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General Software Questions:
Installation Questions:
How To Questions:
General Software questions:
Can I use analog cameras with my OnSSI Software?
Background:
IP cameras are a recent development to the security camera market,
as such many locations have analog cameras as well as newer
IP cameras.
To
use an analog camera in your OnSSI Software a video encoder
(video server) is needed to convert the analog signal over to
IP. There are many video server manufacturers on the market
today, such as Axis, Pixord, Sony, Vivotek and many more.
Please check the Supported Devices page to see if a particular
model is support. You can find this page at: www.onssi.com/products/supported_devices.php
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What hardware should I use for my NVR?
Background:
When recording video…you truly can't do more with
less! ONSSI has performed extensive testing with our NVR
software and established recommended hardware platforms that
we strongly ask all users to follow closely.
After
you have calculated your total frame for your Server
/ Workstation platforms we strongly recommend adding an additional
10 percent for the HDD storage space and 20 percent for the
CPU processors required. This will provide you with a preferred
selection of the recommended hardware
Choosing the correct hard drive configuration for your NVR system
is critical. Not having adequate hardware can lead to computer
sluggishness, loss of video, not getting the desired frame rates,
and even hard drive failures.
Please refer to our
NVR Hardware Calculator for assistance on selecting
the correct hardware for your NVR.
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What
is the difference between MJPEG and MPEG4?
Background: When implementing an IP video surveillance
system; the video compression utilized is very important.
Some compression schemes utilize resources more efficiently
while others are more suitable for evidence gathering. In
the IP video industry the two primary compression codecs are
MJPEG and MPEG4.
MJPEG (Motion JPEG) is a video compression
technique that compresses every frame to a preset level and
then streams the compressed data. Because MJPEG is frame based
if your bandwidth to the camera is limited you will continue
to get frames, just at a slower rate. MJPEG is very well suited
for video surveillance implementations as data sent from the
camera can easily be broken down into individual frames for
forensic examination.
Pro's:
• Very good compression scheme
for evidence and forensic examination.
• Very low latency
• When bandwidth is limited, image
quality is not compromised, rather fewer frames are sent.
• Easy to project bandwidth and
disk space requirements.
Con's:
• Consumes more bandwidth at higher
frame rates then object oriented compressions (i.e. MPEG4).
• Larger disk space requirements
then object oriented compressions.
MPEG4 is an object-oriented compression.
The camera detects "objects" in the frame and sends out information
when there is a change in the frame. The complete frame is
sent out for resynchronization after a fixed period of time.
Pro's:
• Very bandwidth efficient.
• Requires less disk space then
a frame-based compression.
Con's:
• Higher latency as software/hardware
needs to combine frames from the camera to display video.
• If network connection to the
camera is temporarily lost, video may be lost till the next
key frame is received.
• Bandwidth and disk space utilizations
are hard to predict, because it is heavily dependent on the amount of
motion
in the camera's view.
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Importance of Frame Size:
Background: Images larger than a 40Kb frame size (640x480 resolution) merely
provides more color depth to each frame. This is something
the human eye can barely detect. Since video surveillance
is primarily designed to identify an object or set of objects
from the position of historical review (sets of stills). The
following suggestion would be suitable for most implementations.
Resolution: |
320x240 |
640x480 |
1280x1024 |
1600x1200 |
2048x1536 |
2560x1920 |
Recommended Frame Size: |
12 KB |
32 KB |
80 KB |
130 KB |
180 KB |
300 KB |
The frame size can
be configured through the Camera Settings within the Administrator.
From here you select Image Quality and click Preview Image
and adjust accordingly.
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What
Frame Rate should I use for my cameras?
Background: Motion picture frame rate is equal to 24
FPS (Frames per Second). Since video surveillance is primarily
designed to identify an object or set of objects from the
position of historical review (sets of stills) full motion
frame rates is not an essential requirement in almost all
video surveillance implementations. By default the ONSSI program
assigns a frame rate of 8 for each camera added. In most cases
a lower frame rate is ideal.
Example FPS's are (2 or 3 FPS for parking lots) with a wide
Field of View, (5 FPS for a school hallways) and (12 to 15
FPS for a cash register).
Remember that camera positioning is important: If traffic
to the camera position is mostly vertical (towards the camera)
then this requires fewer FPS since the cameras will gather
a lot more detail as it gets closer. (i.e: person walking
down hallway towards a camera). If traffic to the camera position
is horizontal (from left to right or right to left) then this
may require a bit more FPS so that the cameras capture more
frames in acquiring detailed images of the objects.
