Network switch maker and video solutions developer Verivue Inc. says Canadian cable operator Shaw Communications will be using its MDX 9200 Series Media Distribution Switch to help 
the cableco bring HD and SD Video on Demand service to customers in the Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary and Winnipeg metro areas.
The MDX integrates servers, storage, networking and applications into a unified platform that takes up less space by integrating servers, drives, adapters and supporting LAN switches. The deployment will give Shaw increased scale and reliability as well as reducing its overhead in a market segment that continues to expand.
"The growth and popularity of video on demand service, along with the shift to High Definition content, creates a whole new set of challenges for cable operators like Shaw," said Jim Dolce, CEO of the Westford, Mass.-based company.
The move to MDX, with its solid-state storage subsystem, a fully integrated shared storage solution built directly into the chassis, also provides an energy efficient storage solution designed exclusively for media delivery that offers significantly higher streaming performance and reliability when compared to hard disk drives or conventional solid state drives.
The MDX 9000 family includes two models--the high-capacity MDX 9200, and the new MDX 9020 offering mid-range stream capacity. When deployed together in a content delivery network (CDN), these two systems cooperate to dynamically push popular content closer to the customer, freeing up capacity on the IP backbone and lowering delivery costs. Shaw's initial deployment of MDX 9200 systems will soon be expanded to include the smaller, complementary MDX 9020 at the edge.
Verivue launched in late 2006 with Dolce, a former Juniper Networks exec, and Sonus Networks co-founders Rubin Gruber and Mike Hluchyi as the core of the eight-person start. The company attracted $25 million in funding in 2007 and $40 million more in 2008 from an investor class that includes Arris, Sigma & Partners, Accel, North Bridge, Comcast Interactive Capital, Spark Capital and Matrix Partners. It brought its first products to market last year. In addition to cable operators, the company's products are targeted at telcos and content delivery networks as well.
For more:
- see this release
- see this product data