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Killer Remote Workflows for Hybrid Video Production Teams

Capture. Connect. Collaborate — Anywhere.

In our modern media landscape, production teams are pushed to create more content than ever, often from remote or unpredictable environments. Whether you’re producing breaking news, a documentary in the field, or a high-stakes sports broadcast, the expectation is the same: immediate access to footage, real-time collaboration, and secure off-site editing.

Unfortunately, traditional workflows can’t keep up. Media often has to return to base before editing can start, connections are slow and unreliable, and teams end up working in silos, delaying production and driving up costs.

That’s where EditShare comes in. Our production asset management system is designed for hybrid and fully remote teams, giving you the tools to move files, metadata, and projects between locations without friction.

Killer Remote Workflows

Why Remote Video Workflows Fail, and How EditShare Fixes Them

For many media organizations, outdated post-production setups make remote editing almost impossible. Large files are difficult to transfer securely, collaboration tools are siloed, and metadata often gets lost in the process. EditShare’s approach solves these issues with integrated shared storage, MAM, and automation in a single ecosystem.

EditShare Tools That Power Remote and Hybrid Production

EditShare combines three powerful tools to deliver a remote video production workflow that just works:

  1. Ultimate EFS Field Unit – a portable, shared storage hub you can take anywhere.
  2. ZeroTier VPN integration – secure access to your storage without complicated VPN setup.
  3. FLOW Automation – intelligent workflow automation for media teams that speeds delivery from the field to the edit suite.

Together, they form a video asset management workflow that’s fast, secure, and built for collaboration.

Ultimate EFS Field Unit

Ultimate EFS Field Unit: Portable Shared Storage Anywhere

Think of the Ultimate EFS Field Unit as a mobile post-production hub. You can set it up in minutes, collaborate with multiple users on-site, and add metadata right after capture. It’s built to handle demanding formats and workflows wherever you’re working.

Why it matters: You don’t have to wait until you’re back in the office to start work. The footage is ready to view with proxies right away, so you can add metadata, tags, and markers. All available in a portable unit with tools you know and love at base, but available on the road.

ZeroTier VPN Integration: Fast, Secure Remote Access

Connecting to your shared storage from the field has never been easier. With ZeroTier VPN integration, you get a fast, secure link between your field unit and your main facility, without the complexity of traditional VPNs. That means remote video editing tools that let your team keep working, even from the middle of nowhere.

Why it matters: Enable secure, high-speed remote access allowing teams to collaborate seamlessly from anywhere as if they were on the same local network. 

Women using flow automation

FLOW Automation: Workflow Automation for Media Teams

FLOW Automation is where the magic of customizable automated workflows for media teams comes to life. With its “Send to Site” feature, you can:

Why it matters: Editors at your main facility don’t have to wait for physical drives to arrive, they can start cutting as soon as the media is transferred with proxies and markers already in place. No waiting, no duplicated work. Learn more about FLOW’s intelligent automation tools.

Step-by-Step Remote Video Editing Workflow

  1. Capture media in the field with the Ultimate EFS Field Unit.
  2. Create proxies and metadata (markers, subclips, comments) on-site.
  3. Connect securely using ZeroTier VPN.
  4. Send assets to HQ with FLOW Automation’s “Send to Site.”
  5. Begin editing instantly with all your metadata in place.
Media Asset Management Software

Why EditShare offers the Best Media Asset Management Software for Video Teams

If you’re looking for a PAM for hybrid production teams that balances speed, security, and simplicity, EditShare is built for you. You can also explore our shared video storage solutions for even more flexibility.

Build Your MAM for Hybrid Production Success

From documentaries and news to sports and reality TV, EditShare empowers your team to work faster, safer, and smarter, no matter where your story takes you.

Ready to build your own killer remote workflow?
Contact EditShare to learn how our tools can transform your remote and hybrid production workflows.

Sports production is fast-paced, high-pressure, and increasingly global. Games are streamed live to millions, highlight reels are clipped and distributed within minutes, and behind-the-scenes footage is rapidly repackaged for social media.

All of this content, often shot from multiple cameras and stored in a variety of formats, needs to be:

Traditional archive systems can’t keep pace with these demands. That’s where a purpose-built sports content management system comes in.