Please keep in mind that unnecessarily increasing the
frame rate merely wastes Network Bandwidth, CPU processing
power and Hard Drive space. To modify the frame rate on each
camera, go to the Cameras Settings page within your NVR Administrator.
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Proper use of archiving?
Background: Most surveillance implementations require
historical archiving, and OnSSI's products support this feature
in an easy and simple way. The benefits include better disk
management and better database maintenance options. The database has a capacity of 600,000 records or 40 GB of data, archiving starts a new database and allows for unlimited retention of video as long as there is disk space capacity.
While the user can control video storage by setting the number
of Min/Hours/Days after which video content is deleted (this
is done by selecting 'Delete records older than' in the Camera
Settings page within the Administrator, this is not a recommended
control method, since the number of frames may still exceed
600,000. Once each database reaches this 600,000 frames limit
the system will begin to delete the oldest image and record
the newest image (FIFO).
In almost all cases the proper software configuration is to leave the cameras database to it's default (Max records in database) and to enable archiving for the amount of days required.
Please use our Hardware and Storage
calculator to help you in determining the proper amount
of storage your system shall require.
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Where
should I record Live Video?
Background: Data streaming such as video transmissions
places extremely large demands on your computers resources.
When determining if your system/network is being utilized
properly, it is crucial that your live video recording location
be setup correctly.
Although video can physically be recorded anywhere it is highly
/ strongly recommended that the live video be recorded to local/physically attached drives. Writing
live video to 'Network Attached Storage' devices can lead
to major operational problems as the system needs to write
video in real time and network-attached drive(s) are subjected
to network latency which can cause database or even system
crashes.
Please Note: It is perfectly fine to archive the video
to any storage device such as a NAS or SAN or any other network
drive.
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Installation Questions:
I
received an error 1920 when installing the software, what
does this mean?
Background: Error 1920 means the ONSSI Image Server
is not able to start because:
a) The Port the Image Server wants to run on is already in
use.
b) The service does not have adequate permissions to run on
this machine.
To resolve this error, do the following:
• With the error message remaining
on the screen go to the desktop and locate the Image Server
Administrator.
Open it and change the port number to 8081 (port rarely in use).
Click retry on the error message.
• If error message remains, we
need to change the login rights of the ONSSI Image Server.
To do so, open up your
computers
services page (start >> run >> services.msc) and locate the
ONSSI Image Server.
• Right click on the service and
select properties.
• Select the Log On tab and click
This account.
• Using the browse button locate
and select the user who is currently logged onto your machine.
Note: The logged in user MUST have ADMINISTRATIVE rights
to the machine.
• Click retry on the original error
1920 message.
If the error remains please contact ONSSI support for additional
assistance.
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How do I upgrade my software?:
Background: In order to take advantage of the latest software available, it is often necessary to perform an upgrade on your NVR software. Below we will discuss how to accomplish this.
Note: This only applies to upgrades done from one version of a software to the next (i.e. 5.6 to 6.0), not from one software to a different one (i.e. NetDVR to NetDVMS).
- Shut down the HTTP and Realtimefeed Servers if they are running.
- Open the Add/Remove Programs dialog in the Control Panel.
- Select your ONSSI NVR, and click Change/Remove.If you want to keep your existing configuration (recommended) and/or databases, make sure the Remove Database Files and Remove Registry Settings options are unchecked. Then click OK.
- Click Finish and close the Add/Remove Programs dialog and the Control PanelWindow.
- Click the Install button located on the software installation menu and proceed through the installation .
Example of Installation menu
- Start up the software, all of your old settings will be there, you are now done doing the upgrade.
Important Notes:
- If running the Content Analytics VAP on the NVR machine, please reboot after the upgrade has been completed.
- After upgrading make sure to change the user login rights for the ImageServer and Recording Server Services if using a network drive for Archiving.
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I installed my software as a 30 day trial, how do I license it?:
Background: Before purchasing the NVR software many times customers will install the software as a 30 day trial to test out the functionality. Below we will discuss how to license the software once a purchase has been made:
- Open up your software Administrator, and click on the icon located in the top left corner.
- Select “About Adm..”, on the next page the top line fill in your new NVR Software License Code.
- If the 'Software License Code' field is greyed out either a) pause the Recording Server from the 'Service Manager' or b) shutdown the Monitor Program if the software is installed as an application.
- The software will now prompt you to restart the software, go ahead and do that. Re-start the Administrator,and select ‘import DLK’s’, and browse to the DLK file that has been provided to you. If you do not have the DLK file you can request it at: http://onssi.com/support/licensing.php .
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I added a new camera but it is not available in the NetGuard Client software
When adding a new camera, please ensure the following steps have been taken to gain access to the camera in the NetGuard Client software.
