Rise of the Edge Storage in Distributed Video Surveillance

metroPassenger rail networks are by definition open systems, accessible through many entry and exit points, with the volume of users often reaching hundreds of thousands, even millions, each day. Security measures therefore need to ensure these unique operational considerations without compromising the functionality of this vital infrastructure.

The attacks on trains in Madrid in 2004, London in 2005, Mumbai in 2008 and recently in Brussels highlighted the vulnerability of rail transport to acts of terrorism. Rail operators and Government agencies all over the world have been forced to adapt quickly and respond to the massive challenge of securing open transit networks.

Ten years ago networks operated with 5-10mbps transmission based on a handful of cameras. Today you have installations with hundreds, sometimes even thousands, of IP based cameras that require hundreds of gigabytes or terabytes of capacity. One of the vulnerabilities in proprietary systems even though might be cheap to install is that they could be rendered useless when the technology moves on. Hence you are more likely to succeed with a purpose-built system from a larger company, which will be less vulnerable to fluctuating business conditions.

All the above reasons are driving the Metro Rail Customers to look out for an Open Standard Video Surveillance Platform and we at EMC had envisaged this couple of years back which led us to launch the VSS1600 our second generation purpose built Enterprise Storage System for Video Surveillance Workloads this month (our first gen was VSS-100).

vsss1600

Some of the benefits of this VSS1600 Video Surveillance Storage Platform in Metro Stations are

Crime investigation – Video surveillance footage can prove extremely useful in investigating incidents where a crime or terrorist act is carried out. By analyzing recorded footage, security officials can identify suspects and examine what steps need to be taken to prevent future acts from occurring. Hence one needs to have an Enterprise Class Storage System to ensure the data is protected and available all the time.

Tiered Digital Storage – The current & most important data can be stored in the VSS1600, cold archive data like Tagged Video’s, Incidents, Alarms can be seamlessly tiered to a software defined Cloud Storage platform for commodity infrastructure.

About the Author: Manu Shankar