Product Exploration 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. By Camille Shieh S electing suitable components to build a resilient and dependable storage solution is based on various factors. “A customer ’s 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, functionality 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. Primary and backup storage 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 vice versa are both workable approaches with the most up-to-date energy saving and redundancy mechanisms. “There are many things that buyers hadn’t thought about prior to talking with service and hardware providers, and 90 22 FEB 2011 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 functionality operation 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 surveillance data is typically not considered mission- ▲ 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. www.asmag.com 22 Product Exploration critical, the requirement for hotswappable 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 is easily serviceable with minimum downtime usually suffices in most situations.” Users should consider the 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, major medical centers would 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 Some industry specialists recommend affordable and modular storage. “The appliance model allows storage to be added as needed without halting recording,” Whitney said. “The larger the 92 22 FEB 2011 storage requirement, the more appropriate to use a modular, videooptimized appliance platform that can scale recording capacity.” This approach might be more cost-saving initially, as well as more user-friendly for some users, Whitney said. Advancing to the Cloud Mark Harraway, Country Manager of the U.K., Controlware Ken Maughan, PM at March Networks 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 Jeff Whitney, VP of Marketing, Jay Yogeshwar, Director of Media and explained. “If this type Intransa Entertainment, Hitachi Data Systems of data is to be stored in the cloud, significant attention must reality,” he said. be paid to the network between the Some manufacturers are observing recorder and the cloud. It is very market response to cloud storage common that recording is continuous c a re f u l l y. “ T h e re a re p o s s i b l e and there is no low-period that transition approaches for cloudcan be used to catch up with the based solutions, made available real time video. With the increase based on market demands,” said Jay in bandwidth requirements of the Yogeshwar, Director of Media and high-definition network cameras, it Entertainment, Hitachi Data Systems. might be far more cost-effective to “Well-established systems that serve manage and store the video in the as cloud on-ramps and cloud storage same location that it is captured.” will be adapted for the video surveil“Unless there is a network in lance industry based on market place to support the bandwidth demands in the near future.” Cloud requirements and the reliability storage is on the horizon. requirements for network cameras, Understanding the features and storage at the edge should be strengths of existing products considered,” Maughan said. Also, out there is not enough, as newer more cameras have onboard storage and even more advanced technolshould the network go down, which ogies are launched. What is more synchronize their stored video with important is knowing exactly what the central recorder. “With these is needed to utilize equipment for advances and a well-designed maximum benefit, as well as leaving network, central storage becomes a room for future upgrades. www.asmag.com 22