VBrick Systems ETV v4.1 manual Network Video Recording, NVR Overview

Chapter 6

Network Video Recording

Topics in this chapter

NVR Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

NVR Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101

Using an NVR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102

NVR Overview

The Network Video Recorder (NVR) provides a dedicated platform to perform multiple simultaneous recordings of live streams coming from VBrick encoders. The NVR lets you off-load all recording tasks from the ETV Portal Server machine to one or more separate "recorder server" machines. The NVR provides the ability to record live streams from the network, store these recorded video files on a specified location (a record server or other network location), and optionally automatically transfer the contents to selected locations, and/or ingest them to VOD servers.

The NVR is available in two versions—one that supports 10 simultaneous records and one that supports 40—and is ideal for environments that require large scale recording on a robust and reliable platform. The NVR is tightly integrated with the Portal Server, the Scheduler, and VBrick's Video-on-Demand servers. The NVR provides these standard features.

•Dedicated platform – NVR servers ship on a dedicated hardware platform which eliminates resource contention and guarantees successful recording.

•Redundant storage – both NVR servers offer RAID 5 for storage redundancy as well as dual power supplies.

•Large storage capacity – the NVR 10 provides 720 GB of storage; the NVR 40 provides 1492 GB.

•Load Balancing – Load balancing is used when multiple NVR servers are installed. Rather than recording to a specified server, the system records to a dynamically selected server based on a load balancing algorithm.

•Software Development Kit – VBrick provides an SDK to interface with the Portal Server or the NVR. In a typical security, surveillance, and monitoring applications application (without a complete Portal Server), you can write a custom application that will record streams directly to a standalone NVR.

In a basic Portal Server installation (without an NVR), the standard recording functionality allows a maximum of two concurrent recordings. In order to expand this recording capability, you can purchase a Network Video Recorder to offload recording tasks and improve overall performance. The Portal Server and/or the NVRs are delivered with all software installed. The NVR comes in standard and standalone versions as explained below. The only difference is in functionality. Both record either 10 or 40 concurrent streams depending on the license you purchase. Both versions can be expanded to include multiple, additional NVRs so that your recording capacity is virtually unlimited.

ETV Portal Server Admin Guide 99