Join a live webinar to learn about software defined approach to manage video surveillance data growth.
Want to know how you can prepare your business for massive video data growth? Sign up for our free live webinar with Quantum experts on November 9 at 2 p.m. Singapore time.
Needless to say, nowadays video data is constantly growing. According to IDC, by 2025 there will be 79.4 zettabytes of data created just by connected IoT devices alone, and most of it will come from video-based devices, such as video surveillance cameras. For those that are not familiar with zettabytes, one zettabyte is equivalent to
1021 bytes (the digit 1 followed by 21 zeroes).
One reason for the video data growth is increasing camera resolution. In a previous article, we reported that while 2MP cameras were still the mainstream, cameras with higher and higher resolution were gaining more traction with an
expected parity in the sales of 2MP and 5MP cameras in 2022. Yet with higher resolution, video data inevitably increases. In addition, the availability and quality of cameras has direct impact on increasing camera count. In a large-scale project, like an international airport, camera counts can reach 5,000 or more cameras.
The increase in camera count, the substantial improvement in camera resolution, and the retention of video is putting a strain on video surveillance systems to an extent never before seen. For example, a 4K image typically requires 400% more storage than an HD image. Retaining video for 180 days instead of 30 days increases storage requirements by another 600%. This is further complicated when projects include also other security services like license plate recognition, or access control.
NVRs that use hard disk drives (HDDs) remain the most popular hardware globally for video recording, viewing and storage. They are cost-effective, reliable and simple to install and use. However, looking into the future, the growing demands from video surveillance infrastructure mean the traditional approach of leveraging tens to hundreds of NVRs will no longer be feasible and practical.
Data Center IT practices can serve as an indicator of which direction video surveillance infrastructure should evolve. A software-defined approach that relies on a computer program for managing data resources, functionality and storage and has no dependencies on the underlying physical hardware.
This approach still needs to fulfill the basic requirements of video surveillance infrastructure:
Effective video capturing and storage: the chosen infrastructure needs to keep pace with high-megapixel cameras and sophisticated VMS’s. It should ensure the video is captured with zero frame loss and image degradation.
Backup and failover: The system needs to stay online and offer backup in the event a disk drives fail, or an entire server fails.
Information Security: Have cyber and digital security capabilities to protect data from unauthorized access.
Scalability: Be flexible and easy to expand or change. Examples can be adding compute, storage or GPU resources to accommodate changes in camera technology, increasing camera counts, longer retention times or deploying additional security applications.
Cost Control: have a good way to control costs related to server and storage, power, cooling, maintenance, update, and administration costs.
Asmag.com will discuss these topics together with technical experts from Quantum, to suggest a new approach to address these questions. To hear more about future trends in video surveillance and storage, and how to help users prepare for it, join our webinar,
“What to know and how to prepare for video data growth,” on November 9 at 2 p.m. Singapore time.
See you there!