Massachusetts Sheriff's Department Deploys COLDSTORE Surveillance Storage System

  • Aug 17, 2011

After a lengthy search and the evaluation of multiple potential storage solutions, the Worcester Sheriff's Department in Massachusetts has chosen Veracity's COLDSTORE as the surveillance storage system for a new 300 camera project. COLDSTORE will be used to provide over 500TB of storage in conjunction with Genetec's Security Center 5.0 Unified Security Platform.

According to Worcester's Michael Temple, "We considered high level appliances, a traditional solution mixing servers, switches and a RAID disk array, and a mixture of appliances and traditional storage. This being a project in the public sector with a fixed budget we had no allowances for overages which became a factor as we began paring down viable solutions.

"One further driving factor became the estimate of needed storage versus the cost of that storage. Once we began looking into 500+ TB of storage, which was based on running cameras at higher quality, using 5MP cameras, technology creep, and the likelihood of future increased needs, COLDSTORE's cost per TB was dramatically lower than any other solution even with the inclusion of additional servers and switches. The cost of COLDSTORE with 500+ TB was less than any other system providing 300TB of storage."

In addition to the above, COLDSTORE's reduced power requirements and cooling costs provided a savings of thousands of dollars per year when compared to other systems.

Finally one feature that was important to Worcester due to the nature of some of our recorded incidents was the ability to completely remove a single disk with a date range of cameras on it and not have to be ordered during an investigation to have to surrender the entire array. Being able to remove the disk and be able to testify in court or during an inquest that this is the original, watermarked video as recorded is, in my mind, highly valuable for both evidence protection and protecting our agency from litigation."

While not the first COLDSTORE installation in the world -- several major COLDSTORE installations are in use within the United Kingdom as well as a school district in Oklahoma --  this installation does mark the first U.S. use of Veracity's new Video Mover system. Video Mover was developed to allow COLDSTORE to serve as the archive location for Genetec's Security Center Unified Security Platform.

COLDSTORE has been designed to store massive volumes of video data at low cost and high reliability without using RAID. Veracity's unique L.A.I.D. process and SFS filing system provide simple disk management and unique evidential handling options in a 4U box that operates under 50 watts of total power. It is specifically aimed at the IP surveillance storage market where required retention rates can be extremely high. COLDSTORE can deliver high capacities with low cost and will be an ideal platform for the recently announced 3TB disk drives (although any size drive may be used), allowing a massive 45TB storage capacity per COLDSTORE unit. Veracity's low-cost, high-capacity technology will enable many storage projects which were previously not feasible, due to considerations of cost, reliability, sheer capacity, total system power consumption or system density.

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