After adding and configuring the new camera in the NVR Administrator program, you must also make sure that the User(s) has permission to access this camera.
Launch  the ‘Image Server Administrator’ and go to the ‘User Administration’ section.
In this section you can select ‘Full access for all users’, which allows access to all cameras and options in the NetGuard software, or, you can select ‘Restrict user access’, which allows selecting specific cameras and options for each user.
If ‘Full access for all users’ has been selected, all the cameras added in your NVR Administrator will be available to all users created in the ‘User Setup’.
If ‘Restrict User Access’ is selected , click on the ‘User Access’ button to select which cameras and options will be available for each user. Select the user using the drop down menu and then drag the desired cameras over to the right hand side. Click on 'Close' when done, and then OK to close the ‘Image Server Administrator’.
Once you have completed configuring the users in the ‘Image Server Administrator', access to the newly added camera should be available in the NetGuard client software. Launch/Login to the NetGuard client software and click on the ‘Setup’ tab. Look in the ‘System Overview’ section for the server and the available cameras. You should see the newly added camera included in the list.
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Why are certain features in the camera settings page unavailable?:
Background: When the Recording Server Service/ Monitor Program are running certain features are disabled from being modified. Examples of these are; the Joystick setup page in ‘General Settings’, the cameras ‘live’ database path in that camera’s settings page’ as well as the ‘PTZ Preset Positions’ page. In order to make these options available for modifying please Pause the Recording Server service from the Service Manager in the Administrator.
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How To Questions:
How do I check what version software I am running:
Follow same steps as above.
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How to save the NVR configuration for backup purposes or to migrate to another server?
Whether migrating to a new server, or upgrading the current software, here are the steps to backup the software configuration:
- Go to the c:\program files\OnSSSI\’NVR’ directory (NetDVMS/NetDVR/ProSight SMB). This is the default installation location, if the software installed elsewhere please go to that folder location.
- Make a copy of all *.ini files, such as the SurvPro2.ini file
- Make a copy of all *.sch files, such as record.sch
- Make a copy of the RemoteClientViewGroups folder
- Make a copy of the NetGuardEVSClientViewGroups folder
After finishing the new installation, make sure the Administrator is closed and copy in the above listed file and folders. Open the Administrator and your configuration should now be available.
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How to setup and test a Generic Event
 Define the event:
- Start NetDVMS Administrator
- Click on 'Generic Events'
- Select the “Generic” icon
- Click on the Add New Event button
- Enter an event name. Enter an event substring. Click the “Add” button.
- Click on 'OK' and exit the Generic Events Dialog.
 Setting an event notification:
- Go to your cameras settings page and select Event Notifications.
- From the left side of the screen select your newly created event and use the >> button to move it over to the right side.
- Click OK and Exit the Administrator.
 Test the Generic Event:
Important: Generic Events can be easily triggered by any program (i.e. access control) that can open a raw socket connection and pass on data. For testing purposes only we will demonstrate how to test it with a telnet session.
Make sure NetDVMS Monitor is running, and the camera for which the event notification was defined is displayed.
- Click on the Windows Taskbar 'Start' button and select “Run”
- Enter the command: telnet localhost 1234. Click the “OK” button.
 You can test the event also from a remote PC; in that case, start telnet on the remote PC by entering the IP address of the NetDVMS server instead of “localhost”. Example: telnet 192.168.1.50 1234.
- Enter your event substring that you defined in the Administrator. In our example we used ‘button’. You might experience echo, which repeats some of the characters, as seen above.
 Close the telnet window by clicking the “X” button. Note: you must close the telnet window for the command to be sent.
- Launch the NetDVMS Monitor.
- Verify the yellow event notification indicator is on.
-Done!
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How do I access my NetGuard Client Software?
 The NetGuard Client software is controlled by the Image Server Administrator.
1. From your desktop, click on the Image Server icon to launch the Image Server Administrator.
2. The Engine Port field defines what port the Image Server runs on, this port must not conflict with anything else running on your NVR machine (such as IIS).
-Go to User Setup and add a username and password.
-If you want to restrict user’s access to certain NetGuard features or cameras select “Restrict user access”, otherwise select “Full access for all users”.
-Once the Image Server has been configured we are now ready to use the NetGuard.
-To access the NetGuard client open up Internet Explorer and go to
http//IP:port, where IP equals the IP address of the machine running the NVR software and port equals port the Image Server is running on.
The page you see will appear similar to this.
-If this is a 'long term use' client machine it is recomment to install the NetGuardEVS client, our robust and most advanced client.
