Is Storage So Inexpensive You Should Record Continuously Now?

Screening hours of unnecessary video for an incident is painstaking. Recording based upon motion and other triggers reduces a time-consuming job considerably, making it more likely the surveillance system will be used to maximum advantage.

I think, whenever cost allows, video should always be recorded full time, and motion searching done retrospectively (assuming the video system has that feature). I have had cases where proving something didn't happen, for legal reasons, is as important as proving something did. With motion only recording, the court (and even myself) can never be 100% sure that the event didn't happen as it's too easy to misconfigure sensitivity or zones or due to some disk or processing error the motion event was never triggered.

Also typical motion recording settings may be designed to ignore objects far away on the grounds that faces can't be recognised at that distance anyway. But for serious incidents this video is still useful as it shows how many people were involved, which direction they came from and where they went to. It may also help determine which other cameras may have got a better image.

It is all about bugdet though ;)

I have to agree that full time recording is the ideal way to go considering the many reasons listed in the posts above. As it seems, most people are concerned with the cost of storage or storage space required due to the use of megapixel cameras. At most of our facilities where we are using either 2MP, 3MP or 5MP cameras for outdoor surviellance we have opted to record continuously as we cannot afford to miss any recordings due to the fact that motion may not be detected for whatever reason. We also initially were incurring a lot of motion caused by trees, etc. Yes, you can select motion zones or mask off areas which are not relevant but there are many variables when dealing with trees, wind, weather, etc.

Initially we didn't think we could afford 30TBs, 45TBs or even 60TB of storage to allow for 30 day retention periods of many megapixel cameras recording continuously. After several RAID failures of storage systems which were about 8TB or 12TB max in size due to the expensive nature of RAID Storage Solutions we considered using Veracity's COLDSTORE Solution. We were able to get up to 90TB of storage (using two COLDSTORE Units) at three of our locations and record continuously for 30 days. If I would have tried to find a RAID Solution with 90TB of storage space it would not have been budget friendly. With the COLDSTORE Solution not only did we save on the actual hardware costs, but we also save on electricity. Each COLDSTORE unit only uses a max of 42 watts on a single PSU. The failure rate of the harddrives (off the shelf) dropped drastically since 80% of the time only two hardrives are on. Less coolling needed in our server rooms was an added benefit as well.

Here is an IPVM Review on the COLDSTORE Unit:
http://ipvm.com/updates/1509

Here is another discussion on IPVM which talks about 50TB+ Storage Systems:
http://ipvm.com/forums/forums/video-surveillance/topics/what-are-you-using-for-50tb-surveillance-system-storage

The snapshot below shows a comparison of Energy Savings:

In my personal opinion and experience the COLDSTORE Solution has allowed us to make continuous recording of cameras affordable and easy to maintain.

OK, I will bite on this, which may cost me additional posts to back up my claims.

I know John stated that the more standard was 4 Mbps, but I do not buy this. I am a firm believer in VBR over CBR. Why on earth would you want worse video when action occurs. And why would you want top quality video when nothing occurs. Does not make sense. I took so long on this because I had to hijack a customers system (via Logmein) to confirm my results. (And had kids/camp situations during vacation week)

First of all, I live in Maine, where we have over 12 hours of night in the winter. I always design for "night" when I do systems. In my experience, we are in a mode of "bigger is better" but this is absurd. I have tested 1,2,3, and 5 MP cameras at night and none provide any better that a camera with a 1-2 MP sensor, so I stick to 1-2 MP (or 720-1080 if lower installed elevation). A matter of fact, I always though the Arecont AV3135 camera was "genius" with a day 3 MP and night 1.3 with no cut filter (Do not use now, but the concept is good). Anyway...

