Bosch’s VRM 1.0 significantly enhances the management of storage capacity by treating storage blocks within the system at the logical or virtual level rather than the physical level. Virtualization of storage blocks allows for complete flexibility and scalability in the allocation of storage throughout the network.  Recorded video is distributed over all available iSCSI RAID units on the network, rather than recording on a single storage device directly connected to an NVR.  It also provides enhanced data availability with the possibility to automatically re-route video to alternative iSCSI units in the event of an array failure.  The iSCSI RAID storage units can, moreover, be located anywhere, either stacked high in a secure centralized IT-managed facility as with conventional NVRs, located in secure cupboards as distributed network-attached storage where they are less vulnerable to a single physical attack, or as direct-attached storage coupled with a Bosch video encoder/decoder.

VRM 1.0 also optimizes the use of system resources by keeping track of storage usage per camera and dynamically assigning storage capacity to devices on the basis of demand -- for example, reassigning blocks from a camera using, say, only 10 per cent of its allocated capacity to a storage-hungry camera recording at a higher bit rate.

To facilitate fast searching, the new VRM provides a search data base for recordings and metadata.  The metadata (events, ATM or any other textual data, VCA data) is recorded with the video footage.  The database also keeps track of location of the recording blocks.  If this database is lost, e.g. through data base corruption, the VRM is able to recreate all information by just reading the metadata stored.

Under control of the VRM, the encoders are able to directly store data on the iSCSI units in 1 GB blocks without routing through a server and without the need of a file system (both of which are potential causes of failure).  In addition, using direct block addressing, old information is simply overwritten, not first deleted before new information can be written.  This greatly improves system performance for very high bit rate recording, enabling Bosch’s iSCSI disk arrays to attain 200 Mbps throughput, far exceeding the classical NVR’s 70 Mbps limit.

To further enhance system integrity, VRM 1.0 can be synchronized with a second instance of VRM running in the background on another server to provide backup if the first server should fail.  Even if the backup VRM server fails, each iSCSI RAID can continue to record for a further 128 GB, corresponding to about 10 camera-days (assuming a 1 Mbps camera stream).

VRM 1.0 was introduced in Q4, 2007, first as a stand-alone product to replace Bosch’s VIDOS-NVR, and in Q1 of 2008 it will be available fully integrated into the Bosch VMS software platform.

For more information, please send your e-mails to swm@infothe.com.

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