Globecast begins ‘game-changing’ infrastructure as code
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Editor
| 26 February 2020

Embarking on a whole new direction for both the company and the industry, global media solutions provider Globecast has begun deploying Infrastructure as Code (IaC) solutions, what it sees as a whole new way or working for the media entertainment industry.

Globecast defines IaC as the process of creating and managing cloud-based technologies using scripts – hence code – to do so. The script is then “read”, or accepted, by systems like AWS’ CloudFormation or the cloud-agnostic solution from Terraform.

The company sees three clear benefits to IaC: changes to any platform/service, or security patching, can be easily handled by editing the code, with the changes then instantly made; once a system is up and running, it can be taken down in a matter of seconds; it can then be redeployed as required for another service launch or ad-hoc event almost instantly. One-off sporting events are seen a prime use case where the benefits of this will be seen.

Globecast believes that the systems created using IaC can be as simple or as complex as required. For example, it suggests that entirely cloud-based complex playout infrastructure can be generated far more quickly and cost-effectively via this method. Acknowledging the time taken to create the code, it added that the process removes any on-premise installation work and, increasingly more relevant, removes the complex, multi-faceted manual processes of cloud service creation.

“Take the example of deploying a new cloud-based platform for a customer using Infrastructure as Code,” explained Globecast head of media management Ian Redgewell. “Everything that needs to happen – the 50 servers we need, the software we need to run on those servers, the network, all the IP addresses, the user accounts, the security permissions – all of these can be written into a single document using the correct code. That is then run through the aforementioned systems and the infrastructure is created.”

Globecast has already deployed IaC, allowing providers of advertising content for a Globecast playout customer to simply hit a button to feed relevant commercials via the cloud to a variety of landing areas for insertion. This means the ad providers don’t have to install any proprietary software — which could vary from playout provider to playout provider — and don’t have to use older technologies, FTP being the prime example. Globecast claims that the set-up allowed the ad providers to implement the system in a tiny fraction of the time it would previously have taken. Any changes in ad providers can be made in a matter of minutes each time.

“We see IaC as critical in maximising the potential of the cloud. It’s a genuine gamechanger,” Redgewell added. “This is the way to work as we move forward. The speed-to-market advantage is huge, as is the cost saving. And the ability to re-use entire systems is a massive step. The cost saving potential is further heightened by this. We are talking about the deployment of very complex solutions, maintaining them, easily making changes and removing whole systems or redeploying them in minutes.”