What Makes a Good Video Asset Management System for Sports Broadcasters?

Best media asset management software for video teams combines real-time efficiency with long-term sustainability. 

Here are the key features to look for:

1. Automation for High-Volume Ingest

A top-tier archival management system should be able to ingest large volumes of video from multiple sources (think live feeds, OB trucks, and remote cameras) without requiring manual intervention. 

EditShare’s FLOW automation simplifies this process by enabling rule-based ingest and transcoding, allowing assets to be archived, transcoded, and organized as they arrive. Making workflow automation for media teams effortless.

2. Metadata Management for Easy Searchability

The value of an archive depends on your ability to find and reuse content fast. Metadata tagging with support for custom fields, and AI-assisted tagging ensures editors can instantly surface the right clip from a decade ago or last night’s match.

FLOW, EditShare’s media asset management platform, enables granular metadata tagging, including player names, match types, and sponsors, all of which are searchable across your global archive. Editors no longer waste time digging through drives or folders. Instead, they can retrieve assets instantly and begin cutting new content, whether it’s for social, broadcast, or sponsor use.

3. Scalable Storage Options

Archiving high-resolution video, especially in 4K or HDR formats, requires serious storage. EditShare’s EFS shared video storage integrates seamlessly with LTO tape libraries and public cloud services, providing tiered storage for active projects, nearline access, and deep archive, all while keeping costs in check.

4. Real-Time Access and Collaboration

Whether you’re clipping highlights mid-game or assembling a retrospective docuseries, instant access to content is key. EditShare’s hybrid architecture allows real-time collaboration, with remote video editing tools, allowing for secure, direct access to content from anywhere in the world.

This is critical for:

Cut on Adobe Premiere Pro or DaVinci Resolve? No problem! FLOW integrates with your existing tools, allowing your team to stay agile without learning new platforms.

5. Robust Security and Data Integrity

Security is non-negotiable when dealing with high-value or exclusive footage. EditShare ensures end-to-end encryption, user-based access controls, and audit logs

In the event of hardware failure or disaster, your archive is protected by redundant backups and replication options.

Monetizing Your Sports Archive

A well-managed sports video archive is more than a historical record;  it’s a revenue-generating asset.

Here’s how sports organizations are leveraging their archives:

With EditShare’s production asset management system, your archive isn’t just preserved,  it’s monetized.

Real Use Case: Managing a Global Sports Archive

For sports organizations managing footage from hundreds of events per year, like the New York Islanders, EditShare provides a unified, centralized system that handles automated ingest, metadata management, and tiered storage. Remote producers in different regions can log in to the system, access footage, create clips, and publish them to broadcast or social media, all from a single platform.

With support for multi-language metadata, the archive is accessible to international teams, streamlining global collaboration and boosting content reuse.

Why EditShare?

EditShare is designed to meet the specific needs of sports content creators, whether you’re running a league archive, producing live events, or monetizing your back catalog. 

Our platform delivers:

Get Started Today

Ready to take control of your sports archive? Whether you’re looking to streamline ingest, enable global collaboration, or monetize your existing content library, EditShare can help.

In the world of media production, high-end finishing workflows for 4K, 6K, and 8K projects demand more than just speed; they require intelligent, collaborative infrastructure designed for creative professionals. Whether you’re a VFX artist refining complex effects, a colorist grading cinematic visuals, or an editor working on file-per-frame formats like DPX and OpenEXR, your video editing storage solution must keep up.

EditShare EFS NVMe rises to that challenge. Built on a media-optimized file system and designed from the ground up for collaborative video storage, EFS NVMe delivers exceptional throughput, scalability, and real-time performance. 

Here’s why its NVMe-based architecture, integrated with the award-winning EditShare File System (EFS), stands out as the best shared storage for video editors tackling today’s most demanding finishing tasks.

The Power of NVMe Architecture in Shared Video Storage

High-resolution finishing workflows, especially in VFX, DI, and color grading, deal with massive data rates and layered files. Traditional HDDs and even SSDs often fall short. NVMe (Non-Volatile Memory Express) changes the game with speeds exceeding 20GB/s per node and ultra-low latency.

