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Video surveillance is proving to be a massive growth area all over the world. Governments, businesses, and private individuals are increasingly relying on it to create a safe, secure society, in which people can go about their day-to-day business with reassurance and confidence. More and more, video surveillance is proving to be a critical technology – the data is simply too valuable and sensitive to be lost.
Systems are becoming more sophisticated and cost-effective, and the advent of IP (internet protocol) surveillance, looks set to further boost the market. Video surveillance is vital to the entertainment industry, the police and military, medicine and science, transport, industry and domestic contexts. Growth on a worldwide scale is impressive, but in particular emerging markets, it is phenomenal.
Of course, the recording is just the start of the process. Equally important are the countless millions of hours of camera footage that need to be saved and archived – the media on which they are stored needs to be robust and tamper-proof, yet easy to search and access. Though 95% of recorded data is never actually read again, no-one knows which 5% will eventually become relevant, so the recorders better not miss any of it. It's easy to see that hard drive technology is essential to the success of video surveillance – which is where Hitachi GST hard drives come into their own, with ultra-reliable drives to fit all security-system requirements. Of course there are many different systems available on the market, but because our hard drive range is so extensive and flexible, we are the perfect choice for surveillance solutions.
The need for surveillance is increasing in many areas including commerce, entertainment, national security, medical/scientific, industrial, transport, domestic and retail environments.
Applications and system requirements determine the type and number of drives needed from single-drive systems and mobile recording, through multi-hard drive installations with vast data storage to multi-hard drive redundant arrays for storage and download.
Video Surveillance application types and recommended Hitachi hard drive usage
Multi-hard drive redundant arrays
For finance, government, the military – areas where data security is paramount and vast quantities of data are stored across complex networks, redundant array systems provide the most efficient solution. These can be designed to keep working when there is failure – disks can be hot swapped and data recovered automatically while the system keeps running. Redundant arrays are particularly used on workstations where storage-intensive computers such as those used for video are in operation.
Multi-hard drive installation
Security systems for applications such as inner cities and large shopping malls require multi-hard drive installation to capture and hold CCTV images from many strategic points and angles. So in these instances, there needs to be the capacity for vast data storage, as well as the ability to download history to security services if necessary.
Single-drive systems and mobile recording
These systems come into their own in smaller-scale situations where the emphasis is more on ruggedness and mobility. Typical applications would be public transport and law enforcement. Disks need to be able to withstand vibration, extreme temperatures and knocks, and perform reliably in a sometimes hostile environment. |
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