Using Overland Storage`s SnapServer NAS with

A SUBSIDIARY OF
Using Overland Storage’s SnapServer® NAS
with MOBOTIX™ Cameras
A solution for video surveillance using MOBOTIX™ high-resolution megapixel cameras, Mobotix Management Center MxMC™ video management
software and Overland Storage SnapServer® NAS as the network video
storage and external, removable RDX HDDs as archive storage
June, 2016
Table of Contents
1.
Abstract
3
2.
Overview
4
The cameras
4
2.1
2.1.1
What is an IP network camera?
4
2.1.2
How are the cameras connected to an IP network?
4
2.2
The camera monitoring software
5
2.3
Overland Storage SnapServer as the network video archive
5
2.4
Benefits of the MOBOTIX™ / SnapServer solution
7
2.5
SnapServer selection guide
8
3.
Calculating your storage requirements
9
4.
Replicating your image files to another site
10
Archiving and vaulting your image files
11
Overall solution configuration steps
12
5.1
Plan your environment
12
5.2
Configure the SnapServer
12
5.3
Configure cameras on the IP network
12
6.
Best practices
13
7.
How to configure – the specifics
14
Basic SnapServer setup as the camera network archive
14
4.1
5.
7.1
7.1.1
Using SnapServer Manager to set an IP address
14
7.1.2
The SnapServer web administration interface
15
7.1.3
SnapServer initial setup
16
7.1.4
SnapServer initial RAID setup
17
7.1.5
SnapServer create a volume
17
7.1.6
SnapServer create a share
18
7.1.7
SnapServer create a local user
18
7.1.8
SnapServer associating a user with a share
19
7.2
Register your SnapServer
7.2.1
8.
8.1
20
Setup email notifications
20
Mobotix ManagementCenter MxMC™
21
Autodetect and configure MOBOTIX™ cameras
21
8.1.1
Opening the camera’s web UI using a web browser
22
8.1.2
Activate the camera
22
8.1.3
Configure the camera for storage and archival
22
8.1.4
Setup video motion triggers to only record images on certain events
24
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1. Abstract
The need for IP network video surveillance solutions continues to grow. In retail shops, service locations, hotels,
petrol stations, parking structures, apartment buildings and homes. However many of the cameras used in
surveillance are still based on a 60-year old analogue TV standard producing video that creates low-quality images
(0.4 megapixels) or lacks detail in objects of interest.
The evolution of cameras to the video surveillance market has led to the introduction of two new technologies to the
surveillance market – high-resolution (mega-pixel cameras) and IP cameras (transmitting camera video over Ethernet
networks). Manufacturers are introducing cost-effective hi-resolution digital cameras into surveillance solutions
because of the growing importance of quality of objects at both close range and distance. These new hi-resolution
cameras deliver much better image resolution and quality, in most instances require fewer cameras (as a result of
super wide angle optics which can cover an entire room) and with digital zoom capability there is no need for old
mechanical pan/tilt zoom implementations. For instance, if the goal of the surveillance project is to read details like
license plates or objects at distances, hi-resolution cameras are the best choice.
The introduction of IP cameras that can connect to existing Ethernet networks has added flexibility, scalability, and
reduction in cost of deployment. MOBOTIX™ has produced a versatile line of hi-resolution cameras that bring video
surveillance to another level, providing megapixel resolutions (3072 × 2048 pixels) video streams with audio and
scalable frame rates. In addition, its cameras store these high resolution images more efficiently, requiring less
network bandwidth.
These high resolution images can place a heavy demand on network storage devices required to process multiple
cameras streams and to deliver the storage capacity and protection required for these images. When sizing any video
surveillance application there is always a tradeoff between the quality of the video, how long to store it, and the
amount of storage required to handle the video quality and desired retention time. With IP systems, handling multiple
camera streams over the network requires a recording server that can keep up with the multiple camera streams as
dropped frames are not acceptable.
Recent lab-testing of Overland Storage’s SnapServer® Network Attached Storage (NAS) in the MOBOTIX™ camera
lab has proven it is the ideal storage solution for handling multiple camera streams with ease – from just a few to as
many as 100 camera streams at the same time.
