EVS XFly Use and care manual

Technical Reference
Hardware
April 2012
Portable NAS Storage Platform

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XFly – Version 1.0 – Hardware Technical Reference Manual
EVS Broadcast Equipment– April 2012
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COPYRIGHT
EVS Broadcast Equipment – Copyright © 2012. All rights reserved.
DISCLAIMER
The information in this manual is furnished for informational use only and subject
to change without notice. While every effort has been made to ensure that the
information contained in this user manual is accurate, up-to-date and reliable,
EVS Broadcast Equipment cannot be held responsible for inaccuracies or errors
that may appear in this publication.
IMPROVEMENT REQUESTS
Your comments will help us improve the quality of the user documentation. Do not
hesitate to send improvement requests, or report any error or inaccuracy on this
user manual by e-mail to [email protected].
REGIONAL CONTACTS
The address and phone number of the EVS headquarters are usually mentioned in
the Help >About menu in the user interface.
You will find the full list of addresses and phone numbers of local offices either at
the end of this user manual (for manuals on hardware products) or on the EVS
website on the following page: http://www.evs.tv/contacts.
USER MANUALS ON EVS WEBSITE
The latest version of the user manual, if any, and other user manuals on EVS
products can be found on the EVS download center, on the following webpage:
http://www.evs.tv/downloadcenter.

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Table of Contents
TABLE OF CONTENTS .................................................................................................III
WHAT’S NEW?..............................................................................................................IV
1. INTRODUCTION.....................................................................................................1
2. TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS............................................................................. 2
2.1 OS AND SOFTWARE..................................................................................................................2
2.2 HARDWARE................................................................................................................................2
2.2.1 Front Panel.............................................................................................................................2
2.2.2 Rear Panel..............................................................................................................................3
2.2.3 Rack........................................................................................................................................4
2.2.4 PC Characteristics ..................................................................................................................4
2.2.5 Storage Characteristics...........................................................................................................4
3. CONFIGURATION.................................................................................................. 5
3.1 GIGABIT ETHERNET..................................................................................................................5
3.2 EVS SERVER CONFIGURATION...............................................................................................5
3.2.1 Network...................................................................................................................................5
3.2.2 Linx Protocol...........................................................................................................................5
4. WORKFLOWS........................................................................................................6
4.1 IPDIRECTOR WORKFLOW WITH TRANSFER TO AVID...........................................................6
4.2 STREAMING WORKFLOW WITH XFLY STREAMER.................................................................9
4.3 BACKUP CLIP FROM EVS SERVER VIA XTRACT..................................................................12
4.4 RESTORE ELEMENT TO EVS SERVER VIA XTRACT............................................................14
5. PERFORMANCES................................................................................................ 16
5.1 PERFORMANCE DIAGRAMS...................................................................................................16
5.2 TEAMING LACP........................................................................................................................17
NOTES.......................................................................................................................... 21

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What’s New?
This manual presents the features of the first version of XFly.
In the future user manuals, the icon will be added on left margin to highlight
information on new and updated features.

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1. Introduction
XFly is a brand new compact and portable storage platform intended for extended
live production operations. The storage case encloses eight removable standard
SATA hard disk drives (2.5 inches) offering up to 8TB storage with a maximum
capacity of 140 hours of HD at 100Mbps.
This new portable system is designed to offer EVS XT/XS server series operators
an easy way to back clips and feeds up. When live shooting is completed, the
operator can simply transport the entire production; including program feed, multi-
camera angles, best shots and highlights in a single storage case. When arriving
at the booth from the shooting area, XFly is simply plugged into Avid or FCP
allowing editors to immediately begin their creative tasks.

