Dalet Flex Core: Resources

File Storage and Storage Resources

Resources are external services that are used by Dalet Flex to store, transfer or process media. Examples include storage devices, transcoder software, and file transfer technologies. Resources extend the core functionality of Dalet Flex and enable it to scalably meet the demands of modern media management operations by utilising commodity technologies.

Resource Definition Object Properties

A resource definition specifies a single resource.

You can therefore link from a resource definition in the Settings section to the Resource Details screen in the Resources section (assuming you have the right permissions).

You can also link from the resource details screen to the resource definition (assuming you have the right permissions).

Property	Support	Explanation
Scope	Account	The scoping of this object
Visibility		Whether the object supports visibility
Plugins		Supports plugins
Extended Config.		Whether the object has an extended configuration tab
Scripting		Whether the object can be configured using scripting
Enable / Disable		Whether the object can be enabled and disabled
Start / Stop		Whether the object can be started and stopped
Copy		Whether the object can be copied
Export / Import		Whether the object can be exported and imported
Delete		Whether the object can be deleted
Unique Name		Whether the object name must be unique within its scope
Variants		Whether the object supports Variants

Resource Types

Dalet Flex supports 3 high-level resource types. These types are further sub-divided into more specific types.
The high level type defines the general purpose of the resource:

• Capacity Resource: A resource that is used for storing media files such as a network mounted storage array, or cloud-based object storage, for example.
• Processing Resource: A resources that is used for processing media such as transcoders, for example.
• I/O Resource: A resource that is used for moving media files such as file delivery technologies for example.

The resource types available are described in the Resource Plugins section.

"Pluggable" approach to resource management

Dalet Flex offers a "pluggable" approach to resource management so that new resource types and vendor solutions can be added in future by developing new resource plugins. Dalet Flex already plugs into the industry leading, storage, transcode and QC solutions. This approach means that Dalet Flex offers a high degree of future-proofing as new networked media management technologies evolve. For example, Dalet Flex can offer plugins for traditional network file storage or internet-based object storage.

Regardless of the resource type, all Dalet Flex resources manage one or more items on behalf of Dalet Flex. In the case of transcode resources, they are transcode job items, in the case of capacity resources, they are files that are being stored.

Resources manage one or many items. The exact item type is governed by the resource type. For example a storage type of resource will manage file items.

Resources and Jobs

Many Dalet Flex jobs rely on resources to get work done. For example transcode jobs delegate the work of transcoding a file to a transcode resource. If this is the case, there will be a link to the resource used in the Job Details screen for a job.

Like all Dalet Flex objects, resources support the concept of visibility. When a job runs, it runs with an owner that is a Dalet Flex user. Resources are only made available to jobs that have visibility of it. This means that resources can be shared between accounts where necessary but can also be isolated to individual accounts.

Resources can exist in one of the following states:

• Stopped: The resource is configured and enabled but stopped. It is not available to process job requests.
• Running: The resource is configured and enabled and running. It is available to process job requests.
• Failed: The resource is configured and enabled but failed. It is not available to process job requests.

Resource Management

Dalet Flex takes a snapshot of the status of all resources and their associated items through polling. Dalet Flex automatically polls all connected resources to both verify the continuing connection to the resource as well as to check for any updates from the resource’s items currently being managed. The frequency of polling may be configured by the administrative user.

If Dalet Flex cannot obtain a valid response from a resource, or the resource indicates that it has failed, Dalet Flex sets the resource to a failed state. At this point, the resource cannot handle any future requests.
Once a resource has failed it must be started manually by a Dalet Flex user with the correct
permissions.

Creating a New Resource Definition

Access Flex Core.

On the toolbar, click New and select Resource from the drop down menu.

In the Create new Resource section, complete the following fields:

• Name: enter a name for your resource definition
• Description: enter a description for your resource definition (optional)
• Visibility: select an account that has visibility of your resource definition
• Plugin: select a plugin from the drop down menu
• Polling Interval: select an interval from the drop down menu (optional)
• Run-Rule Expression: enter a run rule expression (optional)

Once you've created your resource, select the Configuration sub-tab to define the values that you wish to assign to your new resource.

Run-Rule Expression Text Box for Resources

Process resources, such as package, inject, quality control, and extract resources support the use of run-rule expressions. Run-rule expressions can be applied by entering an expression in the run-rule expression text box which can be found in the Create a new Resource… section, when you are creating a new process resource.
The Run-Rule Expression text box is only visible when a process resource is selected.

In the example below, you can see that an extract resource has been selected, and so, the Run-Rule Expression box is visible:

On the other hand, if another type of resource is selected, such as an inbox resource, then the Run-Rule Expression box is hidden, as shown below:

Launching a Workflow via Hotfolder Resource Items

You can manually launch a workflow that is associated with a hotfolder resource item, by navigating to the resource item itself.

To do this, follow these steps:

Navigate to a hotfolder resource.

Click the Resource Items link, located in the top-right corner.

You will see a list of resource items associated with the hot folder resource. Locate the desired resource item.

Click the Chevron located to the right of the Workflow column, and click the Launch Workflow link.

Alternatively, you can click the Launch Workflow button, located in the top-left of the Resource screen.

Launching a Workflow from an Asset

Assets can be launched through a workflow in several ways in Dalet Flex:

• From the Action toolbar.

• Selecting an inbox with an associated workflow as part of the transfer ingest process.

• Associating a hot folder Resource to an inbox resource.

Once Dalet Flex is connected to an external resource, the resource can be configured, monitored and managed through the Dalet Flex console.

In fact, in most cases, once connected, all future management can be carried out through Dalet Flex. Through regularly polling resources, Dalet Flex is able to provide users with the ability to search and manage items within a resource, all from within the Flex console.