SnapServers have a long history of being easy to manage, providing rock-solid reliability and offering a variety of builtin redundancy features. SnapServer requires less IT skills to manage, is more reliable, has a lower acquisition cost,
and costs less to operate and maintain than comparable general purpose PCs over the long term.
This paper will provide you with the key considerations and set up points to configure SnapServer as the IP Video
Storage Archive on a network, key considerations and set up points for MOBOTIX™ cameras to record to SnapServer
and, lastly how to configure the Mobotix Management Center to access and search the video archives stored on
SnapServer. This combination provides a flexible, robust and complete surveillance solution.
This paper will also introduce SnapSync™ which automatically syncs files between directories on geographically
distributed SnapServer systems. This brings unique value for redundancy of video files. Furthermore, an external
USB3 RDX® removable disk drive can be attached to SnapServers. In connection with the new MOBOTIX™ file
system MxFFS and Overland Storage RDX® disk drives, video data can be exported without any interruption of the
video recording and without any loss of the video data integrity.
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2. Overview
2.1 The cameras
MOBOTIX™ offers a wide range of high resolution network cameras for a variety of applications. Refer to their website
for specifics and selection guides - http://www.mobotix.com.
2.1.1 What is an IP network camera?
A MOBOTIX™ IP network camera is a camera and computer combined into one intelligent unit. It captures and sends
live, high quality video directly over an IP network such as a LAN, intranet or the internet. Users can view and/or
manage the camera using a standard web browser or video management software Mobotix Management Center on
any local or remote computer on the network. It allows authorized viewers from different locations to simultaneously
access images from the same network camera. The cameras create images in either MxPEG (a MOBOTIX™
proprietary format designed for security, with a low CPU and network load) or Motion-JPEG (an industry-standard
format), with or without audio, which the cameras send over Ethernet via TCP/IP to either the recording workstation or
to a network storage device such as a SnapServer. Refer to the MOBOTIX™ website for more information on these
formats and their benefits.
2.1.2 How are the cameras connected to an IP network?
The cameras are powered either by a normal AC adaptor, shipped with the product, and plug into a standard Ethernet
switch port using standard Ethernet Cat5/6 cables; or are powered by an Ethernet switch designed to provide power
over its Ethernet ports - Power over Ethernet (POE). Using a POE switch is beneficial as it requires only a single
Ethernet CAT-5/6 cable from a switch port to each camera to provide both signal and power to the camera. That is
possible because the camera has a low power consumption design of less than 4 watts, is outdoor proof, and does not
require any heating or cooling, which can greatly simplify installation.
If switches already exist in the environment, a POE Ethernet switch with one or more non-POE 1 Gbit ports can be
added in between the POE camera and the switch to power the camera. A POE switch with some non-POE ports is
called midspan. POE Ethernet usually refers to 100Mbit data transfer rate. 1Gbit POE is also available, but not
needed in connection with MBX cameras.
MOBOTIX™ provides a wealth of information on surveillance network design (bandwidth and storage), camera type,
sizing, and so forth. Refer to their website for more detail.
Figure 1
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2.2 The camera monitoring software
The Mobotix Management Center software is a comprehensive video management application specially designed to
work with MOBOTIX™ cameras and local or remote video storage archives such as SnapServer systems. It is an easy
to use, feature rich solution, providing camera and SnapServer setup, remote video monitoring and recording,
advanced camera event management, and also provides a single interface for live viewing and remote viewing.
It allows you to do time searches and time synchronous playback on the stored video as it manages indexes for all
video files it finds stored on the network archive. It is also important to note that this software has no restriction on
the number cameras it can support.
The Mobotix Management Center software is downloadable from the MOBOTIX™ website - it is free of charge and is
available to all customers who purchase MOBOTIX™ cameras. This software runs on any standard PC running
Microsoft W7 or higher, or MAC. Refer to the MOBOTIX™ website for system requirements and supported operating
systems.
2.3 Overland Storage SnapServer as the network video archive
SnapServer systems combine best-in-class network storage performance with a range of platforms providing various
sizes, capacity points, RAID data protection schemes, and customer-centric ease of use - ideal for small offices,
workgroups and larger distributed enterprises.
Built on the award-winning GuardianOS™ operating system, which provides network file sharing and easily
integrates into existing networks and security infrastructures on a single device, it is ideal for safe and secure video
archiving.
SnapServer systems come in a variety of capacities and capabilities which can accommodate a wide range of
storage needs for surveillance applications.