EditShare’s EFS NVMe leverages this performance to support formats like DPX, DNxHR 444, and ProRes 4444 with smooth multi-layer playback and immediate access to large media assets. With 24 enterprise-grade NVMe drives per node, ranging from 2TB to 16TB each, EFS NVMe offers robust bandwidth that allows multiple users to work simultaneously without bottlenecks—making it ideal for post production shared storage needs.

EFS: The Heart of EditShare’s Media Storage Software

What sets EFS NVMe apart isn’t just hardware, it’s the EditShare File System, a clustered, parallel file system tailored for media. Unlike conventional NAS solutions relying on SMB or NFS, EFS uses native clients for Mac, Windows, and Linux. This enables workstations to pull over 10GB/s of data directly, perfect for file-per-frame formats in 4K+ resolution.

With technologies like SwiftRead, EFS intelligently routes data from the fastest available node in the cluster, maintaining uninterrupted performance even under heavy load. Its built-in Quality of Service (QoS) ensures playback remains fluid, even during concurrent tasks like transcoding, backups, or large media transfers. This is media storage software that’s built with creativity in mind.

Seamless Integration with the EditShare Ecosystem

EFS NVMe is part of a broader EditShare ecosystem that supports every stage of the media lifecycle. Tight integration with FLOW and MediaSilo makes this collaborative video storage platform even more powerful:

Scalable, Flexible, and Built for Collaboration

EFS NVMe scales from 32TB to 20+ PB in a single namespace. Whether you’re building a boutique studio or scaling a global operation, it’s the shared video storage platform that grows with you.

Add more nodes to expand your cluster or deploy EFS Field, a portable NVMe unit with up to 64TB for on-set finishing. Combined with tools like SwiftLink and SwiftSync for secure remote access and daily syncs, EditShare enables hybrid workflows that keep creative teams connected across locations.

Why EFS is the Best Shared Storage for Video Editors

EFS NVMe is more than fast, it’s intelligent, secure, and optimized for collaboration. Here’s how it redefines video editing storage solutions:

Real-World Performance: EFS NVMe in Action

At Leeds Trinity University, an upgrade to EFS NVMe enabled the media department to handle multiple high-resolution streams with ease. 

According to Mark Willett, Media Facilities Manager, “The recent classification by The Guardian as the No. 1 University in the UK for Journalism is in large part due to the wonderful facilities we provide, of which EditShare is central.”

In another deployment, EFS NVMe powers Lasergraphics film scanners, ingesting 5K 16-bit DPX files at 30fps while simultaneously supporting 8K DPX grading in DaVinci Resolve. Proof that EditShare can handle the pressure of even the most demanding media workflows.

Choose EFS NVMe for Your Finishing Pipeline

If you’re looking for the best shared storage for video editors handling complex finishing projects, look no further. EditShare’s EFS NVMe combines the speed of NVMe with the intelligence of media-specific software and the flexibility of a collaborative video storage platform. From ingest to delivery, your team stays focused on creativity, not IT headaches.

Ready to transform your finishing workflows?
Click here to get started, or email us directly at sales@editshare.com.

New technology boosts performance for high-resolution post-production and flexible workflows

Boston, MA, 4 August 2025: EGG Post Production & VFX, one of Ireland’s leading post-production facilities, has expanded its capabilities with a significant storage upgrade from EditShare. This investment supports EGG’s growing demand for high-performance workflows, including 4K and beyond colour grading, while improving remote collaboration and workflow flexibility.

The project was delivered in collaboration with Tyrell, EditShare’s long-time channel partner in Ireland, who worked closely with EGG and EditShare to scope, install, and support the new system.

Founded in 2004 by editors Gary Shortall and Gareth Young, EGG has built a strong reputation for its award-winning editing, finishing, sound, and VFX services. The company delivers content for major Irish, UK, and US broadcasters, as well as audiences worldwide, making reliability and efficiency in their storage infrastructure critical to their operations.

