Acknowledgments

Books like these cannot be brought forth without an enormous amount of support from colleagues, friends, and professionals who devote their lives and careers to the betterment of the industry as a whole. I have been fortunate over my career spanning some 35 years in broadcasting and systems engineering to have worked with and been surrounded by the best of the best. Through a continued involvement with the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) since the early 1980s, it has been an ambition of mine to convey the knowledge gained to the up-and-comers of this profession.

Purpose of this book: to help inform and extend value to my colleagues and all those who read this book is this author’s greatest hope.

I would like to thank some particularly influential people who have helped make this book, and my previous books, successful and those who have supported my writing and made it possible for me to convey the knowledge I have accrued. First, it is important to recognize my editor at TV Technology, Tom Butts, who has supported the longest running column about video and media server technologies, which I have anchored for more than 15 years. The feature column of “Media Server Technologies” has appeared monthly in the magazine and on the Web for well over 150 installments. The title has now changed to “INSIGHT: Storage Technology” to more appropriately represent the next generation of topics. The second person I must thank is Debra McAdams, author and editor, who has provided the wisdom, humor, and faith to see that the column remains a success.

Third are those who are equally influential from the technology and the business sides. These individuals are my silent (and yet sometimes quite active) mentors; they most assuredly include John Luff, S. Merrill Weiss, Clyde Smith, and Al Kovalick. My thanks to them for being there when the questions needed to be answered.

Finally, at the top of the list is my family, my wife and partner, Jenny, and our children, Melissa and Kevin, to whom this book is dedicated because without their support, it would not have been possible.