The SnapServer NAS, being a cross platform network storage file server, can provide storage in several native
formats. For the solution described in this paper there are two key protocols supported by the MOBOTIX™ cameras.
They are: CIFS/SMB (Microsoft) and NFS (UNIX/Linux). SnapServers can support all of these native protocols at the
same time. The user configures one of these network file share protocols for the MOBOTIX™ cameras to write their
video files over the Ethernet network to the SnapServer. For this documentation set, the focus will primarily be on
CIFS/SMB.
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Each MOBOTIX™ camera independently manages its own storage space in an individual folder on the SnapServer
system. The maximum storage space for the video archive on the SnapServer is set in the camera software (referred
to as “ring buffer storage”). The camera automatically deletes old recordings to make room for new ones when this
limit is reached, or if the allotted life time for a recording has expired. Independent of the recording mode chosen, the
MOBOTIX™ camera first stores the recorded video clips in its internal ring buffer (see ring buffer synchronization
illustration below). This enables the camera to bridge network failures and maintenance of network components for a
period of time, without losing images. The internal camera SD flash size is initially 4 Gbyte and can be increased up
to 128 Gbyte.
Figure 3
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2.4 Benefits of the MOBOTIX™ / SnapServer solution
The following provides a high level summary of the benefits of using SnapServers as network attached storage devices
for MOBOTIX™ cameras:
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Hi-resolution video and audio capture over IP networks
Archive functions already integrated into the camera - each records their images to the SnapServer
independently for ease of management, maximum flexibility and scalability.
Each high performance SnapServer supports multiple cameras
Choose the correct size of network storage system for each site - large or small
Modular, expandable storage provides longer retention times of higher resolution images and allows for
unforeseen growth
Easily manage one or many geographically dispersed SnapServer systems
Proven rock-solid reliability provided by Linux-based GuardianOS™
SnapServers support a controlled power down and a power up after a voltage interruption when integrated with an
APC Smart-UPS®
SnapServers all run GuardianOS and use the same management interface - if you can set up one model, then
you can set up the other models
Both systems allow independent scalability in the project
SnapServer systems support a fast playback over Gigabit Ethernet
Figure 4
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2.5 SnapServer selection guide
SnapServers come in a variety of sizes and configurations. Table 1 below will help you select the model and capacity
to meet your surveillance needs. The initial setup menus will then allow you to configure a RAID level of your choice.
SnapServer XSD 40
SnapServer XSR 40
SnapServer XSR 120
GuardianOS 7.7 or higher
15 cameras
@ 6 Megapixel
25 cameras
@ 6 Megapixel
>100 cameras
@ 6 Megapixel
2TB – 32TB
4TB – 320TB
16TB – 768TB
Up to 3
SnapExpansion (2u 12
drive) expansion
chassis
Up to 7 SnapExpansion
(2u 12 drive) expansion
chassis
No expansion
1 – 4 SATA drives
RAID 0, 1, 5, 6, 10
2 Gigabit Ethernet
port
Optional file
replication
External USB3
RDX removable disk drive
Desktop
Height 4.3” (109 mm)
Width 6.1” (155 mm)
Depth 10.5” (267 mm)
1 - 40 SATA drives
RAID 0, 1, 5, 6, 10
2 – 96 SATA or SAS or SSD
drives
RAID 0, 1, 5, 6, 10
2 – 6 Gigabit Ethernet
ports
2 – 6 Gigabit
Ethernet ports
Optional Dual 10GbE
Optional file
replication
File replication is
standard
External USB3
RDX removable disk drive
External USB3
RDX removable disk drive
1U Rackmount
Height 1.7” (43 mm)
Width 17.2” (436 mm)
Depth 19.3” (489 mm)
2U Rackmount
Height 3.4” (86 mm)
Width 17.2” (436 mm)
Depth 26.2” (668 mm)
Table 1
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3. Calculating your storage requirements
There are many factors that affect the amount of storage required. MOBOTIX™ has considerable information already
on their website and in their camera manuals regarding this subject. The key attributes to consider are:
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Image resolution
Image quality – defines how much compression is applied to the image
Single or dual lens recording
Frame rate when recording
Recoding format – Motion-JPEG or MxPEG
Image complexity
Rate of movement within the frame
Number of hours of camera recording per day (for continuous recording)
Number of events per day and length of event (for event recording)
Days of video retention
There are MOBOTIX™ generated calculator tools available that can help you with calculating the amount of storage
you will need. You can access these tools on the Mobotix or Overland Storage web-sites at the addresses below.
http://www.overlandstorage.com/resource-center/tools
http://www.mobotix.com/eng_GB/Support/Storage-Requirements-Planner
Below are some examples to give you an idea of the amount of storage that would be needed in different scenarios for
MxPEG recording format. It is recommended that you use the links above to calculate your specific requirements.