I went to a customer site and tested my "VBR" cameras. (Like I said, I do not understand the CBR philosophy). I was looking at "idle state" which occurs on average 80-90 percent of the time. All of the 1 to 1.3 MP cameras (1/30 or faster shutter) run at no greater than 600 kbps on main profile cameras in idle state (I do use High Profile cameras, which show better results). On total motion scenes this can jump to 2 Mbps, but on average, I would say 1 mbps (wait, is not that what I said in my post?). I decided to vary fps to see increases in bw/storage to back my claim that higher frame rate is not linear (do not direct this reponse to a past IPVM test). On a 1280 x 800 camera with multiiimage WDR, in idle state, and Q of about 30, Gov 1 sec, I was getting 450-600 kbps h.264 no matter the frame rate with a 1 fps value of 50 kB H.264 and JPEG of 85 kB. I verified this by sabataging the customers 100 camera system, setting 4 or the 1 MP cameras (VBR) to 10 fps, and only recording these to continous (none of the rest were recording). This was after hours, so there was no motion. The average per camera with mid level compression was 500 kpbs (I looked at the size of the storage file for the hour and determined average Mbps and then "un-hijacked' customer system).

Could someone tell me why they are running 4 Mbps BW on cameras. Is this for CBR mode just to cover the 10% instance when motion and complex scenes exist. I guess I can see a 5 MP camera in an airport or casino (no wait, Carl said he needs 30 fps so this can not be so), but how may interior locations need high resolution cameras. (I work daily telling customers why the 20 MP surround camera is a day only solution (competitors without Electical Engineering degrees like I have make these recommendations) and why the 5 MP fisheye can not view an area effectively unless in a 24 x 7 mall.

To restate, my theory is no greater than 2 MP for exterior (use more if needed instead of higher resolution) and normally 1.3 MP 4:3 for halls or low hanging 720/1080 with 16:9 for larger areas. Depth of view reduces ability of higher resolution cameras in hallway areas, so < 1.3 MP with more cameras (heck, 1.3 MP domes are now <$150) is the norm. Strive for 1 MBps average (wait, once again, is not that what I said in my original post). Use multiimage WDR for entry doors and exterior window/glass areas. Always use < 1/30 second shutter. Get rid of 2x and 4x Sensup. (trade show marketing, I think).

1 Mbps ( I say less than this per average per average camera) = 325 GB per month. 2 TB drives = $150 continous per camera @ 30 days = $25 (continuous motion cost per camerea per month)

See original post. (If anyone backs up the claim by John that an IP camera can be installed, programed, and licensed for $400 for a system, I would like to hear it - our average is $1000 per interior camera installed, licensed programmed, and commisioned - if they can, I was thinking of getting into solar energy).

VMD is not merely used as a feature to reduce recording space but as a means to only recording relevant information. So when retriveing archive recordings, it is a lot easier to viewing movement as to no movment. Why would it be necessary to record information when there is no motion other than the incidence of a guard sleeping (which will be viewed at inset and outset of occurrence)? In the South African market, the prescription is towards VMD recording as opposed to continual recording.

I prefer to keep constant recording in addition to motion recording. I have recently been setting up my analog installs with D1@7FPS normal recording (constant) with VBR cap @512Kbps, then also motion recording with D1@7FPS with a VBR cap of 1024Kbps. While the normal recording has the same resolution and frame rate, the lower VBR cap cuts down on the additional storage needed. To be honest, most of these analog installs are small camera counts (8 cams usually) and a single 2TB drive is more than enough for a full 30 days retention. And the best part is my customer still receives motion cues that they can use to cut down on forensics time.

Now for our IP projects, they tend to be larger camera counts and vary greatly depending on the type of customer. For instance, an apartment complex we are working with right now in the planning stage is going to need 15 IP cams (13-1080p outdoor, 2-720p indoor) and we are proposing 9TB (3x3TB) of disk space. At $450 cost of the actual drives, how could we not think of drive cost as a minimal part of the cost of the project. It is a mere fraction of the overall cost.

We will be recommending constant recording for almost all customers going forward, unless Thailand floods again. (too soon?)