As media organizations continue evolving toward more flexible and scalable architectures, one key decision continues to surface:
Should you deploy broadcast systems on dedicated hardware, or leverage a customer-provided virtualized (VM) environment?
At Crispin, we work with engineering leaders, CTOs, and finance teams navigating this exact choice. The reality is there’s no one-size-fits-all answer. But there are clear trade-offs that can significantly impact support, cost, scalability, and long-term success.
Let’s break it down:
The Case for Dedicated Hardware – Performance, Reliability, and Support
Crispin’s hardware is engineered specifically for real-time broadcast operations This purpose-built approach delivers predictable performance and reduces operational complexity.
For our customers, this means:
- System Performance: Hardware resources are fully dedicated to the Crispin system, ensuring stable, reliable operations.
- Installation: Hardware is pre-configured and fully tested prior to shipping, helping to reduce deployment complexities.
- Internal Operational Support: Crispin handles commissioning, troubleshooting, and ongoing support under the project scope and support contract — freeing internal teams from becoming first line support.
- Supporting the System: With dedicated hardware, root-cause analysis is more direct, avoiding the complications of shared infrastructure. Meaning your IT is not required to assist in troubleshooting for the installation environment
- Hardware Warranty: Includes a (3) Year Limited Hardware Warranty from Crispin.
- Predictable Financial Planning: From a finance perspective, hardware ensures predictable upfront CapEx costs, that also offer depreciation advantages, and long-term asset ownership.
The Case for Customer-Provided VM Environments – Performance, Reliability, and Support
Crispin supports customers utilizing their existing VM Environments as it is a great way to consolidate solutions for internal support and save money on the system deployment or upgrade.
Let’s talk about the details:
- System Performance: Crispin requires fully dedicated VM resources, aligned to its hardware specifications, to ensure consistent system performance.
- Installation: Customers will need to provision and pre-commission VM hosts to align with the system requirements, based on the specs noted for Crispin hardware. Crispin commissioning is more commonly performed remotely saving the customer time and money.
- Internal Operational Support: Leveraging existing VM infrastructure allows for a more streamlined approach across departments, security policies, networking configurations plus reduces technology silos.
- Supporting the System: Internal teams play a critical role in managing the VM essential.
- Scalability: VM Environments allow for easier resource scaling, giving the facility the ability to spin up or down resources as the system and/or operational needs change.
- Cost: VM related costs including maintenance, upgrades and scaling, are fully managed by the customer and fall outside of the Crispin pricing structure. As noted above, some saving may be gained during the commissioning of the system by Crispin performing these remotely.
A Hybrid Approach: The Best of Both Worlds?
Increasingly, organizations are adopting hybrid models:
- Enhanced Redundancy: Many customers adopt a hybrid approach to support increased redundancy. This leverages both Crispin hardware and existing VM environments. By separating primary and secondary systems, they enhance resiliency while maximizing the use of customer-owned infrastructure.
- LoadingDock: Crispin’s LoadingDock is a resource-intensive component. With dedicated hardware typically including ~10TB of storage, replicating this in a VM environment can significantly impact resources, leading many customers to keep this solution on dedicated hardware.
This approach allows teams to balance performance, cost, and flexibility without being over-committed to one model.
Final Thoughts
Choosing between dedicated hardware and a customer-provided VM environment isn’t just a technical decision, it’s a strategic one that impacts engineering efficiency, financial planning, and long-term scalability.
The right choice depends on your organization:
- Operational priorities
- Internal technical capabilities
- Growth and scalability plans
Regardless of the path you choose, the goal remains the same:
A reliable, scalable, and cost-effective broadcast solution that supports your business now and into the future.