Below is a basic setup with 15 cameras at VGA resolution, 60% quality, recording continuously at 12 frames per
second:
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If that were changed to event recording where 250 events occur each day and recording duration is 10 seconds per
event, increasing the frame rate to 25 fps requires significantly less storage. The figures for events per day, movement
(during the event) and recording time per event will obviously vary considerably between different scenarios.
4. Replicating your image files to another site
SnapServer systems are designed to run a select set of 3rd-party applications that add additional value to your
surveillance project. One optional application, SnapSync, is a robust WAN-tolerant, file replication suite.
SnapSync has the following key features:
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Replicates one-to-one or one-to-many locations
Replicates to PCs, servers or mobile devices such as tablets or cell phones
No public Cloud
AES 128-bit encryption for secure data transfer over the network
Key values SnapSync brings to the Surveillance project:
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Easy management of synchronization jobs
Sharing data with a list of list of different targets on different OSs
Read/Write or Read Only sharing
Individual image files or entire camera directories can be synced to another location or multiple locations for
second site analysis, backup or disaster recovery
XSR120 CCTV recorder
XSD40
Remote
Local video surveilance installation
Research Archive
Figure 5
Cell Phone for
immediate remote
view
In this example, SnapSync is running on the SnapServer XSR120 and is synching the camera images of the MxFFs to a
SnapServer XSD40 in a remote location or a mobile device such as a cell phone. Both clients in this example have
SnapSync installed. The data is transferred over Internet use ASE 128bit encryption for data protection. Data is never stored
on a public Cloud.
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4.1 Archiving and vaulting your image files
Sometimes complete sets of camera recordings need to be archived. Camera images collected over time may quickly
sum up to a number of terabytes. Similarly to the coax/analog video camera area which had been stored on VHS
video cassettes, we can now store and archive video images on RDX® removable disk systems, which directly attach
to the SnapServers. The RDX technology consists of a USB3+ single drive station and a removable rugged cartridge
with a shock protected disk in it. RDX disk cartridges are available capacities ranging from 500GB to 3TB. RDX
drives are tough, and media is shockproof and rugged enough to last more than 10 years. Knocks and drops don't
mean lost data.
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No power supply is needed for the RDX+ drive
Fast data transfer, up to 60Mb/sec
NTFS or Linux file format
WORM media support
Key values RDX external, removable disk brings to the surveillance project:
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Certain video data may be kept beyond the defined expiration period in a vault
Video images and video snapshots may be shipped to a remote site for research
Expand storage capacity by removing video files from the SnapServer and holding them on RDX media for a
longer period
Archive recordings for a long period externally
XSR120 CCTV recorder
Local video surveilance installation
RDX cartridges may get
shipped or kept in vault
RDX drive and an RDX
removable disk
cartridge
In this example, data of a share or directory residing in a SnapServer can be copied to the external RDX USB connected disk
drive. An internal web UI allows the selection of the data source and the data target. The RDX media is presented with all
accompanying metadata such as serial number, volume name and remaining storage capacity. Data can be copied in both
directions, to and from the RDX disk drive.
The UI shows the data on the SnapServer
in the left pane, the data presented the right
pane is on the RDX disk cartridge.
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5. Overall solution configuration steps
Here is an ordered summary of the steps necessary to configure the video surveillance solution. The setup assumes
you already have your cameras plugged in to the network, a PC running Microsoft Windows 7 or later with access to
the camera network, and a web browser (e.g. Internet Explorer). A DHCP server could be on the network for
automatic IP address assignment, or you will need to be familiar with setting IP addresses manually. Initially the PC,
cameras and SnapServer must be on the same physical network segment (the auto-detection mechanisms do not
work through routers, gateways, etc.).
