Overview

Capacity, storage, memory. Three similar terms regularly associated as a primary metric in video server specifications. The terms understandably are the easiest to market, yet seldom do they accurately describe overall system specification. As video server systems become more sophisticated, more widely accepted, and more diversified in their applications, users are provided with a greater number of options and configurations with which to deploy the server into their facility. To satisfy the understanding of capabilities and expectations, users need to have broader understandings of the video servers' differences and capabilities.

Terminology is important to defining capability. While standards for subsystems such as RAID arrays, MPEG-2 or DV compression, component digital interfaces and the like carry well-established industry nomenclatures, most of the video server systems carry marketing terms that define their functions, options and capacities.