Shaw Deploys Verivue MDX 9200 Series Media Distribution Switch

Shaw Communications has deployed Verivue MDX 9200 Series Media Distribution Switch to support the expansion of Shaw Video on Demand service for both high definition (HD) and in standard definition (SD) content to customers in the Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary and Winnipeg metropolitan areas.

Jim Dolce, CEO at Verivue (News - Alert), said that Shaw has chosen the company's MDX 9000 Series products to manage the rapid growth in video traffic generated by an ever-expanding customer base in search of advanced digital services.

MDX has been modeled after the blade server concept. It integrates servers, storage, networking and applications into a unified platform. Company officials said that its modular design offers a 'true alternative' to sprawling racks of servers, hard disk drives, network adapters, cables and supporting LAN switches cluttering already overburdened data centers.

The two models of MDX 9000 family are the high capacity MDX 9200 and the new MDX 9020 offering mid-range stream capacity. Company officials said that these two systems -- when deployed together in a content delivery network (CDN) -- cooperate to 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 is expected to be expanded soon to include the smaller, complementary MDX 9020 at the edge.

'The growth and popularity of VOD service, along with the shift to HD content, creates a whole new set of challenges for cable operators like Shaw,' Dolce said, adding that the MDX 9200 provides the performance, scale and reliability Shaw needed to address these changing requirements while reducing total cost of ownership.

Westford, Mass.-based Verivue develops and markets IP platforms. The Company offers solutions for Internet video, cable video and IPTV (News - Alert)applications. Earlier last year in March, the company announced the expansion of its media distribution portfolio and introduced the MDX9020 Media Distribution Switch.

Anshu Shrivastava is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To read more of Anshu's articles, please visit her columnist page.

Edited by Alice Straight