance of this Network Media technology to a favourable level. It helps in decreasing the cost of Ethernet, Fibre Channel, Switching and storing. It also helps in increased performance along with expanding connectivity. Implementation Example: By applying this Network Media technology, many companies have initiated innovative ways to expand their business approach. One such implementation was handled by Panasonic in its changing consumer-retailer relationship environment. They have successfully met the customers’ expectations through their new technologies. In order to improve the quality of their technical assistance, they offer support from the network of nationwide engineers through an online platform named, ‘insite’. The technology relies on knowledge sharing within the organization helping the engineers provide how-to guides in the form of videos and share their insights through the online forum. It also allows the consumers to share and use the video library generated by the engineers. This results in unlimited access to the information by the consumers as well as flexible and convenient way of accessing the data from anywhere anytime. Consequently, this approach by Panasonic gave a better support for its customers, thereby gaining a good reputation for their products. In addition, it favored the technical team to provide support efficiently and solve the problems much faster. Further to expand this technology, the company looks for a closer integration of technologies by considering to use online video services for establishing a more closer connection towards its customers. “The upshot of this is a better and more consistent standard of technical support for Panasonic's customers, helping maintain the reputation of the brand for delivering quality, reliable products.” (Smith). Technology Limitations Network Media has endless possibilities in delivering services to the users, in spite of physical barriers. However, there exist certain limitations to this technology, in terms of its technical and physical usage. The problems in Network Media could not be controlled but only avoided. The most crucial ones are the limitations of the network cables and the physical protocols on which the media is running. These have limits over the distance where signal degradation and collisions occurs. One of the efficient ways to avoid this kind of problem over the Ethernet is by placing switches in the network fabric at the key points, as they have the ability to buffer packets minimizing the problem of distance. The physical space is a major concern when it comes to clusters as they require a moderate space to accumulate all the nodes. In case of high number of nodes, rack mountable computers are preferred for reducing the space. Power consumption is yet another critical problem to be met with. When the cluster does not have enough of the needed power, either the size of the cluster has to be reduced or the power supply has to be increased considerably. In addition, there is a problem regarding excess amount of heat generated by the computers, which needs to be kept in check using temperature sensing devices that would automatically shut down the machines in times of overheating. Appropriate air conditioning and fans could also control the heat. The decentralized media and collaborative platform places traffic demands and constraints to the networked platforms. This creates the need for representing information, indexing and filtering of data in the network. Other issues due to Network Media include identity management, digital ownership of products, privacy, data protection and fair usage of content. Implementation: Networked computers within a LAN require different types of Network Media to connect the network devices that offer specific functionalities. On a particular environment, it is essential to determine the media’s sustainability and the type of connectors for implementing the right media for the specific scenario. Right from configuring the operating system and protocols down to monitoring of the rear end users and performance, the complex networks needs to be managed with the Network Media. Various factors have to be taken into consideration when implementing Network Media technology. It includes media interference, bandwidth, media length and security related considerations. While implementing Network Media technology to the specific scenario, one has to give a look into the rights and permissions, TCP/IP configurations, physical layer implementations, operating system interoperability, firewalls and anti-virus software, and fault tolerance. The foremost thing to do is to identify the basic capabilities of the OS for accessing the network resources along with the need of the client workstations for connecting to use the resources. In the remote connectivity protocol, authentication, physical connectivity, and configuration are essential to be considered. Most importantly, one has to identify the benefits of using the firewalls, proxies, and VLANs for the given scenario. Finally, disaster recovery has to be looked into to ensure safe recovery through backups and offsite storages, when something goes wrong. Companies involved: The emerging Network Media plays a leading role in many of the industrial sectors for increasing the efficiency of the workplace. One of the notable developments of Network Media is the Internet Protocol TV (IPTV), which is an extended growth of telecommunications. Companies such as Telus, Bell, Allstream, SaskTel and Bell Aliant are mainly incumbent telecommunication firms managing IPTV, providing internet based TV services. Network media also has a significant importance in the government crisis management. It facilitates accurate information dissemination for performing the functions of communications between government and public. Various companies offer collaborating platforms for sharing and coordinating with the workers. For instance, Projectplace International’s ‘digital planning board’ helps team members to view, plan and share their work among the network. Conclusion: On exploration of the Network media and its features, it is evident that appropriate usage and effective implementation of it will highly favor the business and the consumers. As clearly portrayed through the case study, when Network Media is utilized for the right purpose, it will definitely bring favorable results to the organization. Since the usage of Network Media technology spreads into wider dimensions, limitations of it have to be mitigated to ensure safe and secure interoperability. In the near future, there is no doubt that Network Media would enter into the organizations in an optimal way, thereby becoming the core infrastructure that meets the demanding needs of the interacting platform. Works Cited Kovalick, Al. The Essentials of Networked Media. Pinnacle Systems, 2003. “Networked Media of the Future.” Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, 2007. Web. 8 Jan 2013. Smith, Chris. “The Changing Consumer-Retailer Relationship: Interview with Panasonic.” The Guardian, 7 Jan 2013. Web. 8 Jan 2013. Read More