The Challenge: An Urgent Replacement Reveals a Bigger Problem
A player preparing to face an opponent may need to review footage of a previous matchup to identify patterns and anticipate the next play. A coach may want footage revealing an issue with their player’s stance. Those questions can arise before a game or in the middle of one, and the relevant video may be years old or from the last play.
For this organization, making that information available depended on behind-the-scenes work. Previously, an administrator traveled with the team, collected requests, and downloaded selected footage in advance. The archive held hundreds of terabytes of video, but local access depended on what someone had anticipated users would need. The immediate requirement was clear: replace the disk-based storage system that traveled with the team with a more capable platform. With the season approaching, the organization needed to address the mobile storage requirement first.
The traveling system was part of a fragmented environment that also included an older, siloed storage system at the home venue, cloud storage, and third-party software to move data between locations. Staff managed a workflow with multiple moving parts, while users experienced latency issues and inconsistent access across the environment.
Preloading footage helped prepare for known requests, but it could not account for every question. If a player wanted to review an unexpected historical matchup, the relevant clip might not be in the local selection. Access to information depended on a request-and-copy process, creating a gap between the archive the organization owned and the content available where decisions happened. A last-minute request to review an opponent’s archival video may reveal a subtle cue that helps a player anticipate the next move and create a scoring opportunity.
Qumulo was brought in to solve the urgent mobile storage problem. However, as the teams examined the workflow, the opportunity expanded: why not consolidate the archive and its access points so users could reach the broader dataset without asking an administrator to prepare each selection?
Qumulo Solution: Connecting the Archive to the Team
The organization adopted a phased approach, deploying 30 TB of Qumulo Edge storage for its traveling environment before the season began. It then selected Microsoft Azure as its cloud provider to host its central video archive, creating a cloud hub that connects to the traveling environment through Qumulo Cloud Data Fabric.
By bringing storage and data movement together, Qumulo eliminates the need for separate third-party data-movement applications and manually maintained copies of the archive at each location. Instead of asking staff to anticipate requests and prepare a limited selection of footage, players and coaches can use their existing application to explore the broader archive from the remote edge location. Local caching brings relevant content closer to users, while accessing uncached content uses connectivity to the cloud hub.
The simpler architecture also strengthens the business case. Compared with the previous combination of cloud storage and third-party data-movement tools, Qumulo with Cloud Data Fabric offers estimated annual savings of $15,000–$20,000 for this use case.
With the mobile edge and cloud hub now deployed, the organization has reported positive early feedback. The next planned phase would extend the architecture to replace storage at the home venue, creating a consistent environment across locations. This phased approach addresses the immediate storage need while establishing a foundation for broader access and simpler operations. Ultimately, this competitive edge both on and off the field can make a world of difference.
Business Impact
A timely foundation for work on the road
The initial Qumulo Edge deployment addressed the traveling storage requirement before the season began, without waiting to replace the entire environment.
Broader access with less manual preparation
The connected architecture enables players and coaches to access the full video archive and reduces the need for administrators to stage individual selections in advance.
A simpler, more economical architecture
Cloud Data Fabric brings data movement into the storage architecture. The cost analysis estimated $15,000–$20,000 in annual savings compared with the existing cloud storage and third-party data-movement combination.
A model for distributed work
The same challenge appears wherever people need large file archives away from a central site, from production crews to engineering teams and field operations. Connecting a central archive to local access points puts information where work happens, without requiring staff to anticipate every request, manage multiple copies, or incur increased expense.
The Takeaway: Your Data. Wherever Work Happens.
Professional sports may be a specialized environment, but the underlying infrastructure challenge is familiar across industries.
A coach needs archival footage during a game. A production team needs media from another location. An engineering team needs access to a large dataset in the field. A business opens a new site and needs the same data available there without building another isolated copy.
The details change, but the infrastructure question remains the same:
How quickly can you put the right data where people need it?
For this organization, the answer was a connected Qumulo architecture spanning its traveling environment and a central Microsoft Azure cloud hub through Qumulo Cloud Data Fabric. Instead of relying on administrators to anticipate requests and manually copy and stage selected footage, players and coaches can reach a broader video archive through the applications they already use.
The takeaway extends far beyond professional sports:
A distributed data strategy isn't simply about storing files in more places. It's about making the full value of your data available wherever the work happens, without copying and moving it manually.
Your data, where the work happens.