Bel RTL & NETIA

Bel RTL, a Belgian radio of the RTL group, has several sites in Belgium: Brussels, Liege, Charleroi and Namur. Since 1998 RTL has progressively been digitizing these sites with NETIA's Radio Assist ^TM range of digital audio products. Bel RTL is a figurehead of technology particularly since evolving its system towards independent domains, namely Production, Playout, Archiving. Bel RTL is among those customers who have progressively become some of NETIA's privileged par tners. The work of listening and reflection by the teams of Bel RTL and NETIA has materialized with the evolution of the Radio-Assist ^TM 7 range: Air-DDO , the broadcasting software, is one of the best broadcasting interfaces of the market. The high-performance archiving and securing solutions of Radio-Assist ^TM 7 respond to the evolution of some important systems.

Automatic Archiving

Two automatic restoration modes

1. Manual restoration: when a user desires the restoration of a sound, it suffices to double-click on the database of archived sounds. The reverse process takes place: DIVA makes the sound in question accessible, Media Management transfers it to the appropriate server. Once the sound is available, all the system's stations are informed.
2. Automatic restoration: Radio Assist's FileWatch software ensures that all sounds needed for a broadcast are available. It regularly scans programming schedules and automatically sends a restoration order for any sound that is not on the server.

The Concept of Maximum Security

Bel RTL is composed of two, complementary software items DBShare and Media Management implanted at the level of the servers. The role of DBShare is to assure the non-stop functioning of the system, particularly in a degraded mode. Media Management is responsible for the permanent availability of conscripted files.
The combination of DBShare and Media Management brings a maximum security solution with the appearance of autonomous and individually secured subsystems (or domains). For Bel RTL, the placement of this very open structure also represents a step towards the future.

Media Management

NETIA's Media Management Automaton handles the entire flow of data (metadata and sound data) within a digital audio or video system. It is designed to monitor and transfer data automatically from one domain to another and to ensure that the domains remain fully independent. For instance, when an item is mar ked as RTA (Ready-To-Archive), it is automatically copied on the archive ser ver. Media Management operation is fully transparent and ensures the user has access to the requisite file wherever it is located on the system. The automatic Media Management device makes it easier to create specific domains for each activity (Production, Broadcast, Archiving, etc.). Each domain has its own structure: servers, database, etc. This separation of activities generates independent subsystems and guarantees greater security.

DBShare

NETIA's DBShare Automaton centralises all the communications with the Radio-Assist 7 database. By systematic and synchronous redundancy of all the metadata produced by the system, DBShare ensures the consistency of database contents. All databases are automatically synchronised. When an incident occurs on one database, DBShare automatically switches over to another one and archives all the queries made during and after the incident. The switch is completely transparent for all client workstations.
When conditions return to normal, the memorised queries are automatically executed and the database fully restored. Both databases are resynchronised and no data is lost.