agradmin
asked on
Corporate video storage and backup
I have to come up with a plan to fulfill a request for up to 500Gb of space to satisfy a new video recording initiative. I am unsure of the video mix (as in what content is required to be streamed throughout the company, what content is critical in nature and needs to be backed up and what content is solely an archive, so my question comes in two parts;
1) What information do I need to determine in order to classify acceptable storage solutions for each type of video
2) What recommendations can be given for cost-effective storage solutions (eg cloud services, NAS device, USB hard drives etc)
I suspect the requester would prefer one single solution that fits all but I have to provide realistic options that address cost. Your help in determining needs and storage options is appreciated.
Thanks!
1) What information do I need to determine in order to classify acceptable storage solutions for each type of video
2) What recommendations can be given for cost-effective storage solutions (eg cloud services, NAS device, USB hard drives etc)
I suspect the requester would prefer one single solution that fits all but I have to provide realistic options that address cost. Your help in determining needs and storage options is appreciated.
Thanks!
Some of the things you need to worry about in a solution (which I think Nappy was getting at with some of his questions):
1) What speed do I need the target device to be able to provide? If you've got data coming in at 100MB/sec, you need to make sure your solution can write that much data -- and probably significantly more than that. If the data is coming in from multiple cameras simultaneously, you need (whatever number) in sustained, random write speed -- those flashy benchmarks will often be for sequential I/O.
Number of source cameras times bandwidth of each feed will tell you the minimum bandwidth you need. Build in a cushion, because things don't always work according to best case; also allow for expansion, if that's a possibility.
2) Will you need to be streaming (playing) video at the same time you're writing? If so, this will significantly increase the bandwidth you need, in order to both have smooth playback and avoid losing incoming video.
3) How long do you need to keep the data? 500GB isn't much; you can buy 1TB SSDs now. But if you've got data coming in constantly and you need to keep it for months or years, you'll be surprised how quickly it builds up.
4) If the data can be "aged out" to archival media after a while, how often will you need to go back to that archival data to view it? (i.e., once a year or less, a few times a year, once a month, more often)
1) What speed do I need the target device to be able to provide? If you've got data coming in at 100MB/sec, you need to make sure your solution can write that much data -- and probably significantly more than that. If the data is coming in from multiple cameras simultaneously, you need (whatever number) in sustained, random write speed -- those flashy benchmarks will often be for sequential I/O.
Number of source cameras times bandwidth of each feed will tell you the minimum bandwidth you need. Build in a cushion, because things don't always work according to best case; also allow for expansion, if that's a possibility.
2) Will you need to be streaming (playing) video at the same time you're writing? If so, this will significantly increase the bandwidth you need, in order to both have smooth playback and avoid losing incoming video.
3) How long do you need to keep the data? 500GB isn't much; you can buy 1TB SSDs now. But if you've got data coming in constantly and you need to keep it for months or years, you'll be surprised how quickly it builds up.
4) If the data can be "aged out" to archival media after a while, how often will you need to go back to that archival data to view it? (i.e., once a year or less, a few times a year, once a month, more often)
One of the security camera systems Ianagei manage has 16 720 Hd cameras attached. It has 16tb of raid 6 storage. This give 30 days for us to file police reports before data is overwritten I hope this help you with a perspective.
ASKER
Apologies for not being clear. Videos are for general company consumption, including the likes of (very basic) staff training, quick product assembly guides and even staff meetings for use later by those unable to attend. All video will be taken by amateurs using a single home-movie quality camera.
Requirements have been proposed as 1000 videos at an average size of 350Mb each. My goal is to categorize the video content so we are not paying top dollar to store old meeting videos.
Requirements have been proposed as 1000 videos at an average size of 350Mb each. My goal is to categorize the video content so we are not paying top dollar to store old meeting videos.
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ASKER
Thanks for the help - apologies for the delay.
Can you tell me:
- what are you recording? Security, sports, commercial?
- how many cameras will be used?
- will you be shooting; SD, HD 480, HD720 or HD1080?
- how long of a retention period on disk do you require the data?