To meet these demands, EGG has integrated EditShare’s 96TB NVMe and EFS300 256TB storage solutions, replacing an older system that could no longer support the increasing technical requirements of high-resolution workflows. The upgrade consolidates all offline, online, grading, and VFX under a single vendor, improving overall efficiency and project management.

One of the most valuable additions to EGG’s workflow is EditShare’s Swift Link technology,  which allows creative teams to access media and work on projects from any location. As productions increasingly demand flexible, hybrid workflows, Swift Link ensures that EGG’s editors, colorists, and VFX artists maintain seamless productivity, whether on-site or remote. The ability to securely stream high-resolution content without performance compromise has been transformative for EGG’s post-production pipeline.

Gareth Young, CEO and Co-Founder of EGG, emphasized the continued value of the partnership with EditShare: “We’ve trusted EditShare for over eight years, and this latest upgrade reinforces why we continue to rely on them. The combination of high-performance storage, local European support, and the flexibility provided by Swift Link made this the right choice for our team.”

Since going live last summer, the upgraded system has enabled EGG to serve as a reference site for high-end grading workflows. The team has praised the simplicity and speed of Swift Link for remote collaboration, without sacrificing the performance needed for complex post-production tasks.

Tara Montford, EVP of Sales and Co-Founder of EditShare, added: “EGG represents the kind of forward-thinking post facility that pushes the boundaries of creative and technical excellence. We’re proud to support their next chapter with a solution that combines performance, flexibility, and security, delivering everything they need to meet the demands of high-resolution workflows, both in-studio and remotely.”

For more information on EditShare solutions, please click here to get in touch.

About EditShare

EditShare is an Emmy Award-winning technology leader, supporting storytellers through collaborative media workflows across on-premise, cloud and hybrid architectures. It offers scalable storage and collaboration for media businesses and at every stage of the video production process from storyboarding to screening. 

The software is inherently open, encouraging workflow collaboration, third-party integrations and content sharing across the entire production chain. Where required, the software is backed by high performance, high availability designed specifically for the demands of media storage, management and delivery. The comprehensive offering covers multi-level content storage for production and post, along with innovative asset and workflow management software, plus specialized and highly valued tools for content review and distribution, the creation of customized and branded pitch reels, and secure preview of high-value pre-release content. 

About Tyrell

For 25 years Tyrell has been providing video, audio, graphics and storage solutions to the Irish and UK broadcast, post, production, corporate and education markets. In this time, we have become the leading provider of technology and service solutions both on-premise and in the cloud. Tyrell has an excellent understanding of the fast pace and unique pressures facing the media and entertainment industry; developing solutions for complex workflows. Allowing our clients to concentrate on the creative process and business development. From our two locations we offer a comprehensive range of professional services from consultancy to system design and integration, technical support and maintenance.

www.tyrellcct.com

©2025 EditShare LLC. All rights reserved. EditShare® is a registered trademark of EditShare.

Press Contact
Katharine Guy
katharine.guy@editshare.com

Boston, MA, 1 August 2025 – At IBC 2025, EditShare debuts the next evolution of its platform, built for media teams that demand real-time collaboration, AI-driven post, lightning-fast media-aware storage, and easy-to-use hybrid workflows. From post and sports to news and archiving, EditShare blends technical muscle with creative flexibility. Visit Booth 7.A35 to see how we’re pushing performance and energy efficiency, without sacrificing adaptability

What You’ll See at IBC

What’s New at IBC 2025

Expanded EFS Storage Solutions
EditShare will premiere the latest Ultimate EFS Nodes, optimized for high-performance media workflows at any scale. Preview all-NVMe systems tailored for demanding 8K, VFX, and DI tasks. The newest EFS Field, portable, rugged, and now offering greater capacity, live ingest, and secure, verified media transfer, will also be featured. Additional updates to the Ultimate EFS lineup will be announced exclusively at the show, offering a hands-on look at the future of production workflows.

Next-Generation Collaborative Workflows
Discover EditShare’s advances in collaborative workflows: MediaSilo’s integration with Louper enables real-time, frame-accurate review sessions without lag, downloads, or version confusion, allowing global teams to comment and approve instantly. A live Atomos Camera to Cloud demonstration will show proxy uploads directly into MediaSilo for immediate access, accelerating fast-turnaround projects.