5.1 Plan your environment
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Define the IP addresses that will be used by each camera and the SnapServer
Decide what usernames and passwords will be used by the cameras, and MxManagementCenter™, to access
the network shares on the SnapServer. Also decide on the share name(s) that you would like to use.
5.2 Configure the SnapServer
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If required, install the SnapServer and any expansion units in the rack. Connect the expansion units (where
supplied) to the SnapServer.
If required, install the disks into the SnapServer (and expansion units).
Connect at least one Ethernet port (port 1) on the SnapServer to the same network that the cameras are on
and power the unit on. If expansion units are used, power these up first.
Optionally install SnapServer Manager™ (SSM) on the management PC (ideally the same PC Mobotix
Management Center is installed on). SSM may be found on the supplied SnapServer CD or downloaded from
the Downloads & Resources section of the Overland Storage support site
(http://ftp.overlandstorage.com/Software/Snap/SSM/index.html). SSM is used to locate the SnapServer on the
network, set the initial IP address, if not allocated by DHCP, and logon to the SnapServer’s management
interface.
Using the initial setup wizard, set up the server name, system date and time, and appropriate network settings
for the IP subnet you intend to use for the cameras. For security purposes, change the default administration
password for the SnapServer.
Initial setup will walk you through configuring a RAID set (RAID5 preferred if you have more than three HDDs),
volume, and set up email notification and/or SNMP alerts (if necessary).
Register your SnapServer.
Optionally configure any other services appropriate to your environment, such as joining an Active Directory
domain. These items are not covered in this document please refer to the SnapServer Administrator Guide for
the GuardianOS version installed.
5.3 Configure cameras on the IP network
Decide whether you want to configure the cameras manually or by using Mobotix Management Center. If configuring
cameras using Mobotix Management Center, install the software.
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Refer to the Mobotix Management Center software manual to automatically discover and configure the
cameras. The main steps are covered later in this document.
Follow the Mobotix Management Center manual – Configuration of the recording and storage functions, to set
each camera to record to the established SnapServer network share.
o Set external storage access to the Network Share via either CIFS or NFS.
o Follow the Mobotix Management Center manual for your monitoring layout, setup, and configuration. You
may prefer to watch the YouTube videos of the MOBOTIX™ Academy for more details on setup and
configuration of an camera environment on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWMppSAlQQ8
Refer to the MOBOTIX™ camera manual if configuring the cameras manually. The main steps are covered
later in this document.
o Set the event control (events, actions and messages).
o Set the external archive access to the network share via either CIFS (recommended) or NFS.
o Verify the camera configurations are permanently stored (in flash).
For security purposes, change the default administration password for each camera.
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6. Best practices
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Decide on and map out your IP infrastructure for the cameras, SnapServer and monitoring PC before you begin
configuration. Document the IP address ranges, usernames and passwords you want for the surveillance
environment. It is best to set the IP addresses for the cameras and the SnapServer to a static IP address. This
way, they are guaranteed never to change.
It is recommended you give some consideration as to whether you want all cameras to access a single network
share on the SnapServer using the same username and password. Only a single network share is required;
each camera then has its own folder within the share. You may want each camera to have its own unique
username and password for access to this share, but this is more complicated to set up.
Network share names and user names should not contain spaces.
Gigabit Ethernet is preferred for maximum bandwidth. All SnapServers use 10/100/1000 auto sensing Ethernet
ports. Most SnapServers have multiple ports and these can be bonded for additional performance and/or
resilience.
Separate your camera network from your standard client network traffic. A standard IP switch with VLAN
capability can provide the proper dedicated bandwidth and isolation but separate switches with power over
Ethernet (POE) capability are commonly used in IP camera environments.
Upgrade the SnapServer to the latest version of GuardianOS, if not already done.
Upgrade the camera firmware to the latest version available for them, if not already at that level.
For security reasons, change the administration password of all cameras and SnapServers. Retain these
passwords in a safe place as losing them will cause complications.
When calculating the amount of network storage needed, be sure to add at least 15-20% for future growth (e.g.
more cameras or extended recording retention).
All the cameras and the SnapServers should refer to a common time source on the network. NTP is
recommended for this and the SnapServer can be configured to provide time services via NTP to all of the
cameras in the environment.
