For help selecting the correct exacqVision Server hardware, please refer to our Configuration Calculator.
Exacq system performance is benchmarked under typical real-world conditions to provide meaningful context in selecting a system that meets the needs of your application. All performance guidelines are approximate, and we recommend having at least 20% extra data rate capacity for your installation. The following definitions and guidelines are used by our Configuration Calculator and should be kept in mind when configuring any system.
IP Stream
An IP stream is a video or audio connection transmitted over the network to the server. Many cameras are capable of providing more than one stream simultaneously.
Maximum IP Streams
The highest number of IP Streams the system is capable of recording. This is an upper limit on the number of streams that can be handled and may not be reachable based on the total amount of data from connected devices. Secondary streams from the same camera are included in this number. Datasheets for each system may be found on the Product pages of Exacq.com.
Video Throughput
The maximum amount of data that can be recorded while simultaneously performing reads for video search. Testing is performed so that users performing forensic searches should not expect significant delays in retrieving results while being able to record without interruption. Datasheets for each system may be found on the Product pages of Exacq.com.
The Maximum Throughput may be lower than the theoretical maximum disk throughput values reported by other’s systems but allows us to provide the expectation that users may perform functional searches in a reasonable time, whereas citing a higher write throughput to the disk would negatively impact a user performing searches in a real-world use case. Throughput values are also tested to ensure that storage drives, which are 100% full, are capable of removing old video files without negatively affecting the ability to write new files.
Our Configuration Calculator considers both Maximum IP Streams as well as the data throughput when recommending system hardware. Whichever limit is reached first is considered the cutoff before suggesting adding another system to the overall configuration.
While typically used to select an appropriate size and number of servers for new purchase, the Configuration Calculator may be a useful tool for existing systems when trying to determine if additional cameras may be added.
NOTE: X-Series systems manufactured through our partnership with Dell will list an increase in the number of streams over the prior generation Z-Series despite slightly lower disk throughput values. This is due to the higher prioritization the RAID management these systems place on writing data to disk versus read activity.
Network Interface
Tests are performed using default interface settings. With regards to the disk throughput, the network interface is a determining factor, e.g.- a disk that can write 3 Gbps will be limited to only 2.5 Gbps if that is the maximum throughput of the data crossing the network interface to be written to disk.
Active Search
When considering the ability to perform reasonable forensic searches, tests are performed to ensure that 2 hours of video from 4 simultaneous streams are returned within 2 minutes.
Operating System
Exacq systems are available with Windows or Ubuntu Linux operating systems. Each operating system is tested independently due to Linux ext4 file system’s ability to provide higher throughput in many server configurations than the Windows NTFS file system. Ext4 is capable of handling larger ranges of contiguous blocks of data, allowing it to work more efficiently with large files, reducing drive fragmentation, and has shown more efficient journaling and checksum processes.
Display Rate
The local client’s display frame rate represents a client running directly on the chosen system, rather than a networked client workstation, to decompress and display live or recorded video. This is tested using 1080p H.264 video streams with default quality settings. H.264 requires significantly more CPU power to decompress than MJPEG or MPEG; thus, performance is the same or better using MJPEG or MPEG compression. Testing determines the total frames capable of being displayed without any additional applications running.
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