Radisys Virtual Media Server: Putting our Latest Release into “Context”

Radisys Virtual Media Server: Putting our Latest Release into “Context” 

Our Radisys’ Media Server platform is used around the world – in many networks, in many locations within those networks, and for many applications:

• At the edge supplementing SBCs or media gateways transcoding real time and user generated content in high volume
• In the enterprise serving unified communications, contact center, and many other applications
• By over the top (OTT) services for social networking and business services
• To ensure public safety as a key component in critical communications systems for first responders
• By the world’s largest conferencing service providers enabling globe-spanning collaboration
• For user generated content delivery and optimization and for media analytics

With our latest Media Server release, we are focused on enabling developers and service providers to put revenue generating ideas like these into practice faster and at a larger scale than ever before. As the communications landscape brings together rich real-time communications with user generated audio and video content, our platform is built to support the next-gen user experience that is built on the “context” in which the user interacts. This could be anything from event-based phone calls or conference calls to anytime interactions such as group chats. Media Server provides a holistic media processing platform for all real-time and non-real-time media processing services and applications.

With our transcoding solution, we have proven that scaling media independently of third party signaling and control can save service providers significant OpEx and CapEx.   And with this release of our virtual media server, we are separating first party control and media as well, unlocking that same cost savings for many applications.

Breaking Down the Benefits

The MediaEngine Virtual Media Server is the industry’s first decomposed media server platform for NFV. With open APIs, it enables developers to support voice, video and content deliver services with unprecedented scale. This approach brings key benefits, including:

• Unmatched performance and scalability – at par with bare metal servers
• Flexibility in choice of cloud and NFV management environments – including ONAP, ETSI-NFV, Nokia Cloudband, HP OpenNFV VNF management, VMware, RedHat, KVM, OpenStack hypervisors, and Amazon EC2 platform
• Industry-best capacity – six to ten times better capacity than alternative solutions
• Hardware-assist for CapEx and OpEx savings – leverages additional hardware resources, such as DSPs and GPUs, to significantly reduce the datacenter footprint of media server and transcoding resources and save millions of dollars in costs

And while cost savings has been a hallmark of our platform’s position in the market based on our relentless efforts to squeeze even more out of Moore’s Law, this release marks acceleration of our increasing focus on developer enablement. Our vision of many services in many networks powered by our platform depends on applications that not only save our end customers money, but that can generate new revenues, scale on demand, and can be deployed and modified quickly.  

I’m excited about all the possibilities and new innovations that this MediaEngine Virtual Media Server will enable. You can learn more by downloading the solution brief here, or contact me at al.balasco@radisys.com.

About the Author

Al Balasco is the Head of Media, Core and Applications Business. Prior to his current role, he was the Sr. Director of Product Management for the Media Server business. Before joining Radisys in October 2010, Al was the Director of Product Management in Avaya Inc.’s Unified Communications business unit where he was responsible for the delivery of a variety of collaboration solutions and partnerships. Prior to Avaya, Mr. Balasco was the Vice President of Product Management at Spectel and was instrumental in defining the company’s VOIP conferencing and collaboration strategy. He also served as Director of Marketing for Sonexis Inc. and Director of Product Management at Brooktrout Software. Mr. Balasco has over 25 years of product management, business development and marketing experience in the telecommunications industry and has an MBA from Northeastern University in Boston.