Around 1990, with Argentina in full privatization boom, over-the-air television signals they left the bosom of the State and passed into the hands of the companies. In that context Artear is born, a company of the Clarín Group (the main media conglomerate) of the country), as the producer of Channel 13 of Buenos Aires. Among others achievements, was the first to equip its plant with digital technology and also the pioneer in transmitting its programming in stereo.
In this line of technological advancement, the company outlined as one of its objectives basic placement of most of its activities in line. One of the main requirements was as simple as it was important: "We have a base of journalists who wanted to access and dump information from anywhere in the world comments Gustavo Goenaga, head of technology at Artear. All of them went up or read cables and needed to be able to continue with this activity, regardless of the physical place in which they were located.".
Faced with this problem, the company's systems area began to analyze the different solutions on the market, until he found a very unusual alternative in the television and video segment: the concept of OneNet, of Novell, which proposes to visualize the entire technology infrastructure, regardless of server or computer brands, operating systems or software to be used, as a single network.
"We managed to make a user enters the systems for the only time, which puts in only an opportunity your username and password, and that you can browse, through an internet browser , by all applications of the system to which he is allowed to enter," says Julio Locatelli, of the Area of Network Administration, of Artear. The manager emphasizes which is very common in companies of the size of this production company, which users of computer systems must place repeatedly different passwords each time they need to use a new application or other service.
This access capability through a single password does not involve only to the company's employees. "With the password and the appropriate permissions, any outside person can also enter and use the systems."
For everyone
This ability to give access to everyone allowed to expand the project spectrum: now not only involves employees, but also to suppliers, customers and business partners, that can perform all their interactions with Artear (material orders) or advertising orders, e.g. electronically, through applications ready to be used on the Internet.
The associated amplitude also new problems. It is essential, within the context in the that this onenet concept has been implemented, also decide the levels of security necessary so that the flexibility of the system does not play against it. This was solved thanks to a management tool of users, also from the company Novell, called iChain. "We drive all the security as if it were a simple network," says Locatelli.
The same flexibility, however, he also offered a solution. "Artear it's a very large company, which can't be attached to a technology brand in particular Locatelli recounts. At some particular times certain computer tools are required to cover certain needs, and not always the same brand provides all the solutions".
The OneNet concept allowed them to advance the strategy of dumping everything on the internet without need to discard the above technologies. In Artear coexist Macintosh computers with AS/400 systems, IBM, Windows computers, servers Unix and computers running Novell's operating system, NetWare.
"We integrate from simple way all these technologies, even equipment usually considered difficult in this regard, such as Macintosh or AS/400", highlights Goenaga. This can also lead to certain complications: "There are to be very careful, because being all interconnected, when they are made modifications, the scopes that can occur are very difficult to foresee", completes Locatelli.
The infrastructure of Artear, today united under the onenet concept, includes 400 computers for end users, ten servers (including NetWare, Unix, and AS/400) and a Hitachi Storage Area Network (SAN), "which offers us almost infinite storage capabilities, " according to Locatelli.
A question proprietary
The new strategy of dumping all Artear's operations on the internet, it also brought important cultural changes on which it was necessary to work. One of the fundamentals: users have nothing on the machine. Everything remains as an integral part of the company's network.
This, in an environment where information is synonymous with "belonging" for who generated it, can be a conflict. "We appeal to policies and the company's procedures, which clearly indicate that the information it's owned by the company," Goenaga says, though he acknowledges that there were certain initial resistances that were overcome without major complications.
For the manager, the cultural error about the ownership of the information stored in the Company computers are born many times in the area of systems. "The systems belong to the companies, not the users; the the issue of belonging is not something about which the latter should be convinced, but something that must be defined, without giving rise to doubt."
If they are taken as an example the information cables, the process is as follows: the journalist enters the information in text format, which is automatically converted HTML format; this material is received by news anchors, they just need to see their screens and read them on the air. Common see in the informative programs produced by Artear, that its presenters have notebook computers on their desks, where they get the news last minute without further delay.
Throughout this process, no one stores information on "their" computer, as if it were own material, but everything will be part of the storage network Mentioned.
On the sidelines of the discussion in terms of ownership, the process on information cables described accelerated much the task of the presenters of the channels of the interior of the country that Artear program, since the information is available for they at the same moment in which it is generated, without delay for transfers or communication problems. The only thing that is needed in the destination (which can be Cordoba or Bahía Blanca, both cities approximately 800 kilometers from Buenos Aires) is a computer that supports a browser of the internet.
On-demand solutions
OneNet flexibility brought concrete solutions to the production area of Artear, beyond the circuits that the information follows and that they were already commented.
For example, during the launch of a contest program for aspiring singers called "Escalera a la fama", which was published on islands located outside the Artear office, it was necessary to have a scheme of transfer of the material in record time.
The decided alternative by Artear was as follows: all the Macintoshes of the islands were connected editing via fiber links against servers in the company, in such a way that the material was lifted, immediately, in the Artear offices. Even, the material arrived rendered and saved without intermediaries in the company's storage network. "They did drag and drop files larger than two gigabytes and material it moved to our SAN network in just seconds," says Locatelli.
Further of point solutions such as the one mentioned, the truth is that for the moment applications related mainly to the administrative and with the handling of text.
In the future they will be managed alternatives to also include audio and video. "We treat to pass solutions that have to do with the treatment of video such as, by example, make the transfer of material more modern, through lines high bandwidth and removing some satellite links, but it's all just in the project stage", concludes Locatelli.
Sometimes it is difficult migration, due to the existence of some previous systems that they work very well. For example, the programming of the cable channel Volver, owned by the production company, it is managed with a specialized robot that has a scheduled work schedule and that loads and unloads the material automatically.
The systems area de Artear is completely dedicated to supporting the business of the production company, from all aspects: the commercial (through management systems) for customers and suppliers that are already available on the internet, with the purpose that they can be accessed easily and without costs medium), and the operational (thanks to solutions that facilitate the work of journalists and editors, who can access the material more fluently).
In this sense, expects the project to continue to grow, to cover absolutely all the activities that are developed within the company.
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