When prompted with the login screen enter the authentication type, a username, a password, the IP address and (if not using 80) the port the Image Server is running on. Click login when done.
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How to Disable User Access Control (UAC) in Windows Vista
 In order to run OnSSI software on a Windows Vista computer you will need to disable User Access Control (UAC).
- Go to Control Panel - User Accounts - User Accounts.
- Click on "Turn User Account Control on or off".
- Uncheck the "Use User Account Control (UAC) to help protect your computer" check box and click OK. You will be prompted to reboot the computer.
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How to trigger Axis Audio Events in our software?
Some Axis Cameras have the ability to trigger an alert if certain Audio Conditions occur. Once the audio level (volume) has passed a certain threshold (for example, in the event of a loud noise such as a gunshot or a scream) the camera will trigger an event in the NVR using the 'Generic Event' port.
Please check with Axis (www.axis.com) to verify which camera models support this feature.
 Log into your Axis Camera (see camera manual for instructions).
- Go to Settings > Audio. Check the 'Enable Audio' checkbox and specify an alarm level (from 0%-100%.
- Click on Event Configuration > Event Settings, check 'Event enabled' and under 'Triggered by...' check 'Audio Trigger'. Select a trigger criteria from the drop down list.
- Under 'When Triggered...' check 'Send TCP notification'. Click on 'TCP server settings'. This will open the Event Server Setup dialogue box.
 In the 'Event Server Setup' dialogue window, under 'TCP Server' enter a name for the NVR server (this is for the user's convenience only, to identify the server).
Enter the IP Address of your NVR Machine, and the value for the Generic Event Port. The default Generic Event Port is 1234. Use this value unless you have change the port number on the NVR. Click OK.
This will close the Events Server Settings dialogue.
- Back in the 'Events Settings' dialogue window, enter in the Message Field the text you'd like the camera to send to the Generic Event Port on the NVR. Click Save. This concludes the camera-side configuration.
 Launch the NetDVS or NetDVR Administrator. Choose Generic Events, and enter a descriptive name for the event (e.g. 'gunshot'.) The Event Protocol, Event Rule Type and Event Priority should be left at their defaults. - Enter the Event Substring - this should be the same exact text entered in the camera configuration utility (see #7).
- At this stage the NVR will be able to respond to an event triggered by the camera; now you can configure the action taken by the NVR upon receiving the event.
Such actions may include:
-Start recording
-Send NetMatrix Alert Video
-Move PTZ Camera to preset location
See 'How to setup and test a Generic Event' for more information on setting up generic events.
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How to add ImageServer Slaves?:
In larger installations often times more than one OnSSI NVR recording system is necessary. In order to provide seamless integration between systems a Master/Slave Relationship is needed. After the Master/Slave relationship has been setup login to the Master ImageServer to access all of the different NVR systems and their cameras.
- Select which NVR machine should be the master (headend)
- Go to the Master machine and launch the ImageServer Administrator
- Under the Master/Slave Setup Check the 'Designate as Master Server' checkbox
- Click the Slaves button
- When the 'Slave Administration' window opens click 'Add Slave'
- Enter in the DNS Name or IP Address of the Slave machine as well as the port the Slave ImageServer is running on
- Repeat step 6 for each NVR Slave to be added
- Exit the ImageServer Administrator to update the configuration.
- Important Note: When logging into the Master ImageServer via the NetGuard Clients the Master ImageServer will also attempt to login the user into the slaves. Therefore whatever username/password credentials the user specified for the Master ImageServer must also be valid for the Slaves to be able to login successfully
- Log into the Master ImageServer via the NetGuard Client, go to the Setup Tab, note the different ImageServers.
- Drag in cameras from different NVR machines into the views as needed.
Note about Slaves and their communication with the Master: If the Image Server is set as a Slave, and video will be accessed remotely (such as the Internet) as part of a Master/Slave relationship, outside access must also be enabled in the Slave’s Image Server Administrator. A path must also be created through the firewall/router to each individual Slave as well as to the Master.
Information on Master/Slaves and how they communicate
- When a client logs into a Master Image Server, the Master tries to authenticate to the Slave. Assuming the login is successful, the configuration from the Slave is then passed to the client.
- When the client tries to view video from a Slave, the Slave requests a token from the Master and then provides the video stream. If the Slave cannot get the token from the Master, video will not be provided.
In a situation where the Master can reach the Slave, but the Slave cannot reach the Master (i.e. the Slave is on a Public IP and Master is on a Private IP), video will not be allowed to stream as the Slave cannot successfully get a token from the Master.
If however the Master Image Server has ‘Outside Access’ enabled then the Slave will try that IP:port to request the token.
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How to setup a Wireshark capture?
