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Razuna 1.4 Preview Release 2 available

by on July 29, 2010 in Digital Asset Management, Razuna

It gives us great pleasure to make Razuna 1.4 RC2 available. This release is meant for testing and it shouldn’t be long before a final release. We kindly ask everyone to download and test this release. You can also upgrade your current Razuna 1.3.5 or 1.4 RC1 installation with this release.

In the release notes for Razuna 1.4 RC1 we already outlined the major new features of Razuna 1.4. Here are the added features for RC2:

New Upload Tool
In a recent post this week we introduced the new Upload Tool in length. Now, this new Uploader is also available for general consumption in the Open Source version.

Refined Startup Wizard & Moving between databases
We completely reworked the Startup Wizard. As noted in a previous post, you will now be guided trough the initial setup. Furthermore, you can choose during setup what database you want to use. With the new Startup Wizard you can even backup an existing Razuna setup and move to another database and import the data during setup. Because of this, we have also made some changes to the general Administration for switching a database. Now, everything is handled within Razuna for you.

Overall speed improvements
Another area we focused on lately, was stability and speed. Both could be achieved with refined coding for adding assets and batch operations. We are happy to see that our stress testing, which adds 500000 assets in one upload process, performs stable. The new code does not “hammer” the CPU and RAM as much as previous versions did, also. Among code changes we also moved the Standalone Tomcat server to 6.0.29 and added the latest OpenBD Application Engine and JS frameworks to the game.

No more “/assets” path needed
In previous versions, one had to add an additional context path to the J2EE server (Tomcat, Jetty, JBoss, etc.). This is no longer needed anymore.

What’s coming next?
Since this is already the second preview release we are almost done with all the wanted features for Razuna 1.4. Thought, here are the features we are planning to include for the final release;

  • Option to store assets on Amazon S3 and Eucalyptus (Nirvanix is already supported)
  • Option to import/export from Evernote
  • Option to export or share assets with Facebook, Flickr, etc.
  • Add OGG Video conversion support and also playback with HTML5 capable browsers

I hope you enjoy using Razuna as much as we have making it. Go grab your copy now over at http://razuna.org or sign up for a free hosted account over at http://razuna.com.

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Razuna and HTML5 – New Uploader and more

by on July 26, 2010 in Digital Asset Management, Razuna

Much has been said about HTML5 and how it would benefit the web. Obviously, with Apple banning Flash from its devices and other companies slowly following there has been enough said about this topic. Nonetheless, the move towards HTML5 makes a lot of sense, since it is lightweight, doesn’t need any plugins and it more or less adapted by all Browser vendors (Google Chrome 5.x, Safari 5 and FireFox 3.6.x all come with HTML5 support).

Especially, when it comes to media files on the web (video and audio) HTML5 brings a build in player, which is faster loading then any Flash player. Furthermore, one can rest assure that the video looks the same on every platform and any device (iPhone, Android, etc.). But HTML5, apart from having support for video and audio build in, also brings support for productive environments, like Drag & Drop from the desktop to the browser and more.

Given the latest inovations in this field, we have adopted some of these practices to Razuna already and are very happy to announce the following. Note: Some of the listed changes below are already available at our Razuna Hosted Platform (hosted Digital Asset Management for only $1.80/GB!) over at http://razuna.com. For the self-hosted version, these changes will be available in Razuna 1.4.

HTML5 enabled Uploader

Recently we have changed our Uploader from a Flash based uploader to a HTML5 Uploader (Don’t worry for those who don’t have a HTML5 enabled browser, the Uploader will fall back to a Flash based tool, and if you don’t have Flash installed you even get a Silverlight Uploader!).

The new Uploader allows you to upload many files at once (just as before) but for those with a HTML5 enabled browser it will even be able to Drag & Drop assets from your desktop directly into your browser! That’s right, simply mark your assets in your Explorer/Finder and drag them over to the Razuna Uploader and you will see them in the Uploader, ready for you to upload.

Drag & Drop assets from your desktop to the Razuna Uploader with HTML5 enabled browsers (Google Chrome 5.x, Safari 5 and FireFox 3.6.x). Works on Windows, MacOS X and Linux.

