Genetec, the Canadian IP security product firm, has announced its new Cloud Archives service for Security Center. The makers say this will eliminate the need to invest in additional servers. By using on-premise storage equipment, this hybrid cloud service will provide a way for customers to extend their video retention or do off-site recording, the company says. Archived video will be encrypted before transfer to the cloud so that only authorised users can access recordings, while allowing operators to view and search video from their Security Center system, whether archived locally or in the cloud.
If a CCTV user adds new cameras, a system can exceed the storage requirements originally anticipated. Cloud Archives can be enabled on any Security Center Archiver to define how long recordings are kept on-premise before being moved to the cloud. Or users can have off-site recording, which can reduce the operational costs of electricity and equipment maintenance. Users with distributed sites will also be able to pool their Cloud Archives resources across multiple systems to share capacity, and avoid the cost of adding new servers in each location.
Security Center Cloud Archives uses Microsoft Azure. A 99.9pc Uptime Guarantee is backed by the Genetec service level agreement (SLA); all recorded content will be replicated and mirrored in the globally dispersed Azure data centres.
Kim Akers, General Manager, Developer and Platform Evangelism at Microsoft, said: “With storage being one of the largest costs of operating a surveillance system, Cloud Archives gives Genetec customers the opportunity to significantly reduce their investment when deploying or expanding their security system on Azure.”
Security Center Cloud Archives is available as a preview to Security Center certified channel partners and customers, and will be generally available during the first quarter of 2015 as a subscription-based service.