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2. Technical
Specifications
2.1 OS AND SOFTWARE
XFly operates under Windows 7 Pro Embedded X64.
XTAccess is automatically installed, as well as the following utilities: Adobe
Reader, XML Notepad 2007 and Kasperski Antivirus.
2.2 HARDWARE
2.2.1 FRONT PANEL
The following elements are on the front panel of XFly
•one USB port
•one power switch
•one power LED
•one HDD LED

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2.2.2 REAR PANEL
Number Element
1 1 x eSATA port
2 1X DVI-D port
3 2 x Ethernet Gigabit ports compatible JumboFrame 9K
4 Mouse connector
5 Keyboard connector
6 4 x USB ports
7 1 x VGA connector
8 3x RS232 port DB9-M and 1X RS422 port DB9-F
The port number 2 is configured as RS422 for EVS video server
control.
9 Audio connectors
10 S/PDIF connector
11 Power supply connector

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2.2.3 RACK
XFly is presented as a portable box with a mini tower orientation.
Two XFly units can also be assembled side-by-side in a 3U rackmounted cabine.
The kit is available upon request.
Note
Even if assembled, the 2 units operate separately
Each XFly has a single power supply. So no redundancy is possible.
2.2.4 PC CHARACTERISTICS
•Motherboard Core i5 660 3.3Ghz
•DRAM 4GB (1GB shared with graphic cart)
•HDD for OS and software is a 30GB SSD (= flash disk, this induces no
partition for restore > restore files are saved to HDD RAID = +/-20GB )
•Graphic card onboard with dual screen capabilities and 1 DVI-D port (D >
digital only)
•Audio card onboard
2.2.5 STORAGE CHARACTERISTICS
STORAGE NAS
•8x HDD SATA 1TB
•Disk pack
•RAID 5 (means total capacity is less then 7TB)
•LSI 9260 RAID controller
SATA HDD
•SATA available capacities = 500GB and 1TB (= EVS standard configuration)

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3. Configuration
3.1 GIGABIT ETHERNET
All the servers, where the trains and clips should be browsed and backed up, have
to be connected on the same Gigabit Ethernet as the XFly. The IP address range
and the subnet mask should match XFly/XTAccess LAN settings.
Default Gateway settings are available if the servers and workstations are spread
in different VLANs.
Some limitations and recommendations exist on the Gigabit connections:
•6 accesses maximum per HiRes server
•30 accesses per LowRes server
•Gigabit connections manage Ethernet frame size: Original (1500) or Jumbo
Frames (9000 bytes of payload (MTU)) which offer better performances around
30%. If XFly/XTAccess workstations should negotiate jumbo frames with
servers, all Gigabit Ethernet NICs and switches have to be configured in order
to support this frame size.
3.2 EVS SERVER CONFIGURATION
3.2.1 NETWORK
Once Multicam is launched on the EVS server, the Gigabit connection settings and
PC LAN connections settings are located in the Multicam Configuration window, in
the Server and Network tabs. Refer to EVS Servers Configuration manuals.
Set IP Addresses, Subnet Mask and Default Gateway and press ALT+A to apply
modifications.
3.2.2 LINX PROTOCOL
XTract and XFly Streamer software require LINX protocol to operate. Please check
if Code 123 is activated on the EVS Server.

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4. Workflows
The following overviews are simple workflows involving XFly system and EVS
software. For each software please refer to the related user manual for complete
details of use and configuration.
4.1 IPDIRECTOR WORKFLOW WITH
TRANSFER TO AVID
IP DIRECTOR CONFIGURATION
The first step of the configuration is to create 1 XML unit to point to XFly unit.
An XML unit is a folder located on the network and scanned by the XTAccess
application. XTAccess is designed to manage clip transfers on the network using
the EVS server Gigabit feature. The XML job files corresponding to a backup
request or a clip export to AVID system will be sent to this XML unit.
1. From Remote Installer/ Edit Workgroup parameters, select the’ XML Unit’ tab

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2. Click on the ‘New’ button to add a new unit.
A new line is added in the unit list.
3. Give a Name: Click in the Name column and give a name to the unit.
4. Define Path: Click on the Browse button to select the folder where the
XML files will be sent. This folder should be a UNC path to the network
locations where the folder exists.
Note 1
This folder must correspond to the XFly/XTAccess XML folder which
will effectively manage the transfer. Be sure this folder is shared
with full access rights.
Note 2
Only UNC DNS name or IP address path are valid. (Ex:
\\XFLY53210\XFLY_XML\, \\1.1.1.100\XFLY_XML\)
No local paths are valid.

