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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 as in R models, such as the M22M-Secure R8 or you can connect external flash devices (e.g. USB sticks or an SD card) to the camera.

Notes:


Internal Ring Buffer

As per factory default, the MOBOTIX camera immediately starts storing images in its 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
Remote NFS Server Select the NFS File Server option and click on the Set button at the bottom of the dialog. 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).

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 occupied, 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.

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 video 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 192.168.254.133(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
External Ring Buffer

Select one of the Remote CIFS Server or Remote SMB Server options. This will enable the fields that are relevant for CIFS and SMB storage, respectively.

When using SMB, the MOBOTIX cameras can only use local accounts on Windows computers. Domain or Active Directory logins are partially supported using CIFS.

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.
Login User Name Enter the user name the camera should use to log onto the server (e.g. mxcam).
Login Password Enter the password you have assigned to the user name.
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 occupied, 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.
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 video 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 as storage media.

Use the selection box next to each Flash device to set the desired file system format for the corresponding storage target. Currently, you can only choose the MxFFS recording format, which has been specifically developed by MOBOTIX for this purpose.

Format Description
MxFFS Select the MOBOTIX Flash File System 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 M;B per incident.

Formatting Flash Devices

Click on the Format button to the right of the file system selection box of the device to open the Formatting Options dialog, which will guide you through the rest of the formatting process for the selected Flash device. This menu allows selecting one of the following formatting methods:

Formatting Method Explanation
Quick Format (default) Only writes new administrative file structures and leaves the majority of the data stored on the device unchanged. Accessing these data is not possible by regular means, but they could be reconstructed at a later time by others.
Secure Format In addition to writing new administrative structures, this method deletes every byte of the storage device by overwriting the device with a specific pattern. This method provides a high level of security, but takes considerably longer.

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.


Storing the Configuration

Click on the Set button to activate your settings and to save them until the next reboot of the camera.

Click on the Close button to close the dialog. While closing the dialog, the system checks the entire configuration for changes. If changes are detected, you will be asked if you would like to store the entire configuration permanently.

 In order to enable these settings, you need to store the configuration and reboot the camera!

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