While video surveillance has been part of our technology landscape for decades, the industry has undergone remarkable changes since the 1970s. Trends in IP and HDCCTV technologies have heightened the market’s complexity and propelled demand for higher storage capacities. For this reason, storage remains a key enabler of video surveillance.

Just as storage requirements fluctuate significantly across market segments based on system workload and data category, today’s surveillance applications also demand purpose-built storage solutions (See Figure 1). Optimized reliability, performance and cost savings are only possible when surveillance professionals acknowledge the specific storage needs of their surveillance installations.

For some configurations, power efficiency and cool operation may be the highest priorities, while for others, high-speed video writing and streaming are the key focus. A system may also demand centralized storage that is ideal for operations in IP and LAN environments. In each of these situations, a hard drive is available to best fit the needs of the distinct surveillance setup.

The following considerations provide much-needed guidance for surveillance professionals exploring the overflow of storage products on the market:
* Number of cameras, resolution and duration of storage: capacity
* Type of configuration – JBOD or RAID
* Drive count – high or low
* Workload profile
* Enclosure design

Storage Requirements for Distinct Surveillance Systems
An embedded DVR configuration is one example of a surveillance architecture that is commonly used in convenience stores, retail locations and home security. In these configurations, with perhaps one to four cameras, performance and capacity requirements are sufficiently met by one or two hard drives. These setups usually benefit from a hard drive designed for low-power environments with a cooler operating profile, such as the Seagate Pipeline HD drive.

More conventional surveillance DVR (SDVR) configurations will usually support many surveillance camera inputs and therefore demand a higher-performance, hard drive. The high-write workload of these architectures is coupled with large, sequential data blocks from the multiple data streams (cameras), which commonly operate in a 24×7 environment. Products like Seagate SV35 Series hard drives are designed to accommodate HD DVR, SDVR, NVR and hybrid DVR/NVR systems. The high-write capability of these drives gives them a unique advantage in mainstream surveillance operations.

With the growing popularity of network-focused topologies, centralized storage architectures with rack mount storage and storage enclosures with high drive counts are becoming increasingly common. These infrastructures demand storage with 24×7 high-write operation capabilities and maximized capacity. Enhanced RAID functionality, high-vibration tolerance and advanced technologies for improved performance and data reliability may also be important for these configurations. In this case, Seagate capacity-optimized hard drives and similar nearline products are the preferred solution in centralized storage setups.

Conclusion
To stay competitive in the current surveillance market, providers must possess a keen understanding of their system’s needs. This knowledge will make the search for a purpose-built storage solution go from daunting to doable. With a multitude of quality products to choose from, surveillance professionals can find a hard drive that will optimize performance and save money.

For more information, please visit at link: http://www.seagate.com/internal-hard-drives/consumer-electronics/sv35/?cmpid=ctc-_-AS-Oct12