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5. Default: If the unit is to be defined as the default unit for all workstations,
check the box in the default column of the unit.
6. Specify the Unit Type: Use the IP option for XTAccess folder
Inside the XML Unit tab, the View config button will display this status as long as
the XTAccess is launched and scanning the XML Unit folders
Please refer to the IPDirector Technical Reference manual for complete
information about XML unit creation.
XFLY /XTACCESS CONFIGURATION
XFly folder structure hosts the AVID Folder structure, i.e. :
•[Drive_Letter]:\Avid MediaFiles\MXF\1
•[Drive_Letter]:\Avid MediaFiles\MXF\2
•…
These folders must be shared to ‘Everyone’ with full access rights. The shared
name will be the name used by IPDirector Target configuration as well as in
XTAccess.
AVID CONFIGURATION (STANDALONE MODE)
As the XFly will be connected as a network drive for the Avid MediaComposer, it is
useful to enable the scan of the network drive by Avid Media Composer. This is
achieved by typing the following command in the Avid MediaComposer console:
“Alldrives 1” (to scan only hard drives, the command is “Alldrives 2”)

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4.2 STREAMING WORKFLOW WITH XFLY
STREAMER
To start the recording, proceed as follows:
1.
The local XTAccess and its related XML unit is already started and
minimized in the task bar.
2. Click the shortcut to launch the XFly Streamer software. The screen will
always appear as follows:

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3. Select the XFly hardware and the processing device i.e. XTAccess from the
two drop-down lists in the upper left corner. The local system and software,
if present, always appear at the top of the list.
4. Then set a server type to display the servers list:
5. Into the server list, click the arrow to display the list of available channels:
The selected channel is now displayed in the channel area with thumbnails
generation to preview the channel:
6. Repeat step 5 to select all channels desired.
7. Check and if necessary modify the wrapper selected, the path to save the
file, the format string for automatic filenaming and/or the maximum duration.
8. Then click REC command to start the recording:
The REC command lights red and a red frame is displayed around each
channel. All selections and settings are disabled during the recording.

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9. Click STOP command to stop the recording.
Note
As the backup files need to close properly, it can however take
some time before all jobs are finalized.

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4.3 BACKUP CLIP FROM EVS SERVER VIA
XTRACT
The Backup window is open by default when you launch the application.
The window is divided in four panes:
Server Visibility
This pane displays the three families of EVS video servers which can be seen by
XTract: XT[2]/XT[2]+, XS and XTnano. Select one or several server types you want
to appear in the backup servers list.
Select backup servers
This pane displays a list of all available XT[2]/XT[2]+, XS and XTnano servers
found on the network after a discovery process. This list is based on the selection
made in Server Visibility.
At any time, you can refresh this list and start a new discovery process, by

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clicking on the Refresh List button.
Once the list is displayed, select all servers on which you want to perform a
backup. Thus, all files tagged as “to be archived” by the server operator will be
copied to the storage unit.
Browse or type destination folder
This pane displays the destination folder (server on the network, disk and folder
on this disk) for all files that are going to be backed up.
You can either enter directly the path to this directory or browse to it using the
Browse button.
Choose File Format
Select the format of the backup file among the available formats. Please note that,
in an XTract system, XTAccess does not perform any file format transcoding.

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4.4 RESTORE ELEMENT TO EVS SERVER VIA
XTRACT
The window displays only a Server Visibility pane and a Select restore servers
pane, which is similar to the one in the BACKUP window.
Server Visibility
This pane displays the three families of EVS video servers which can be seen by
XTract: XT[2]/XT[2]+, XS and XTnano. Select one or several server types you want
to appear in the restore servers list.
Select Restore Servers
The pane displays a list of all available XT[2]/XT[2]+, XS and XTnano servers
found on the network after a discovery process. This list is based on the selection
made in Server Visibility.