Integrated Specialist Workflows
On-booth demos showcase powerful integrations: Lasergraphics 5K 16-bit DPX film scanning with EFS, frame-accurate NDI ISO ingest with multi-channel recording, and comprehensive newsroom collaboration with Octopus.

From green performance at scale to workflow flexibility across post, production, and archive, we deliver innovation shaped by customer insight,” said Tara Montford, EVP of Sales and Co-Founder of EditShare. “Whether you’re scaling up, streamlining reviews, or refining remote workflows, our solutions help teams move faster, collaborate better, and reduce friction. We look forward to showcasing these advances in Amsterdam.”

To book time with us at the show, please click here

About EditShare

EditShare is an Emmy Award-winning technology leader, supporting storytellers through collaborative media workflows across on-premise, cloud and hybrid architectures. It offers scalable storage and collaboration for media businesses and at every stage of the video production process from storyboarding to screening. 

The software is inherently open, encouraging workflow collaboration, third-party integrations and content sharing across the entire production chain. Where required, the software is backed by high performance, high availability designed specifically for the demands of media storage, management and delivery. The comprehensive offering covers multi-level content storage for production and post, along with innovative asset and workflow management software, plus specialized and highly valued tools for content review and distribution, the creation of customized and branded pitch reels, and secure preview of high-value pre-release content. 

©2025 EditShare LLC. All rights reserved. EditShare® is a registered trademark of EditShare.

Press Contact
Katharine Guy
katharine.guy@editshare.com

For media teams managing massive files, tight deadlines, and fast-paced collaborative workflows, generic file servers just don’t cut it. What you need is shared video storage designed specifically for video production and post workflows

In this article, we’ll explore how media-optimized storage differs from standard IT storage, and why making the switch can be a game-changer for creative teams.

The Key Differences Between Generic and Media-Optimized Storage

1. Bandwidth Over IOPS: Why Consistent Throughput Matters

Generic Storage: IT systems like databases and email servers are built for high IOPS (Input Output Operations Per Second). That’s fine for tiny, frequent operations like processing emails or database requests, but it fails under the sustained demands of high-bitrate video playback.

Media Storage: Shared video storage is optimized for high-bandwidth, low-latency transfers. It ensures reliable performance even during multi-stream 4K or 8K editing, no frame drops, no playback freezes, just uncomplicated real-time editing. This is essential for collaborative editing for Adobe Premiere Pro and DaVinci Resolve workflows.

Why it matters: Scrubbing through 8K RAW footage during a live client session? You need throughput, not IOPS. Media storage delivers performance you can count on.

2. File Management Tools That Actually Work for Video

Generic Storage: File services like Google Drive or Dropbox lack the intelligence to handle media workflows. Version control is clunky. Metadata is manual. Integrations with creative tools? Limited or nonexistent.

Media Storage: Media storage platforms include production asset management tools that allow smart versioning, automated metadata tagging, and seamless integration with NLEs like Adobe Premiere Pro, Avid, and DaVinci Resolve.

Why it matters: With advanced video review and approval software built into the workflow, your team stops wasting time searching for files and starts focusing on creativity.

3. Scaling Without Downtime or Drama

Generic IT Storage: Scaling often means downtime, migrations, and complex reconfigurations, aka production nightmares.

Media Storage: Media storage for remote post production teams scales. Add new nodes, expand bandwidth, or enable remote collaboration all without interrupting ongoing projects.

Why it matters: Need to onboard three new editors tomorrow? No problem. The system expands with you.

Signals That it’s Time to Upgrade Your Storage

SignalHow it Shows UpImpact
Playback Stutters4K & 8K timelines lag during collaborative editsKills creative flow and delays delivery
Version Control IssuesFiles get overwritten, final versions get lostCauses confusion and client frustration
Scaling PainsStorage runs out mid-projectLeads to missed deadlines
Slow Remote AccessFreelancers can’t access or upload footageBottlenecks distributed teams
Admin OverloadEditors manually tag and sort mediaReduces creative productivity

A Day in the Life: Collaboration in Action

Picture this: You’re in post on a global ad campaign. An editor scrubs through 8K timelines smoothly. Your colorist joins remotely to adjust the grade. The client reviews and approves clips in real time using your video review and approval software. Meanwhile, a new storage node is added overnight without downtime. That’s what the best shared storage for video editing teams enables.

