Storage Backup

What is Storage Backup?

The Nx Witness Storage Backup feature allows users to back up archived footage from system servers to secure NAS, DAS, or even offsite cloud-based locations such as FTP sites:

• Backups can be configured to back up captured high-resolution streams, captured low-resolution streams, or all streams.
• Backup can also be configured for all cameras or selected cameras.
• Backup can also be configured for specific types of recording, including motion/objects/bookmarks or any combinations of the above.
• Backup can be configured to be executed with different bandwidth settings on different schedules.
• Backup can roughly estimate how long the backup queue is.

If the backup process can't be executed or some unexpected failure (Hardware, Network, etc.) stops the backup process, Nx Witness will tag the time, and restart from the position where it had been stopped.

If the failure can be fixed on the scheduled day, then the backup will resume. Otherwise, the backup procedure will be pending until the unexpected issues have been solved, then backup will restart from the position where it had been stopped. 

Once a backup has been executed, Storage Backup archives can still be directly played and accessed via the Nx Witness Client. For example, you might have local storage for 7 days footage and a backup storage for 30 days. If you back up your local storage once per week, you can still playback video from all backed up video.

Each server only backs up archived recordings from its own storage archive. In a multi-server environment Backup Storage should be specified for every server in the system in order to back up footage from all cameras.

To Configure Storage Backup

1. Right-click on the server in the Resource Tree and click Server Settings.
2. Go to the Storage Management tab.
3. Find the path or storage location (local, NAS) you would like to use for Backup and click on the down arrow next to Main and change to Backup.
4. Press Apply.
5. Click on the Backup tab to access backup configuration settings. Apply all changes when done with configuration.
   
   
   

   A. Backing Up Specific Cameras

   Select the cameras to backup by toggling the switch on the right side. Toggle the New added devices option to automatically begin backing up a device once it has been added to the Nx System.
   

   
   B. Backing Up Specific Content

   Nx Witness provides the ability to allow the user to back up either all recording or video clips from the whole archive. The function can help the user to back up the motion clips, object-included clips, bookmarked clips and/or any combination of them.
   
   Use the What to backup menu to select what aspect of each camera's archive should be backed up:

• • All archive
  • Motion
  • Objects
  • Bookmarks
  • Motion and Objects
  • Motion and Bookmarks
  • Objects and Bookmarks
  • Motion, Bookmarks, and Objects

C. Backing Up Specific Streams'

The user can also select the stream which needs to be backed up. Nx Witness now provides two options, the user can back up both streams (Primary and Secondary streams) or only the Low Resolution stream (Secondary stream).

Use the Quality menu to select which streams to backup:

• • All streams
  • Low-res

D. Backing Up Future Footage

If Skip Current Queue is clicked, the backup process will ignore existing footage and only backup recordings from that point forward.

E. Changing Bandwidth Settings

Click Bandwidth Limit tab and select a bandwidth mode:

• • No Limit – The entire archive will be backed up immediately and use the fully available bandwidth. The footage will be written to the main and backup storage immediately and simultaneously. The footage will be backed up since the last time backup finished or since the very beginning if this is the first time backup occurs. Afterward, the server will continuously
    back up live streams. 
    
  • Fixed – The backup will be performed immediately but with network bandwidth usage control (i.e. the bandwidth remains a specified Mbit/s across all days and times.). The footage will be backed up since the last time backup finished or since the very beginning of the archive if this is the first time backup occurs.
    
  • Scheduled – The backup is performed only during the selected days and hours. Fill in the cells
    of the schedule using the following options: Unlimited, No backup, and Limited to (limit to
    a certain Mbit/s, but remember that too tight a bandwidth constraint can cause the entire
    backup to fail). Note that the footage will be backed up since the last time backup was
    completed or since the very beginning if this is the first time backup occurs.. If network bandwidth is insufficient, the backup may not be fully completed
    within the specified time frame. In this case the date and time of the footage that was
    backed up will be clearly indicated (Archive backup complete until...).
    

Questions

If you have any questions related to this topic, or you want to share your experience with other community members or our team, please visit and engage in our support community or reach out to your local reseller.