S

electing suitable components

t o bui l d a r es i l i ent and
dependable storage solution
is based on various factors. A
customers buying habit seems to
be based on a triangle of budget,
functionality and reliability, said
Mark Harraway, Country Manager
of the U.K., Controlware. If the
buyer has the budget, it is possible
to build a system with all the right
features and no single point of
failure. If budget is limited, function-
ality might be cut back. To enjoy
the features of a storage solution
working to its fullest potential, a
balance between the three factors is
tricky and involves planning.
Pri mary and backup st orage
arrangements should be based on
four points of consideration:
1. how critical the stored information
is,
2. ease of access and management,
3. the amount of data transferred and
4. the purpose of storing data.
Storing data locally at the D/
NVRs with backup in extended
storage or vi ce versa are both
workabl e approaches wi th the
most up-to-date energy saving and
redundancy mechanisms. There
are many things that buyers hadnt
thought about prior to talking with
service and hardware providers, and
providers can help out by laying
out the buyers' requirements,
Harraway said. Do you want a
fully redundant network? Do you
want RAID-5, RAID-6, RAID-10? By
taking buyers through the analytical
and f unc t i onal i t y oper at i on
processes, providers are able to
present a design that incorporates all
needs.
If budgets are limited, buyers must
decide what functions to forego.
To simplify the design closer to the
buyer's budget level, one should
start with discussing the full disaster
recovery plan, Harraway suggested.
Imagine and discuss what the worst
case scenario might be, and eliminate
all other features and functions
that are unnecessary. Verticals have
different degrees of accepted risk
for instance the same level of threat
posed for banking and the public
sector would result in different
countermeasures.
THE MORE ADVANCED, THE
BETTER?
Going for the latest and most
advanced technologies does not
guarantee the best result in terms
of both equipment and investment.
As most survei l l ance dat a i s
typically not considered mission-
BY CAMILLE SHIEH
How to Select
Reliable Storage
Feeling awed by the latest array of storage solutions? Buyers should pause before taking out their
wallets. There are some factors that should be discussed and thoroughly understood before one buys
the dream solution that has all the right features and functions, with minimum problems.
To enjoy the features of a storage solution working to its fullest potential, a balance between budget, functionality and reliability is tricky
and involves planning.

PRODUCT EXPLORATION
90 FEB 2011 22 www.asmag.com 22


critical, the requirement for hot-
swappable storage, for instance, is
not imperative, said Ken Maughan,
PM of March Networks. These
types of storage systems add costs
to the overall solution that are not
required. Having a storage system
that i s easi l y servi ceabl e wi th
minimum downtime usually suffices
in most situations.
Us e r s s houl d c ons i de r t he
environment and circumstance they
are monitoring and decide whether
advanced features such as high
availability (HA) are needed. HA
increases costs significantly, but is
not always necessary. For instance,
maj or medi cal cent ers woul d
require instant access to live video
while recording from cameras in
the emergency room on a 24/7/365
basis, from patients treated for auto
accidents to heart attacks, in order
to have a record of proceedings to
protect the patients, staff and facility
in terms of liability, explained Jeff
Whitney, VP of Marketing, Intransa.
In this environment, the medical
center needs to install features with
HA support.
In contrast, the loading dock and
the parking lot are areas where the
video just needs to be available when
needed, without frame loss, and does
not necessarily need to be viewable
instantly, Whitney continued. By
evaluating fairly what the specific
requirements are, hardware and
management costs and energy
consumption can be saved.
MODULAR APPROACH
S ome i ndus t r y s pe c i a l i s t s
recommend affordable and modular
storage. The appliance model
al l ows storage to be added as
needed without halting recording,
Whi tney sai d. The l arger the
storage requirement,
the more appropriate to
use a modular, video-
optimized appliance
platform that can scale
recording capacity.
This approach might
be more cost-savi ng
initially, as well as more
user-friendly for some
users, Whitney said.
ADVANCING TO
THE CLOUD
For users thinking of
moving data onto the
cloud, there are several
points of consideration.
For instance, a typical
video recorder is able
to store up to 40 mbps
continuously, Maughan
explained. If this type
of data is to be stored in
the cloud, significant attention must
be paid to the network between the
recorder and the cloud. It is very
common that recording is continuous
and there is no low-period that
can be used to catch up with the
real time video. With the increase
in bandwidth requirements of the
high-definition network cameras, it
might be far more cost-effective to
manage and store the video in the
same location that it is captured.
Unless there is a network in
place to support the bandwidth
requirements and the reliability
requirements for network cameras,
storage at the edge shoul d be
considered, Maughan said. Also,
more cameras have onboard storage
should the network go down, which
synchronize their stored video with
the central recorder. With these
advances and a wel l -desi gned
network, central storage becomes a
reality, he said.
Some manufacturers are observing
market response to cloud storage
caref ul l y. There are possi bl e
transition approaches for cloud-
based solutions, made available
based on market demands, said Jay
Yogeshwar, Director of Media and
Entertainment, Hitachi Data Systems.
Well-established systems that serve
as cloud on-ramps and cloud storage
will be adapted for the video surveil-
lance industry based on market
demands in the near future. Cloud
storage is on the horizon.
Understanding the features and
strengths of exi sti ng products
out there is not enough, as newer
and even more advanced technol-
ogies are launched. What is more
important is knowing exactly what
is needed to utilize equipment for
maximum benefit, as well as leaving
room for future upgrades.
Jeff Whitney, VP of Marketing,
Intransa
Mark Harraway, Country Manager of
the U.K., Controlware
Jay Yogeshwar, Director of Media and
Entertainment, Hitachi Data Systems
Ken Maughan, PM at Mar c h
Networks

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