Delays in post-production workflows can cost thousands per day in idle talent, missed deadlines, and rework. Investing in shared video storage prevents bottlenecks, protects your schedule, and supports real-time collaboration for every team member no matter where they are.

Why Media Teams Deserve Better

Media professionals shouldn’t have to wrestle with tech built for spreadsheets and PDFs. You need:

If you’re still relying on generic systems, you’re not just risking delays you’re leaving creative potential on the table.

Ready to Take Control of Your Media Workflow?

Don’t let outdated infrastructure hold you back. Download our latest in-depth whitepaper on media optimized shared storage and discover how to:

Download the Whitepaper Now and get the insights your team needs to stay fast, focused, and future ready.

EditShare’s EFS, FLOW and Mediasilo solutions combine high-performance shared storage with powerful workflow tools, purpose built for post production.

Introduction

Accidental leaks of pre-release content can lead to significant financial losses and reputational damage. For professionals in film, television, and corporate video production, safeguarding sensitive material is paramount. EditShare’s SafeStream technology provides a robust solution to prevent unauthorized distribution and trace leaks back to their source, making it a trusted and secure video sharing solution for modern workflows.

What Is SafeStream?

SafeStream is a real-time video watermarking technology that embeds both visible and invisible (forensic) watermarks into video content, ensuring each copy is uniquely traceable. This dual-layered approach not only deters unauthorized sharing but also facilitates accountability by identifying the source of any leaks. It’s ideal for use as a watermarked video sharing platform or video DRM platform for media screeners.

How SafeStream Works

Visible Watermarks

Visible watermarks display user-specific information directly on the video, such as the viewer’s name or email address. This personalization discourages recipients from sharing the content, as they know it can be traced back to them.

Forensic Watermarks

Forensic watermarks are invisible markers embedded within the video file. They allow content owners to trace the origin of a leak without altering the viewing experience. This is particularly useful when visible watermarks are not feasible and when using an embargoed content distribution tool is critical.

Benefits of Using SafeStream

Implementing SafeStream in Your Workflow

Integrating SafeStream into your post-production process is straightforward. It can be applied during content review stages, internal screenings, or when sharing with external stakeholders. By embedding watermarks at these critical points, you maintain control over your content throughout its lifecycle.

Conclusion

Accidental leaks can have devastating consequences for media professionals. SafeStream offers a proactive approach to content security, combining visible and forensic watermarking to deter unauthorized sharing and effectively trace leaks. By incorporating SafeStream into your workflow, you protect your content, your reputation, and your career with a best-in-class secure video sharing solution.

Ready to elevate your content security? Discover how SafeStream can protect your valuable assets, visit our website and schedule a demo today:


If you’re managing video production with traditional IT storage, chances are your team is running into performance issues—dropped frames, offline media, slow load times, and frustrated editors. And it’s not their fault. They’re doing high-stakes creative work with tools that weren’t designed for the job.

Here’s why it’s happening—and what to do about it.

The IT Storage Problem

Most general-purpose IT storage systems are built to handle lots of small files and transactions—think emails, documents, or databases. These are low-throughput, high-IOPS (input/output operations per second) environments.

Video is the opposite.

Editing high-resolution media requires sustained throughput to stream large video files in real time. When multiple editors are working simultaneously, that demand only increases. Traditional IT storage just wasn’t built for this kind of load, and trying to make it work can lead to serious performance bottlenecks and creative downtime.

Dropped Frames Are a Symptom—Not the Root Cause

Dropped frames, playback lag, and crashes are warning signs that your storage system is under stress. These issues can interrupt workflows, delay projects and make collaboration nearly impossible. Editors may spend more time waiting for media to load than actually cutting footage.

And when projects go offline or files disappear mid-edit, you’re not just losing time and money—you’re losing trust.