Be sure to set up the SnapServer alert mechanisms so you will be notified of any issues.
Activate the fileserver check in the admin menu of the camera, to get notifications (email, VOIP calls...) of any
issues with the connection to the SnapServer.
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7. How to configure – the specifics
Since SnapServer systems come in various capacities, there are a few natural variations in the configuration steps.
Each SnapServer comes with an initial configuration wizard that walks you through the basic steps required to
configure it for your network. The network share can then be accessed on the network by a standard network mount,
for instance as a Microsoft Windows share mount: \\[IP Address]\share1
7.1 Basic SnapServer setup as the camera network archive
SnapServer systems are managed through a web browser. Unlike a generic PC, SnapServers do not require any
directly connected keyboard, mouse or monitor. You simply open a web browser (like Internet Explorer) on a PC which
is on the same network as the SnapServer system.
Attach an Ethernet cable to port 1 on the back of the SnapServer. Note that port 1 is the left-hand port when viewed
from the back of the SnapServer system. If the network includes a DHCP server, the SnapServer system will be
assigned an IP address; if not it will use a default address. The default address is 10.0.0.1.
Power up any expansion units first, and allow them to come up, then power up the SnapServer. The unit will take
several minutes to boot up and you will hear the internal fan until the operating system takes over environmental
control, then it will become sig
blinking at the rate of one blink per second the unit is up and ready to be accessed.
In order to discover the IP address that belongs to the SnapServer, and to set a permanent static address, it is possible
to use either SnapServer Manager or Mobotix Management Center.
7.1.1 Using SnapServer Manager to set an IP address
Included on a User CD which ships with every SnapServer system is an application called SnapServer Manager. It is a
Java-based, platform-independent, multi-server administrative application from which administrators can discover,
configure, and monitor all SnapServers on their network. With SSM, administrators can compare, copy, and configure
settings for groups of GuardianOS powered SnapServers in a single operation.
SnapServer Manager can be installed to all client platforms, including Windows, OS X, Linux, and UNIX. It is a
convenient practice to install SnapServer Manager on the same PC where you intend to run Mobotix Management
Center, since it enables the administration of the cameras and the SnapServer systems from the same PC.
SnapServer Manager can be run from any PC that is routable to the network where the SnapServer system is located,
although auto-discovery will only work if you are on the same physical network segment. Once SnapServer Manager is
installed and the application has started, you will see the application image similar to the image below.
Note the server name, IP address (static or DHCP) and model are clearly displayed. Once you have identified the
SnapServer you wish to configure, place the mouse pointer over its row and right click to access the drop-down menu.
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If the “Set IP Address” option is available in the menu then select it. Enter the IP address and other relevant network
details into the “Set IP Address” dialogue box that now appears.
If the “Set IP Address” option is not available, the SnapServer will get an IP address via DHCP. Select
“Launch Web Administration” UI and proceed to the next section to run through the SnapServer initial setup, where to
set the final IP address.
7.1.2 The SnapServer web administration interface
Your default browser window will open and you will get a dialogue box to enter the SnapServer username and
password. The defaults are: admin/admin. Change this during the initial setup configuration phase.
In this example, we are using a SnapServer with 2 SATA disk drives. It has not yet been initialized, and is brand new
out-of-the-box.
This section describes a basic SnapServer system set up using the fewest number of steps. The SnapServer system
has many additional features and security attributes that may prove useful, like Microsoft Active Directory (ADS)
integration, alerts, and other file sharing capabilities. These items are not covered in this document please refer to
the SnapServer Administrator Guide.
Open the SnapServer’s UI with a browser. To see all the available menus click on the steering wheel in the top right hand
corner.
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7.1.3 SnapServer initial setup
When logging in for the first time, you will see the “Initial Setup: Welcome screen”; click through to “Initial Setup:
General Information”.
Set the date, time, time zone, and administrative password, then click “Next”. If an NTP time server is present it can be
configured later, but this will not be covered in this document. All cameras and SnapServers should be synchronized to
the same time.
The next page will allow you to configure the SnapServer
allow it to
obtain an IP address automatically from a DHCP server, if present on the network. Note the IP address and other
information in the white boxes in the static area these are the settings that are currently assigned from either your
DHCP server or from your previous address assignment.
