Analyst(s): Krista Case
Publication Date: May 15, 2025
Hammerspace’s platform is enabling metadata-driven automation and hybrid rendering across Animationsinstitut’s distributed academic infrastructure. The deployment also supports sustainability goals by repurposing legacy storage systems and streamlining workflows.
What is Covered in this Article:
- Animationsinstitut adopts Hammerspace as its data platform across a distributed campus
- A 1.5 PB Hammerspace deployment supports rendering, post-production, and collaborative workflows
- The Hammerspace platform automates data tiering and protection through metadata-based orchestration policies
- Animationsinstitut integrates its legacy NAS system and avoids new hardware purchases to reduce carbon footprint
The News: At FMX 2025, Hammerspace announced that Animationsinstitut, part of Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg (FABW), has selected its high-performance data platform to support students and faculty across a distributed academic campus. Animationsinstitut is a globally recognized institution in animation, VFX, and interactive media, running between 200 and 250 projects annually.
The deployment includes a 1.5 Petabyte Hammerspace cluster that combines NVMe-based Tier 1 storage with HDD-based Tier 2 capacity, unified through metadata-driven orchestration policies. Hammerspace also enables the institute to automate workflows using custom metadata, integrate with existing in-house software, and reuse its scale-out NAS infrastructure, which is key to addressing performance and sustainability goals.
Hammerspace Powers Data Platform for Distributed Media Projects at Animationsinstitut
Analyst Take: Animationsinstitut’s implementation at Hammerspace is a case study in how data orchestration platforms can help institutions address the demands of high-throughput workloads with limited IT resources while meeting growing sustainability demands. With hundreds of concurrent student-led media projects, the academic environment required a flexible platform that could unify, automate, and scale data processing.
Metadata-Driven Workflow Automation Enables Greater Control
Animationsinstitut uses custom metadata capabilities in Hammerspace to automate critical steps in its media workflows. Files placed in designated watch folders automatically inherit metadata tags, which are used to trigger pre-defined functions, such as allocating IT resources or moving data through the post-production pipeline. This approach supports the school’s internal workflow management system, which is connected to Hammerspace via API. For an institute juggling 200–250 active projects annually, the ability to apply automation without custom scripting or manual intervention was a crucial time-saver.
Unified Architecture Supports Performance and Scalability
The deployed system uses NVMe drives for high IOPS performance tasks like post-processing and rendering, and HDDs for long-term, high-capacity needs. Hammerspace’s orchestration layer, known as Objectives, allows administrators to automate the protection and tiering of data across this hybrid architecture. This configuration was essential given the scale of parallel workloads across the distributed campus, where multiple students may collaborate on a single rendering-heavy project. The deployment supports not just real-time data access but future cloud bursting for render jobs, giving Animationsinstitut flexibility in managing fluctuating compute demand without additional on-premise investment.
Sustainability Goals Met by Reusing Existing Infrastructure
A key requirement was the ability to retain and repurpose Animationsinstitut’s existing scale-out NAS system. Hammerspace allowed the school to import that system’s metadata into its orchestration layer and incorporate it into the new environment. This not only extended the life of existing hardware but also helped the institute avoid emissions associated with ordering and shipping new components. As sustainability remains a priority, particularly within EU institutions, the ability to modernize infrastructure without full hardware replacement offered an efficient, responsible solution.
What to Watch:
- The operational impact of metadata-triggered workflow automation on student-led projects
- Opportunities to replicate this model in other project-driven academic or media institutions
- Cost savings from reducing new hardware procurement and extending existing storage
- Evolving role of channel partners in streamlining deployment in educational environments
See the complete case study on the Hammerspace deployment at Animationsinstitut on the Hammerspace website.
Disclosure: Futurum is a research and advisory firm that engages or has engaged in research, analysis, and advisory services with many technology companies, including those mentioned in this article. The author does not hold any equity positions with any company mentioned in this article.
Analysis and opinions expressed herein are specific to the analyst individually and data and other information that might have been provided for validation, not those of Futurum as a whole.
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Author Information
With a focus on data security, protection, and management, Krista has a particular focus on how these strategies play out in multi-cloud environments. She brings approximately 15 years of experience providing research and advisory services and creating thought leadership content. Her vantage point spans technology and vendor portfolio developments; customer buying behavior trends; and vendor ecosystems, go-to-market positioning, and business models. Her work has appeared in major publications including eWeek, TechTarget and The Register.
Prior to joining The Futurum Group, Krista led the data protection practice for Evaluator Group and the data center practice of analyst firm Technology Business Research. She also created articles, product analyses, and blogs on all things storage and data protection and management for analyst firm Storage Switzerland and led market intelligence initiatives for media company TechTarget.
