DreamWorks Animation’s Hybrid Cloud Journey: A Step-by-Step Guide to Data-Driven Creativity

Summary

This article provides a guide to building a hybrid cloud infrastructure inspired by DreamWorks Animation’s successful partnership with NetApp. It outlines the steps DreamWorks took to optimize its data storage and management, enabling greater flexibility, scalability, and creative freedom. By following these steps, other organizations can learn how to leverage a hybrid cloud approach to enhance their workflows and achieve similar success.

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Main Story

Okay, let’s talk about DreamWorks Animation. You know, the folks behind Shrek, How to Train Your Dragon, and Trolls? They’re not just making amazing movies; they’re also wrestling with some serious data challenges. I mean, each of their films generates a petabyte of data – that’s billions of files! They need that data accessible for their artists and rendering processes, and that’s where their partnership with NetApp comes in. It’s a story about how they’ve built a robust hybrid cloud system, and frankly, it’s pretty inspiring. So, let’s break down the steps, shall we? It might just give you some ideas for your own business.

First things first: Step 1: Figure Out Your Data Needs. Before jumping into any solutions, you’ve gotta understand what you’re dealing with. DreamWorks knew that, with each new film, their data needs were getting more complex. They needed something that could handle huge amounts of data, deliver high performance for those demanding rendering tasks, and allow everyone, no matter where they were, to collaborate easily. So take a hard look at your own data demands. What’s the volume? How fast is it changing? What kind of data are you working with? What bottlenecks are you experiencing? You need to diagnose the pain points before you can fix ’em!

Next, Step 2: Embrace the Hybrid Cloud. DreamWorks realized that a hybrid approach was the way to go. It’s about balancing cost and performance, so they use NetApp’s on-premises storage for the stuff that needs to be done super fast, like rendering and other high performance tasks. Then, they leverage cloud services for scalability and flexibility. Sounds smart, right? You need to ask yourself: what’s the right mix for your company? Think about security, compliance, and latency requirements. It’s a balancing act, but getting it right makes a huge difference.

And speaking of getting it right, Step 3: Partner Up with a Solid Storage Provider. DreamWorks’ partnership with NetApp has been key to their success. NetApp offers a variety of tools – all-flash arrays, hybrid arrays, object storage, and cloud data services – that all work together seamlessly. You’ve got to find a technology partner that can offer a complete suite of data management tools that are tailored to your needs. It’s not just about finding a vendor, it’s about finding a partner that’s going to help you scale. So really do your research, think about scalability, security, and integration with your existing stuff.

Then we have Step 4: Prioritize Speed and Growth. Animation rendering requires serious computing power, so DreamWorks use NetApp’s all-flash arrays for the speed they need. They also use things like FlexCache to make data access faster and StorageGRID for archiving. Your solutions need to handle the highest demands and scale as your data needs expand. If you want to stay ahead, explore stuff like all-flash storage, caching, and automated tiering. It’s all about efficiency, isn’t it?

Then, and this is super important, Step 5: Protect Your Data. Data loss can be a total disaster, and DreamWorks knows this. They use NetApp SnapMirror to replicate data and keep it highly available, which ensures data’s protected and accessible even if, heaven forbid, something terrible happens. So, you’ve got to have a solid disaster recovery plan, including regular backups, data replication, and those failover mechanisms. Automate everything you can! Minimize downtime and data loss.

And it’s not just about hardware. Step 6: Foster Collaboration. A hybrid cloud environment allows DreamWorks to support their people all over the world, so they can get access to the resources they need. You’ll need solutions that make it easy for teams to collaborate and share data across locations. Cloud platforms, data synchronization tools, secure access—these are all important tools in the modern world.

Finally, Step 7: Always Evolve. The tech world is constantly changing and DreamWorks understands that they can’t just rest on their laurels. They work with NetApp to develop new solutions and improve their workflows. You should always be reviewing and improving your data management strategies to make sure they are meeting your ever-evolving needs. And you should embrace the new stuff—it’s all about staying ahead! It isn’t enough just to implement. You have to keep it fresh.

So there you have it. DreamWorks isn’t just about making films; they are actually pioneers in managing big data. By following their lead, you can also build a cloud infrastructure that enhances productivity and empowers your people to be creative and unlock the full potential of your data. Pretty cool, huh? Because like DreamWorks brings amazing stories to life, you, with your data, can achieve amazing things too.