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Questions and answers
What is the AV Box?
The AV Box is an audio and video management system consisting of a hardware box (ArchivistaBox) and the corresponding software (ArchivistaDMS).
Who is the AV Box suitable for?
The AV box is suitable for ambitious private film collections, filmmakers and film distributors, video stores, and public collections, whether in libraries, schools, or universities.
What volume does the AV box cover?
Depending on the configuration level, between 20,000 and 500,000 hours of film in HD quality can be stored on an AV box. This volume can be expanded to any number by using multiple boxes (clusters).
What is the largest AV box solution?
There is currently a film collection with over 80,000 titles (more than 91,500 hours), which requires around 40 TB.
Why is the AV-Box available at this price?
Previous professional solutions (at least in German-speaking countries) were or are expensive to develop and maintain because they were or still are too highly customized. The AV Box is based on the ArchivistaBox, which was developed as a standard DMS (document management system) solution. Since 2005, only open source and Linux have been used. As a Swiss solution, the ArchivistaBox learned early on that automation is the only answer to Switzerland’s high development costs. For example, the entire setup of the AV-Box is automated and all components (software) run in the main memory. In this sense, the prices of the AV-Box reflect decades of experience in software development and pioneering automation.
Is the AV-Box also available without the hardware?
The combination of hardware and software offers many advantages because all components are optimally coordinated. If you “only” want to purchase the AV-Box software, you can also purchase just this part via the web shop at archivista.ch.
Isn’t Plex or Jellyfin sufficient for a film archive?
The products currently available for the consumer market are strong when it comes to presenting content. However, they all suffer from the problem that they are file-based. Collections are created using directories and files. Above a certain size, this concept is doomed to failure. A long-term digital film collection requires a database, redundancy, and content verification. Current solutions do not offer these features.
What about support?
Depending on the size, the price of the AV Box includes half a day (hard drive redundancy) or one day (hardware redundancy) of support. The purchase of the AV-Box also includes a maintenance contract for the first year. All information about the maintenance contract can be found at https://archivista.ch/cms/de/support/
Where is the AV-Box developed?
The AV-Box has been developed in Switzerland since 1998, and exclusively there since 2010.
Can the AV-Box be expanded?
First of all, the AV-Box can be expanded via a module so that the web interface can be completely automated via HTTP calls. If this is not sufficient, the AV-Box can also be adapted to specific requirements.
Can existing collections be transferred?
The AV Box offers extensive options for automatically indexing and tagging content. The simplest and most efficient method is to import via the IMDb number. If you do not feel confident about the process, we will be happy to provide you with a binding quote free of charge.
Can data carriers such as DVD, VHS and/or BlueRay be integrated?
A digital film collection thrives on the fact that the content is available in digital form. Over the past few years, the managing director has converted thousands of DVDs and a large number of VHS tapes and Blu-rays to MP4 format and imported them into his private archive. All the tools required for this are included in every ArchivistaBox. As a rule of thumb, if done correctly, approximately 50 to 100 DVDs can be digitized per person per day. This may not seem like much, but per month (20 working days) this amounts to 1,000 to 2,000 data carriers. On request, we can also take care of this process for you or assist you in doing so.
How do I arrange a demo?
You can arrange a demo appointment at any time by calling +41 44 350 05 60 or sending an email to webamster@archivista.ch. If you are in a hurry, you can also call +41 79 227 49 50, whichever you prefer.
Is it possible without a demo?
Yes, of course, you can obtain the ArchivistaBox AGPLv3 at https://archivista.ch/cms/agplv3 (password 2013) and set it up yourself (it’s really easy). This solution is limited to 4 concurrent users and 20,000 documents (films). This should be sufficient for a “non-binding” test, right? If you are looking for instructions on how to set up a media archive with the AVBox, you can find them at gnulinux.ch (in German), for example. Please note that such instructions are no substitute for professional advice and implementation.