HPE SimpliVity simplifies management by streamlining IT operations, enabling VM management and mobility, and providing built-in data efficiency and data protection. Now, HPE and Milestone Systems, a leader in open platform IP video surveillance software, have teamed up to provide customers with simple, edge optimized HCI solutions to run VMS workloads.
Data growth is not exactly news. But you might not be aware of how quickly itโs growing outside of the data center. Data is skyrocketing at the edge, and because it is more efficiently processed when the computing power is close to the thing or person generating it, there is need for more processing power at the edge itself. In fact, some analysts estimate that 75% of all data will be collected and processed at the edge by 2025.
Edge computing decentralizes data processing and lowers dependence on data centers and the cloud, enabling processing power to be as close to the end user as possible. This is useful in cases where real-time data collection, processing, and reporting are needed. The faster that process is, the better it is for the business.
One of the major use cases of edge computing is video surveillance. Security is of paramount importance, whether it be for business or personal needs. Any threat needs to be analyzed immediately, and relevant information must be available in real time to reduce potential damages. Fortunately for customers, machine learning and video surveillance software have evolved rapidly in recent years. Advanced motion detection devices running machine learning algorithms can now generate real-time alerts, allowing customers to evaluate the cause of any issue and take appropriate action.
Milestone Systems is a global leader in open platform IP video surveillance software with more than 150,000 installations worldwide. Milestone XProtect video management products are compatible with a wide range of IP cameras, encoders, and digital video recorders. Because Milestone provides an open platform, customers can integrate business solutions that support their specific security needs. IT organizations that opt for multi-site solutions that are simple to manage, high performance, and capable of significantly reducing latency can review video data sooner and make decisions faster. Thatโs where HPE SimpliVity hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) comes in.
HPE SimpliVity hyperconverged infrastructure verified on Milestone Systems
HPE SimpliVity simplifies management by streamlining IT operations, enabling virtual machine (VM) management and mobility, and providing built-in data efficiency and data protection. The edge optimized HCI platform gives customers the advantage of having compute and storage power in a single system without the need for putting together and managing different components.
HPE and Milestone have teamed up to provide customers with simple, edge optimized HCI solutions to run Milestone VMS workloads. Customers that deploy these solutions have the added benefit of HPE SimpliVity global efficiency for VMS and any other workload they are running at the edge.
As of today, two HPE SimpliVity platforms have been verified by HPE and Milestone:
HPE SimpliVity 380 Gen10 H (large form factor)
- Total cameras verified - 75
- Gives IT organizations the agility and economics of the cloud with the control and governance of on-premises IT. Delivered on HPE ProLiant DL380 servers, the HPE SimpliVity 380 is a compact, scalable, 2U rack-mounted building block that consolidates server, storage, and storage networking services.
- HPE SimpliVity 380 H is a hybrid storage node that can be used for both edge workloads and backup/archive workloads.
- Supports the latest 2nd Generation Intel Xeonยฎ Scalable Processors.
HPE SimpliVity 325 Gen10
- Total cameras verified โ 100
- Highly dense, 1U enclosure ideal for remote office or space-constrained locations. Each appliance has one node per 1U chassis and provides customers with the full software capabilities of HPE SimpliVity including guaranteed data efficiency, built-in data protection, and global virtual machine (VM)-centric management and mobility.
- Supports AMD EPYC single CPU processor platform including all-flash storage.
Verified camera count is the guaranteed minimum number for cameras at the edge. The initial validation was focused on dedicated environments for video monitoring. Additional performance validation tests for mixed workloads are in progress to understand best practices and the mixed workloads that can be run on different platforms.
The results of these tests will help customers evaluate the best suited HPE SimpliVity model for a specific use case and clarify how customers can benefit from HPE SimpliVity global efficiency.
Verification test details
Milestone allows use of industry standard video encoding formats including H.264, H.265, and MPEG-4. During the verification, H.264 encoding was used with motion detection enabled on all cameras which provides savings on storage along with the H.264 algorithm frame compression. Enabling motion detection ensures many fewer writes to the disk when there is no motion detected by the camera.
The results of the 7-day run on HPE SimpliVity fell well within the limits prescribed by Milestone.
Conditions set by Milestone to be passed for platform verification
- System to run for 7 days without any stoppage
- Frame loss < 1% indicated by media overflow in the XProtect System Log.
- CPU values < 70% average on any of the Milestone Recording Servers.
- Write latency values less than 200ms
Components used (common for both platforms)
- Milestone XProtect corporate 2020R1
- HPE SimpliVity OVC v4.0.0
- Microsoft Windows server 2016 virtual machines to run Milestone workloads.
VM configuration
Two Microsoft Windows server 2016 VMs were deployed on different hosts in a cluster to run the Milestone components.
- First VM with 16vCPUs and 32GB of RAM had the recording server installed on it. This also had a disk space of 2TB allocated to store the video feeds.
- Second VM with 8vCPUs and 32GB of RAM had the other components which include Management server, Event server and log server.
Note: Sizing will vary from case to case. Check out the Milestone server calculator to get recommendations for sizing based on the respective use case.
The recording server was configured for Motion detection, where in the data is written to the disk only when there is any motion detected on the cameras, and the video feeds are H.264 encoded. While there is savings on storage capacity due to this, it comes at the cost of CPU cycles.
Tip: Motion detection can be turned on/off for all the cameras or individual cameras based on the userโs need.
System Architecture
Milestone recommends 2 ways to install the components:
- Single installation โ Install all components on a single host.
- Custom installation โ Install components on different hosts.
The custom installation procedure was followed during the verification. The recording server was installed on one host, and the other components (management server, log server, event server etc.) were installed on the other host in a 2-node HPE SimpliVity cluster. Having two or more nodes in the cluster also gives the application the HA and resiliency it needs.
The live feeds are sent across the network to the recording server which is responsible for all communication, recording, and event handling related to the cameras. The live/recorded footage can be viewed through the client that can be installed remotely or on any of the nodes present.
Performance test feedback
We are always interested in customer feedback and would be happy to hear if you have any specific use cases you want validated. Please reach out to us with any requests or feedback you have, or if you need more information about this solution or about other HPE SimpliVity use cases. We are here to help.
Learn about the latest HPE SimpliVity features and the key benefits the platform provides in this recent blog by Sr. Technical Marketing Manager Vinay Jonnakuti.
Get details about verified HPE SimpliVity solutions with Milestone Systems:
- Milestone XProtect on HPE SimpliVity 380 H (large form factor)
- Milestone XProtect on HPE SimpliVity 325
Meet HPE blogger Madhav Bharadwaj, Technical Marketing Engineer for the HPE SimpliVity HCI platform. Madhav is focused on enabling and building integrations and developing solutions to enhance the customer experience.
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