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7.1.4 SnapServer initial RAID setup
After making your selection and inputs, click “Next”. If your SnapServer came with disks already installed then you will
not see the next few steps (Configure Storage), as your system will have a RAID set pre-built, and initial setup is
complete.
There is a choice on all SnapServer XSRs and XSDs between DynamicRAID and traditional RAID. For recording from
MOBOTIX™ cameras you will want to use DynamicRAID.
The “Detected Disks” screen now shows you how many disk drives were found in the unit. If this is not the number you
were expecting you should inspect and re-seat the drives to make sure they are securely located in the unit, and then
select “Re-Detect Disks”.
Select “Next” and you see one of the following screens, which will allow you to select which RAID type you prefer. For
recording from MOBOTIX™ cameras you do not need to reserve any space for snapshots, so you can set this value to
0%. Once you have made your selection, click “Next” and you will get a confirmation screen.
Once confirmed, the SnapServer
will begin to build the RAID set
or storage pool and create the
default volume and share.
After a while – depends on the
number and storage capacity of
the disks – the “Create RAID”
should be complete and show a
RAID status of “OK”.
7.1.5 SnapServer create a volume
In the “Volumes” tab we need to create
one or more volumes.
A RAID array is a virtual, unformatted disk.
Creating a volume on a RAID array creates
a file system on it. Users / cameras may
store data on that file system. In our
example we see a file system named
“mobotix”.
Its status should always show as “Active”.
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7.1.6 SnapServer create a share
In the next steps we need to create a gate
to the volume we created in the previous
step before.
Go to “Shares” and “Create Share”.
In the example you see a share named
“Camera1” and its path on the file system /
volume is a directory named “C1” directly
underneath the root filesystem of volume
“mobotix”.
7.1.7 SnapServer create a local user
The share in the screenshot above shows
its accessibility as “Open”.
We want to limit the access to the camera
video images on the SnapServer, so
consequently we need a privileged user
with exclusive access to the share.
Create a user (i.e. “mxnfs”) and a password
(i.e. “meinsm”).
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7.1.8 SnapServer associating a user with a share
Click on “Open” to change the shares accessibility.
In the left pane remove “AllUsers”. In the
right pane select “Local Users”.
Open the list of local users by clicking
on the face icon.
Highlight the user “mxnfs” and add it to
the left pane. Make sure “AllUsers” has
been removed before clicking “OK”.
The access to share “Camera1” is restricted to
the user “mxnfs” using password “meinsm”.
These credentials are needed for the storage
archive configuration discussed on page 24.
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7.2 Register your SnapServer
Registration is important as it allows Overland Storage to inform you of OS updates and important technical
announcements. You will now be taken to the main SnapServer administration page.
7.2.1 Setup email notifications
At this time, you should also configure email alerts, so any SnapServer notifications can be reported to the
administrator. This can be found under “Server” or “Maintenance”
, depending on the version of GuardianOS.
Up to four email addresses can be entered for notification.
Note: an SMTP server must be present and routable to the SnapServer for reporting via email to function.
You may also set up SNMP alerts under “Network
SNMP”.
You have now completed the minimum administrative processes for the SnapServer system. From here, you can
optionally navigate to any function you need to modify for your environment.
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8. Mobotix ManagementCenter MxMC™
Mobotix ManagementCenter MxMC is a free Windows application that displays and manages multiple MOBOTIX™
cameras on one computer.
MxMC can do much more than display video and audio data from MOBOTIX cameras. It is a full-featured security
monitoring platform with an array of capabilities, including the ability to:




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Handle camera setup
Support time synchronous playback
Handle intelligent alarms
Arrange camera views on different layouts (MultiView screens)
Display cameras that are sending alarm notifications
A copy of MxMC is included with all MOBOTIX cameras, but the latest version can be downloaded from the Mobotix
website at http://www.MOBOTIX.com.
Install MxMC from either the CD or from the MSI file downloaded. The installer automatically creates the shortcuts that
were selected during the installation process (desktop, start menu, etc.).
When you start MxMC for the first time, start the “Welcome” screen.
The short cut CTRL+SHIFT+1 may help you opening the welcome GUI.
8.1 Autodetect and configure MOBOTIX cameras
The number in the red dot in the “Add Devices”
symbol of the Welcome screen indicates newly
discovered cameras.
