Video surveillance hard drive enhancements improve reliability, performance

Kalvin Subbadu

As concepts like connected homes (or, smart-homes) and "The Internet of Everything" start moving from the realm of fanciful thinking to practical on-the-ground realities, home-surveillance kit becomes a part of the mainstream technology landscape. Users are demanding greater numbers of connected cameras, always-on reliability, better recording and playback performance and lower power consumption. As high-definition cameras continue to permeate the industry, users' processing and storage demands start increasing exponentially.

Consider that four HD cameras require at least 16.5 Terabytes (TB) of capacity on order to save footage for approximately 30 days. This is more than six times greater than the requirements of four standard-definition cameras. But despite these heightened requirements, too many resellers and installers are still using normal desktop hard drives in their customers' surveillance set-ups - which brings with it a host of problems.

Recent breakthroughs from manufacturers

Fortunately, recent breakthroughs from major hard drive manufacturers have resulted in the enhancement of tailor-made, fit-for-purpose surveillance system hard drives that are optimised for video surveillance applications. These drives - built for the purpose of recording multiple surveillance feeds - deliver consistent processing 24 hours a day, without losing valuable footage or being affected by temperature changes or equipment vibrations. They also tend to last for a longer period of time than desktop drives that have been retrofitted into a surveillance system.

Some of the very latest innovations in this field feature capabilities that temporarily "cache" video feeds - to further ensure excellent dataflow and playback performance. No more lost frames or jittery performance issues. What this ultimately means is that the DVR unit can consistently and reliably record the surveillance footage from multiple cameras, without even a second of the video being lost. This is absolutely critical when considering that frame losses and jitters can mean the difference between finding and convicting perpetrators in the case of theft, and them walking free.

Specially designed surveillance hard drives, of course, make it possible to process and record high-definition video feeds. Again, in cases where one needs the right forensic evidence to secure a conviction against a perpetrator, having a higher resolution video becomes an invaluable tool.

Finally, there are other advantages inherent in some surveillance drives, such as reduced power and cooling requirements, acoustics (quietness), and portability. Choosing the right video surveillance hardware and systems means investing in the protection of one's home, one's family, or one's business. As users tend to add more cameras, and higher-quality resolution feeds, it becomes important to choose the drive that will last for a number of years.

*According to research group IHS Technology