Oscar-Nominated Film Creator Uses Clustered Storage to Cross New Frontiers in Animation

Oscar-Nominated Film Creator Uses Clustered Storage to Cross New Frontiers in Animation

DNA Productions Deploys Isilon IQ Clustered Storage to Deliver Animation with Unprecedented Speed and Realism

SEATTLE, Aug. 3 /PRNewswire/ -- Isilon(R) Systems, the premier provider of intelligent clustered storage, announced today at SIGGRAPH 2005 that DNA Productions has deployed Isilon IQ as its primary clustered storage system. DNA Productions, whose 2001 film Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius received an Oscar(R) nomination for Best Animated Feature, recently installed a state-of-the-art computer rendering infrastructure that includes more than 50 terabytes of Isilon IQ clustered storage to deliver new levels of animation to moviegoers. The company, which is leveraging its technology to deliver unparalleled quality, efficiency and detail, has produced, directed and written award-winning animation since 1987 in conjunction with leading studios such as Paramount, Fox and Nickelodeon.

"Audiences expect us to deliver breakthrough visual effects and animation as part of the stories we tell, and as such our films are incredibly complex to create," said Rich Hirneise, DNA Productions.

With its fully distributed and linearly scalable architecture, Isilon IQ enables DNA Productions to harness the sheer computing muscle of its render farm to achieve new levels of realism for animating complex events such as the rippling of water, the movement of grass and the texture of human skin -- a few of the vital elements used to better tell stories and captivate audiences.

"We looked at nearly every SAN and NAS storage system and ultimately selected Isilon IQ because it allows us to deliver better results, more quickly and with less cost," said Brian Chacon, DNA Productions.

Isilon IQ allows DNA Productions to centralize its storage and distribute its data between clusters with Isilon SyncIQ(TM) replication software, all while delivering unprecedented business benefits. With its networked storage interconnected through low-latency, high performance TopSpin(R) InfiniBand(R) switches, Isilon IQ enables DNA Productions to satisfy immense throughput requirements and easily and reliably expand its storage without any downtime, even while running active render jobs.

"Through the use of innovative technologies, DNA Productions is further revolutionizing the way animated stories are created and told," said Brett Goodwin, vice president of marketing and business development for Isilon Systems. "Isilon IQ clustered storage and our OneFS distributed file system software allow DNA Productions to deliver animation faster and more efficiently than ever before."

Isilon IQ, the first clustered storage system to offer low-latency InfiniBand for intracluster communication, can scale to more than 150 terabytes of capacity, delivers up to three gigabytes/second of total throughput from a single file system and offers more than four gigabytes of cache memory in each node -- allowing DNA Productions to perform its work more efficiently and freeing its IT resources to concentrate on more vital matters.

Unlike most traditional storage systems, which require costly custom hardware delivered in complex, monolithic architectures, the Isilon IQ family of clustered storage systems offers unmatched mission-critical performance in a modular form factor that uses intelligent software coupled with industry-standard hardware. By creating a single, modular, expandable pool of networked storage, Isilon IQ enables organizations to reliably add tens, hundreds, or even thousands of terabytes of capacity -- dramatically reducing both capital acquisition and ongoing IT management costs.

Isilon also recently announced the next generation of its award-winning Isilon IQ family of clustered storage systems -- the Isilon IQ 1920, 3000 and 4800 -- powered by the latest version of Isilon's award-winning OneFS(TM) distributed file system software.

About DNA Productions

A full-service animation company based in Dallas, Texas, DNA Productions, Inc. has produced, directed and written award-winning animation since 1987. In addition to Jimmy Neutron, some of the company's notable projects include animation on the Emmy nominated holiday special "Olive the Other Reindeer" for the Curiosity Company and Fox. DNA also wrote, directed and produced the 3D animated Christmas special "Santa versus the Snowman" for O Entertainment, which runs in IMAX theaters during the holiday season.

About Isilon Systems

Isilon is the premier provider of intelligent clustered storage systems. Isilon's award-winning family of Isilon IQ products consists of high-performance clustered storage systems that combine an intelligent distributed file system with modular industry-standard hardware to deliver unmatched simplicity and scalability. Isilon IQ was designed for digital content and use in data-intensive markets such as media and entertainment, digital imaging, life sciences, oil and gas and government. The Seattle-based company is financed by Lehman Brothers Venture Partners, Sequoia Capital, Atlas Venture, Madrona Venture Group and Focus Ventures. For more information, please visit: http://www.isilon.com/ .

NOTE: The names of companies mentioned herein are the trademarks of their respective owners.

Source: Isilon Systems

CONTACT: media, Rachelle Lockhart of SS+K, +1-212-419-3326, or rlockhart@ssk.com, for Isilon Systems

Web site: http://www.isilon.com/

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