The internal and external displays of Sphere are powered by 150 RTX A6000 graphics processing units by Nvidia, each featuring more than 10,752 cores and 48 gigabytes of memory. Media is streamed from external sources via Nvidia BlueField data processing units and ConnectX-6 DX network interface controllers using Nvidia's Rivermax media streaming software.
The data storage and throughput requirements for the Sphere are as massive as the building itself. To maintain a seamless 16K experience, the venue uses a specialized high-performance storage architecture.
Storage Capacity & Hardware
4 Petabytes (4,000 TB) of Flash Storage: The Sphere utilizes a massive Hitachi Vantara flash storage system to house its high-resolution content.
27 Nodes: This storage is distributed across 27 server nodes that stream data in real-time to the media servers.
VRAM: The visual processing is handled by approximately 150 NVIDIA RTX A6000 GPUs, providing a combined 7.2 TB of video memory to render and process the 16K frames.
Data Throughput (Speed)
The system must move data at extreme speeds to prevent "jitter" or lag on the 160,000-square-foot screen:
400 GB per second: This is the sustained throughput required to stream uncompressed 16K video at 60 frames per second with 12-bit color.
Sub-5 Millisecond Latency: The storage and networking stack is optimized for near-instantaneous delivery to ensure audio and video remain perfectly synced.
Gigabytes per Minute: For a typical show, the system moves between 200 and 300 GB of data every minute.
Content File Sizes
Because the video is often uncompressed to maintain 16K clarity, a single feature-length movie (like Postcard from Earth) can take up half a petabyte (500 TB) of storage space.
More information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sphere_%28venue%29
The internal and external displays of Sphere are powered by 150 RTX A6000 graphics processing units by Nvidia, each featuring more than 10,752 cores and 48 gigabytes of memory. Media is streamed from external sources via Nvidia BlueField data processing units and ConnectX-6 DX network interface controllers using Nvidia's Rivermax media streaming software.
The data storage and throughput requirements for the Sphere are as massive as the building itself. To maintain a seamless 16K experience, the venue uses a specialized high-performance storage architecture.
### Storage Capacity & Hardware
4 Petabytes (4,000 TB) of Flash Storage: The Sphere utilizes a massive Hitachi Vantara flash storage system to house its high-resolution content.
27 Nodes: This storage is distributed across 27 server nodes that stream data in real-time to the media servers.
VRAM: The visual processing is handled by approximately 150 NVIDIA RTX A6000 GPUs, providing a combined 7.2 TB of video memory to render and process the 16K frames.
### Data Throughput (Speed)
The system must move data at extreme speeds to prevent "jitter" or lag on the 160,000-square-foot screen:
400 GB per second: This is the sustained throughput required to stream uncompressed 16K video at 60 frames per second with 12-bit color.
Sub-5 Millisecond Latency: The storage and networking stack is optimized for near-instantaneous delivery to ensure audio and video remain perfectly synced.
Gigabytes per Minute: For a typical show, the system moves between 200 and 300 GB of data every minute.
### Content File Sizes
Because the video is often uncompressed to maintain 16K clarity, a single feature-length movie (like Postcard from Earth) can take up half a petabyte (500 TB) of storage space.
More information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sphere_%28venue%29
![The Sphere in Las Vegas [1200x583 - 806KB]](https://poal.co/static/images/ccf2f84dede4cdec.png){kind=link}