HTML5 player and conversion

We have already added support for converting Audio files to the OGG format and are using the HTML5 audio player in Razuna 1.3.5. Now, we are going to add conversion to the OGG format for video assets and will enable the HTML5 video controls as well. These changes will soon be available in the Razuna Hosted Platform as well in the Razuna 1.4 download.

HTML5 Google Chrome Frame Support for Internet Explorer 5, 6, 7 & 8

Google Chrome Frame is an open source plug-in that seamlessly brings Google Chrome’s open web technologies and speedy JavaScript engine to Internet Explorer. With Google Chrome Frame, you can:

  • Start using open web technologies – like the HTML5 canvas tag – right away, even technologies that aren’t yet supported in Internet Explorer 6, 7, or 8.
  • Take advantage of JavaScript performance improvements to make your apps faster and more responsive.

Since we want everyone to enjoy the beauty and speed of HTML5 we have already enabled Google Chrome Frame support on the Razuna Hosted Platform and have incorporated the code in Razuna 1.4.

Right, so here we go, we have added (or about to add) a bunch of HTML5 goodies for you to enjoy and to make your business workflow with Razuna even more efficient. I hope you enjoy working with Razuna as much as we enjoy making it for you.

In case you haven’t seen it, but you can now get your very own dedicated Razuna Cloud Server up and running in no time. Join the many customers, who have already signed up to the most hassle free Digital Asset Management Solution on the web.

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Razuna 1.4 brings new setup wizard

by on July 21, 2010 in Digital Asset Management, Razuna

On our way to Razuna 1.4 we just wiped up a brand new setup wizard which will setup the DB, paths and account for you in a simple steps. Also, you will have a custom setup where you can setup your own database (Yes, no more setting up a standard Razuna DB and then doing it again if you deploy another database). Moreover, you can restore your data right from the start (the new backup & restore function is another new thing of Razuna 1.4).

Right, here are some screenshots for your appetite. Razuna 1.4 RC2 will be coming soon!

The new Startup Wizard:

Custom Installation let’s you choose the database you want to use with Razuna right from the start:

If you want to restore from a previous Razuna installation you can do that now too.

Comments { 45 }

Some changes to our Razuna Hosted Platform

by on July 13, 2010 in Digital Asset Management, Razuna

There have been a lot of changes going on over at Razuna and we would like to share them with you.

Razuna Cloud Server

First off, our Razuna Cloud Server offering is being taken on by a lot of customers already. We haven’t even formalized a official press release and clients see already the benefit of a dedicated Razuna server in the cloud. The Razuna Cloud Servers offer all the power and control of a traditional hosted server whilst giving you an unmatched combination of instant flexibility, ease of use and cost efficiency. If you’re looking into a Hosted Digital Asset Management Solution then we urge you to check out the Razuna Cloud Server offering.

One plan for our Razuna Hosted Platform

It is no secret that our Razuna Hosted Platform is one of the most used Hosted Digital Asset Management Solution for small to medium businesses that need a Hosted Digital Asset Management on the go. Not only, does it work as expected, it gives you the fastest and easiest access to collaborate and share your assets with your team within minutes after signing up.

Lately, the Razuna team has put a lot of thinking on how to improve the Razuna Hosted Platform and we think we have come up with a solution to satisfy all clients.

As of immediately, we are removing the “Basic” Plan that was available for $5/month and are instead offering the “Business” Plan, which is now called “Pro” Plan, for only $1.80/GB/month. That means, there is now only one paid Plan, which brings all the service that you came to love in Razuna.

We will, of course, continue to provide our Free plan. The Free plan is designed so customers can use a Hosted Digital Asset Management be it private users, small groups or a company. Going forward, our Free plan will no longer provide the option to convert images, videos or audios to different formats, add groups to folders & collections or accessing some of the functions in the Administration. These will be available as part of our “Pro” Plan.

We’re confident these changes will be a great fit for businesses of all sizes looking for a Hosted Digital Asset Management, but we know that the changes to the free plan, however minor, will be inconvenient to some. We apologize in advance. If you’re getting real business value out of our service we hope you’ll consider signing up to the $1.80/GB/month Plan.

And as always, we’d love to hear your thoughts on these changes. Feel free to leave a comment here.

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