Click on it to start the basic configurations and
integration of cameras into the MxMC.
The screen shots shows three discovered but not
configured cameras
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A right mouse click on one of the discovered cameras (see screenshot below) opens the basic camera setup menu.
In this menu, a number of parameters may get changed or set, such as camera name, IP address and further more.
Ignore possible grey presets.
To actually configure cameras in detail we suggest using the individual camera web UI.
Start a browser with the cameras IP address and go through the configuration steps.
8.1.1 Opening the camera’s web UI using a web browser
8.1.2 Activate the camera
Hit “Arm & Record” to activate the camera first.
8.1.3 Configure the camera for storage and archival
Start the “Admin Menu” and scroll down to the “Storage” section
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Open the “Storage on External File Server / Flash Device” menu
To use the new and very efficient Mobotix file
system MxFFS, the following setup is required.
Choose the internal SD flash card as the primary
target and the SnapServer as the archive target.
Enter the IP address of the SnapServer and
the share name previously created on the
SnapServer.
Enter the user name and password which was
registered in the SnapServer’s security menu
before to grant a user access to the share
Camera1. Start the file server test to verify the
validity of the setup done so far.
Define a maximum storage capacity on the
SnapServer for this camera.
Define the camera’s video data expiration period.
Hit “Set” in this menu and store all the changes
and settings in another administration menu
The SD Flash card inside the camera is the primary storage for the video data. All data changes in the ring buffer –
new recordings – will be sent to the “archive” on the SnapServer. To maintain a maximum of data availability the
Flash card may be replaced with a larger capacity storage card. The storage capacity of the default flash card is 4GB.
128GB is the largest flash card which may be used in a MOBOTIX camera. The archive in the SnapServer is a
“closed” file, so you can copy it onto an external USB disk, preferably an RDX drive. RDX Media may be kept in a
vault for a long period or may be used for a video research on a PC running MxMC with no access to the cameras.
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8.1.4
Setup video motion triggers to only record images on certain events
Utilizing for continuous recording will quickly fill up the external NAS storage and make a quick video research
almost impossible. We should set up the cameras to store video images only if a certain motion event occurs in the
video image.
The next few steps cover setting up trigger definitions for events that will send video data to SnapServer.
Click “Setup Menu”.
Click “Event Overview”.
Disable all event sensors but one.
In this example only the VM sensor is
enabled.
Click “Edit” to reveal the trigger details.
Scroll down to the enabled motion
sensor and click the black arrow to open
the sensors configuration tab.
The black arrow doesn’t change when
you hover over it.
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Now, go back to the live view of the camera and define the motion trigger window(s) which will start the recording of
video streams. The change of a certain amount of pixels within a defined trigger window will start the recording.
To setup the trigger window do a SHIFT – left mouse button click into the
life screen of the camera at the starting point – “1”of the trigger window.
Then do a simple second left mouse button click at the opposite point - “2”
to complete the window definition.
The initial SHIFT – left mouse button click will create a small yellow square
in the window to indicate the start of the trigger window.
The second left mouse click will create a yellow, rectangular frame around
the trigger window.
Now go back to the “Setup” menu and click “Add Rectangle”.
The rectangle coordinates will show up in the field definition accompanied with an ID.
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A number of trigger windows can be defined in the live image, one after the other, following the instructions above.
Make sure to see the entire trigger window IDs in the “Event Sensor Type Window” list!
Only trigger windows with their associated IDs in that list will bring video sequences to SnapServer. This way you will
have an optimized system for ensuring to store all important video footages.
Sales Offices
Sales and support for Sphere 3D products and solutions are available in over 90 countries. Contact us today at
[email protected]. For a full list of Sphere 3D addresses and phone numbers, please see our website at:
http://sphere3d.com/contact-us/.
To contact a representative call:
Americas: 1 858 571 555
Asia Pacific: +65 6818 9266
Canada: 1 416 749 5999
Germany/France: +49 231 5436 0
Japan: +81 3 5475 2140
United Kingdom: +44 1 189 89 8000
©2016 Sphere 3D. All trademarks and registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners. The information contained herein is subject to
change without notice and is provided “as is” without warranty of any kind. Sphere 3D shall not be liable for technical or editorial errors or omissions
contained herein.
W P-SS Mobotix- Rev 2016-01
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