The Case for Purpose-Built Storage

At EditShare, we’ve spent over a decade solving these problems for media teams so they can worry about the finished product, not storage. Our EFS shared storage system is engineered from the ground up to support the unique needs of video production. That means:

The Bottom Line

If you’re still relying on traditional IT storage, your team is working harder than they need to. Creative professionals deserve a system that supports their workflow, not one that holds them back.

It’s time to upgrade to a storage platform built for media.


Looking for new ways to streamline your media workflows and get more done in less time? The latest FLOW media management update, FLOW 25.1.0, is packed with powerful updates designed to simplify your day-to-day, and now you can see it all in action.

In our latest webinar, Unlocking the Power of FLOW 25.1.0, EditShare’s Senior Product Manager Lucy Seaborne teams up with Global Pre-Sales Technical Manager Adam Lewiston to walk you through the latest features, enhancements, and real-world use cases for this exciting new release.

Whether you’re managing fast-turnaround productions or large-scale archival workflows, FLOW 25.1.0 delivers smarter ways to organize, automate, and collaborate.

Watch the webinar replay to learn:

✅ What’s new in FLOW 25.1.0, including UI improvements, workflow automations, and more

✅ How the latest updates can drive efficiency across your team

✅ Best practices for getting the most out of FLOW, straight from the experts who helped build it

Don’t miss your chance to get up to speed with everything the new release has to offer.

Access the webinar replay now (Free with registration)

Tape isn’t dead! While everyone’s out there singing the praises of cloud storage and trying not to choke on their monthly invoices, tape just keeps doing its thing: Reliable, Affordable, and Built for the long haul. Now we’ve got LTO 10, which is a huge upgrade.

Roadmap: 36 TB Raw Capacity 

The roadmap states that LTO 10 will double the raw capacity of LTO 9. If you’re dealing with 4K or 8K RAW footage or just have a mountain of footage that needs to be stored safely and long-term, that’s a big advancement. Fewer cartridges to manage. Less rack space and less shuffling around in the archive room. You will often see larger capacities being discussed, but that’s compressed, which is fine for CRMs or transactional data, but we can’t compress media. So we always work on the raw capacity. You will notice in the image below how it shows two sizes for LTO 10: compressed and raw. We are hearing that the LTO may be capped at 30TB at 400MB/s transfer speed. It’s early days, but we shall see how it pans out.

LTO storage graph

EditShare ARK and LTO 10 A Perfect Match

Here’s the good news: EditShare ARK will support LTO 10. There’s no need to change how your team works. Everything just runs like it always has, except now your shelves fill up a whole lot slower. That means you’re ready for whatever next-gen content you’re producing, whether that’s episodic 8K delivery, remastering old content in HDR or just trying not to get buried in files.

Now, if you have an existing LTO legacy deployment, let’s say LTO 4, you will need to migrate those tapes back to EFS, deploy a new LTO 10 tape device, and then re-archive them. But you get more than 10 tapes now condensed into one!

Compatibility

Let’s talk about the one weird anomaly. IBM’s datasheet for LTO 10 only says, “IBM LTO 10-tape drive can read and write to LTO Ultrium 10 cartridges.” They don’t mention backward compatibility at all. There is no promise that LTO 10 drives will read LTO 9 or anything older. That’s a break from how LTO has worked for years, where each new gen could usually read two generations back. If you’ve got a mountain of older tapes, you’ll either need to keep older drives around or run a migration strategy. But honestly, that’s just part of managing any archive.

LTO Still Makes Sense for Media Teams

Storage needs in media and entertainment are not shrinking. 8K VFX dailies, every project is bigger than the last. So when you get a format that gives you 36 TB per tape and runs for decades without a subscription attached, that’s worth paying attention to. Tape is a cost-effective long-term archival medium, complemented by our large. Adding EditShare ARK, which compliments FLOW asset management, means every asset that gets archived and FLOW knows its location. It keeps a proxy of that archived file always online, meaning you get a representation of that high-resolution file immediately. Its streamlined initiative and most important, fast. 

Final Word

Is LTO 10 perfect? Not quite. The missing backward compatibility might be a pain. But if you’re starting fresh, building new archives, or just want to stop adding shelves every quarter, LTO 10 is the biggest leap we’ve had in years.

Want to learn more?