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Storage on External File Server / Flash Device

Open the Storage on External File Server / Flash Device dialog to set the camera's storage options.

The camera can store images in a ring buffer that is located either internally in its RAM, on a Flash device or on an external file server. A ring buffer will overwrite its oldest images once the storage capacity has been reached. Storing images on a file server is accomplished without installing any additional software on the file server.

This strategy for external recording is very powerful, thanks to the low network loads and the integrated image buffer of the camera, which can also bridge short network failures. It is thus no problem at all to record the events of 30 cameras on a regular Windows computer (P4 / 3 GHz).

When recording to Flash devices, they can be internal storage media (e.g. Q24M, M24M, T24M, D14 or S14, except Web and Basic models) or you can connect external devices (e.g. USB keydrives, Flash SSDs or USB harddisks) to the camera.

Notes:


Internal Ring Buffer

Note: Models with an integrated SD card do not use the internal ring buffer as default storage target. Instead, the camera uses the SD Card as recording target.

MOBOTIX Web and Basic models immediately start storing images in their internal ring buffer, which is created automatically in the camera RAM.

Notes:

Recording Targets

The camera can record the video sequences with audio on Flash devices or file servers (without any software installation). You can choose between the following recording targets:

Notes:

Caution!

The camera will automatically create a folder structure in the specified folder on the recording target, which is based on its factory IP address (dots are replaced by underscore characters). This path contains the audio and video data as well as various other files, which are required for the proper management and playback of the stored video data on the recording target.

Make sure that the camera paths and their contents cannot be changed in any way by assigning corresponding rights on the storage folder.

Recording on Linux/UNIX Computers

When recording on Linux/UNIX file servers, the camera uses NFS (Network File System) and stores the video in a directory on the server (commonly entered in /etc/exports), which is mounted as a file system.

Camera Configuration

Parameter Description
Available Storage Targets Activate the NFS File Server option. Note that this will enable the fields that are relevant for NFS. Click on the installation instructions link. This page contains further information for configuring the Linux/Unix server. It may make sense to print this page for reference purposes.
File Server (IP) Enter the IP address or the name of the file server. The file server must be accessible for the camera in the local network.
Remote Directory/Share

Enter the absolute path of the directory on the server which the camera should use for storing images (e.g. /mxdata). /mxdata).

Make sure that this directory exists and that access rights are assigned accordingly.

User ID and Group ID This option is only visible if you clicked on the More button beforehand. Enter the user ID of a user with write access rights:
  • UID = user ID
  • GID = group ID

If you are using the factory default settings, you need to check whether or not a user with this user ID exists and whether or not this user has write access to the directory.

Storage

You can limit the storage capacity to be used by the camera. Enter the maximum storage capacity for the camera in the text field.

Note: Once the reserved storage space is used up, the oldest images will be overwritten automatically.

If you do not want to limit the storage capacity, check the unlimited checkbox. In this case, an error will occur once the storage capacity has been reached.

Reserve Storage

The camera uses the reserve storage if the file server is running under high load and the camera cannot store the video data as quickly as needed. In this case, the camera temporarily increases the storage size by the amount of the reserve storage to be able to transfer the files as quickly as possible. Time-consuming operations are postponed (i.e. deleting old files). The camera will run these operations once the server load drops to normal levels again.

Time to Keep

You can limit the time to keep the stored images. Enter the maximum value for days, hours and minutes in the corresponding text fields.

If you do not want to limit the time to keep the images, check the unlimited checkbox.

Number of Sequences

You can limit the maximum number of video sequences to be stored. Enter the maximum number in the text field.

If you do not want to limit the number of video sequences, check the Unlimited checkbox.

Click Set to save the changes. Next, click on Close to close the dialog and on OK to save the changes permanently. Reboot the camera (Admin Menu > Reboot).

Server Configuration

Note: The server configuration may vary for different distributions. Note that MOBOTIX cannot provide support for configuring the Linux/Unix server.

  1. Log onto the file server as root user.

  2. Create a new directory (e.g. mxdata):
    mkdir /mxdata

  3. Change the owner and the user group for this directory:
    chown -R 65534:0 /mxdata

  4. Assign the required access rights for the directory:
    chmod 755 /mxdata

  5. Use the ps aux | grep nfs command to check if the NFS server is already running. If this is not the case, use the /etc/init.d/nfsserver start command to start the service, or install the service from scratch, if it is not available.

  6. Use the rpcinfo -p command to check if the nfs, mountd and portmapper services are executed. Normally, nfs and mountd are started by the NFS server while portmapper is executed as a separate service. If portmapper is not executed, you can start it using the /etc/init.d/portmapper start command.

  7. Open the /etc/exports file in a text editor and enter the following line:
    /mxdata 192.168.1.2(rw,no_root_squash)

  8. To re-initialize the list of entries in /etc/exports, execute the exportfs -a command.

  9. Next, restart the NFS server. Execute the /etc/init.d/nfsserver restart command.

This completes the configuration of the Linux/UNIX server.

Return to this dialog and check if the external ring buffer works, as described in Checking the External Ring Buffer.

Note: It is not required to close this help window while the camera is rebooting. If the camera is available again, this help window may be used in the usual manner.

Recording on Windows Computers

When recording on Windows computers, the camera uses a Windows share on a Windows 2000 Professional SP 2 system or higher. You can use not only products of the Windows server family, but also Windows Professional products; note, that the number of parallel connections serviced by such a workstation is limited, however.