Using Wireshark to analyze network communication between a camera and your NVR server
Wireshark is a Network Protocol Analyzer and can be used to see the communication between 2 points on the network, particularly from your server to a camera’s IP address.
To perform a Wireshark capture, please do the following:
Open Wireshark and from the Menu Bar on top, click on Capture - Interfaces. This will show you the available Network Interfaces.
Click on the options button next to the network interface that is being utilized on your system. This will open the Wireshark Capture Options dialog box.
In the “Capture Filter” section, type in: Host (space) then the IP address of the camera.
NOTE: Before you click on the Start button to enable the capture, please make sure that there are no browser windows open. When using Wireshark to capture communication between the camera and the server, if there are browser windows open you may receive additional/unwanted data in the capture.
Any packets being sent between the device and the server will be captured by Wireshark.
Save the captured data as a .pcap file.
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How to use an Event to Trigger NetMatrix Video
Open the NVR Administrator and select the NetMatrix option.
 The ‘NetMatrix Configuration’ window has two tabs; the ‘Config’ tab lets you define individual computers on which it should be possible to view NetMatrix-triggered content (such computers are known as NetMatrix Recipients), the ‘Event’ tab lets you associate the triggering of an event with a NetMatrix Recipient. Such events include, a camera input, VMD or a Generic Event.
Add a NetMatrix Recipient:
- Click on NetMatrix in the NVR Administrator
- Enter a Name for the Recipient, IP Address of NetMatrix Machine, Port the NetMatrix is listening on and the NetMatrix Password.
Note: If the NetMatrix is running in the NetGuardEVS, click the ‘NetGuardEVS’ checkbox.
- Repeat Step 2 for additional NetMatrix Recipients.
Associate an Event to a Camera:
In the ‘Event’ tab you will see the defined NetMatrix Recipients.
- Right-click and choose the triggering event
- Right Click on the Event and choose ‘Connect’
- Right Click on ‘Connect’ and select the Camera you want to ‘send’ video to
Note: If a red exclamation mark is displayed (!), this means that the association for the event or the action was not completed.
The next time the event is triggered, a NetMatrix alert will be sent to the NetMatrix Recipient and video will be displayed.
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How to configure the 'Enable Outside Access' in the Image Server for remote NetGuard Clients
If there are NetGuard users connecting via the Internet or WAN through a firewall, it may be necessary to configure ‘Enable Outside Access’ in the ImageServer to tell the client software the path to connect to video.
To ‘Enable Outside Access’:
- Open the ImageServer Administrator
- Check the 'Enable Outside Access’ box
- Enter in the ‘Outside IP Address', such as the public address of the firewall
- Enter in the ‘Outside Port’, the port the Firewall is forwarding to the local Image Server
When using ‘outside access’, the router or firewall must be configured so requests sent to the Outside (public) IP address and port are forwarded to the inside (local) IP address and port of the server running the Image Server service.
Note about Slaves: If the Image Server is set as a Slave, and video will be accessed via the internet as part of a Master/Slave relationship, outside access must also be enabled in the Slaves Image Server Administrator as well as a path must be created through the firewall/router to each individual slave as well as the master.
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How is the archive folder structured?
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How to setup a Peformance Monitor Counter??
- To run the Performance monitor, click on Start – Run and type in perfmon.exe then hit enter.
- The Performance Monitor will open displaying a graph of the counters that are currently being monitored. Highlight the each counter and delete them.
- Click on the [+] sign next to ‘Performance Logs and Alerts’, then Right-click o
 n ‘Counter Logs’ and select ‘New Log Settings’ then give the counter log a name, i.e. ONSSI Counter.
- Click on the ‘Add Counters’ button and for ‘Performance object’, choose Process.
- Then in the ‘Select counters from list’ choose Thread Count, Handle Count, Virtual Bytes and Working Set, (hold the CTRL key on the keyboard to select multiple counters).
- Then in the ‘Select instances from list’ choose RecordingServer and click on Add then close.
- Click on the Log Files tab on top and change the Log File Type to ‘Text File (Tab delimited)’.
- Make note of where the file will be saved to. As a default, it will save the files to the ‘C:\Perflogs’ folder, however, you can click on Configure to specify a location.
- Click on the ‘Schedule’ tab to appoint a definite monitoring schedule.
- This gives you the ability to set a Specific amount of time to monitor the service and record the data.
- It is recommended to set the ‘Stop log’ time to after ‘x’ days, this way if the system is rebooted the logging will automatically resume.
- After configuring the schedule, click on Apply then OK and you should see the counter log added to the list with a Green icon. This indicates that the Performance Counter is active and is logging.
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