Edge storage is a technology used by various Uniview cameras and video encoders (NVRs) that enables video recording and snapshots directly to an onboard microSD card or a network-attached storage (NAS) device. The Edge storage function is recommended when the camera is being used as stand alone.
Edge storage makes it possible to design flexible and reliable recording solutions, optimize bandwidth usage, and lower the cost and effort for remote site recording. High quality images are stored on the camera SD card, replacing the need for an onsite server.
Keep in kind, when the Unview cameras are managed by the central management server, it’s necessary to disable the edge storage to avoid affecting the cache post recording feature.
Before you start with the settings:
- You need to have a microSD card installed on the camera’s SD slot, check for card recommendations here.
- Backup resources have been allocated for the camera.
- Backup resource has been added on the central management server.
Not all Unviiew cameras support these functions. If you’re not sure, check the spec sheet to see if the feature is supported.
Or you ask the manufacturer or seller for more details. Additionally, you may check if the feature is available on the camera’s interface.
How to set up Edge Storage on a Uniview camera?
First we need to access the camera via the web browser. Type the camera’s IP address on the URL bar of the browser and enter your username and password.
Then navigate to Setup > Storage. Start the Edge Storage and modify the settings as desired. In this case we will select the “Manual Storage” option. The table below explains the major parameters found in this section.
Storage Medium: This is the Storage resource type. To format the memory card, disable the storage function for the card first. Then Click Format and then click OK to confirm the operation.
The system will restart when the format is completed. Once done, you should see the information about the total and free space of the microSD card.
Data Overwrite Policy: There are two options here. Overwrite means that if there is no free space in the memory card, new data will overwrite the existing data repeatedly, basically the storage will cycle the footage.
The old one gets erased, new ones are saved. Stop means that if there is no free space in the memory card, new data will not be saved to the memory card. Be careful if you select this option, you may not have new recordings once the microSD card is full.
Post-Record(s): For alarm-triggered recording, the length of time that recording continues after the end of the alarm.
Planned storage via Edge Storage
If planned storage is enabled, the camera records video to the memory card during the specified time periods. Go to Setup > Storage.
Select Planned Storage, and then set the periods during which the camera records video to the memory card. Click Save to apply the settings.
Planned storage is greyed out (not valid) when manual storage and planned storage are both enabled.
Unview: Cache Post Recording
A camera under a centralized management system can use the microSD card as a backup storage resource of the central management server. This comes in handy when there’s an interruption of the recording toward the central system (for example NVR).
So, if the storage from the camera to the central storage device (NVR) is interrupted due to unstable network connection, then the camera automatically will start cache post recording and store videos to the microSD card.
With recording backup enabled, the camera will automatically transfer the video stored in the memory card to the central management server when the communication between the camera and the backup server is restored.
This way, even if the camera doesn’t communicate with the NVR, you won’t miss any recordings since they will be saved on the onboard microSD card.