Notes:

Server Configuration

  1. Log onto the system as administrator user.
  2. Create a new user and set a password (e.g. mxcam). The camera will use this user name later on to log onto the server.
  3. Make sure that simple sharing is not used:
  4. Create a new directory with a name of your choice (e.g. mxdata).
  5. Right-click the directory and select the Sharing and Security option from the context menu.
  6. Activate the Share this folder option and assign a name for the share.
  7. Click on Access Rights and add the account name you just created.
  8. Change the access rights for this user by activating the Full Control option in the Allow column.
  9. Close all open dialogs by clicking on OK.

Camera Configuration

Parameter Description
Available Storage Targets

Activate the SMB/CIFS File Server option. Note that this will enable the fields that are relevant for SMB/CIFS.

The camera can log onto a Windows computer using its local accounts and can also use Windows domains and Active Directory Services.

File Server (IP) Enter the IP address or the name of the file server. The file server must be accessible for the camera in the local network.
Remote Directory/Share Enter the Share Name that you have assigned during server configuration (e.g. mxdata), not the directory or the absolute path.
User Name Enter the user name the camera should use to log onto the server (e.g. mxcam).
The camera can log onto a Windows computer using its local accounts and can also use Windows domains and Active Directory Services.
Login Password Enter the password you have assigned to the user name.
NTLM Mode Select the desired method for Windows authentication of the camera (NTLM or NTLMv2).
Storage

You can limit the storage capacity to be used by the camera. Enter the maximum storage capacity for the camera in the text field.

Note: Once the reserved storage space is used up, the oldest images will be overwritten automatically.

If you do not want to limit the storage capacity, check the unlimited checkbox. In this case, an error will occur once the storage capacity has been reached.

Note: Click on the Calculate link to determine the storage capacity requirement for your application in the Calculate Storage Size dialog.

Reserve Storage

The camera uses the reserve storage if the file server is running under high load and the camera cannot store the video data as quickly as needed. In this case, the camera temporarily increases the storage size by the amount of the reserve storage to be able to transfer the files as quickly as possible. Time-consuming operations are postponed (i.e. deleting old files). The camera will run these operations once the server load drops to normal levels again.

Time to Keep

You can limit the time to keep the stored images. Enter the maximum value in the text field.

If you do not want to limit the time to keep the images, check the unlimited checkbox.

Number of Sequences

You can limit the maximum number of video sequences to be stored. Enter the maximum number in the text field.

If you do not want to limit the number of video sequences, check the Unlimited checkbox.

Recording to Flash Devices

If this storage option is available on your camera, the Storage on External File Server / Flash Device dialog (Available Storage Targets section) allows using Flash devices (USB stick/Flash SSD, external USB drive or SD card) as storage media for events.

The MxFFS file system (short for MOBOTIX Flash File System) has been designed for professional applications that are requiring safe storage and which are creating high throughput over longer periods of time. This recording format has been developed with the following two properties, which are a prerequisite for security applications:

  1. Controlled wear of Flash cells: Since Flash media have a limited (but nevertheless high) number of writing cycles for each cell, special care has been taken to make sure that the Flash device is being written evenly, thus prolonging the life of the storage device.
  2. Error tolerance: If the data integrity of the device is being compromised (e.g. due to power failures or user errors such as disconnecting a USB flash drive without prior deactivation in the Manage Hardware Expansions) the damage to the storage device remains rather small. Instead of losing the whole device as would be the case if other file systems would have been used, MxFFS will only loose 4 MB per incident.

Formatting Flash Devices

You can use formatting to prepare recording targets (USB stick/Flash SSD, external USB drive, SD card) that have not been used in a camera, for storing the camera's recordings. Likewise, you can use this function to securely erase storage media that are not used any more. This will make restoring the deleted data impossible (see Secure deletion mode - slow below).

Note: If you would also like to use the SD card for recording MxAnalytics data (not available on all camera models), you should proceed as described on the corresponding help page in the MxAnalytics Data Storage section.

Hint: You can leave this help page open during the entire process to properly follow the step-by-step instructions.

Proceed as follows to format a recording target:

External Logging (File Server Storage Only)

Activate the options in the External Logging section (only shown if you clicked the More button) to periodically copy the log files for external recording as well as the camera's Web Server Logfile and System Messages to the file server.

Checking the External Ring Buffer

To test the camera's external ring buffer on a file server, do the following:

In order to remedy errors that are occurring, you should activate the options in the External Logging section and check the Event Storage Logfile (Logfile link in the explanation of this parameter). (This link is only visible if the recording to an external file server or Flash device has been set up successfully.)

You should also configure the Storage Failure Detection to use the messaging options of that dialog to alert you of problems with recording to file servers or Flash devices.


Konfiguration sichern

Klicken Sie auf Setzen, um die Einstellungen zu aktivieren und bis zum nächsten Neustart der Kamera zu sichern.

Klicken Sie auf Voreinstellung, um diesen Dialog auf die werkseitigen Voreinstellungen zurückzusetzen (dieser Button wird nicht in allen Dialogen angezeigt).

Klicken Sie auf Zurückholen, um alle Änderungen seit dem letzten permanenten Speichern der Konfiguration zu verwerfen.

Beenden Sie den Dialog durch Klick auf Schließen. Hierbei wird geprüft, ob Änderungen der Gesamtkonfiguration vorliegen. Ist dies der Fall, werden Sie gefragt, ob die Gesamtkonfiguration dauerhaft gesichert werden soll.

 Zum Aktivieren der neuen Einstellungen speichern Sie die Konfiguration und führen einen Neustart der Kamera durch!

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