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Administration Guide

Configuring Data Storage on the FortiRecorder

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Configuring Data Storage on the FortiRecorder

If you need to store video for longer periods of time, you can extended your FortiRecorder appliance’s built-in storage.

Configuring local storage

Initially, your FortiRecorder appliance will store video data on its internal hard disk drive. By default, it will continue to do so, regardless of the video clip’s age, until all available space is consumed. By storing files locally first, your FortiRecorder appliance’s system resources are not continuously consumed by transferring video that may not be needed, nor by transferring them while it is recording (which is itself bandwidth-intensive). But on a per-camera basis, you can configure your FortiRecorder appliance to either delete old videos, or to move older videos to an external location.

Configuring RAID levels

FortiRecorder 400D model comes with two pre-installed hard drives in its four HDD bays and supports software RAID. This means that you can add two more hard drives if required.

FortiRecorder 400F comes with one 4TB hard drive. You can have one or more RAID arrays in the logical disk. For example, if you want redundancy you can have 4TB + 4TB drives and 8TB + 8TB drives, or with no redundancy you can keep the 4TB drive and add 2x8TB drives.

Number of Installed Hard Disk Drives

Available RAID Levels

Default RAID Level

1

0

0

2

0, 1

0

3

0, 5

0

4

0, 5, 10

0

To configure RAID levels

Caution

Back up data on the HDD before beginning this procedure. Changing the device’s RAID level temporarily suspends all data processing and erases all data on the HDD.

  1. Connect to the CLI console.
  2. Enter the following command:
    execute raidlevel <level>
    The FortiRecorder unit changes the RAID level and reboots.

Recommended HDD models and capacities

Use surveillance grade rated models, such as Western Digital WD40PURX and Seagate ST4000VX000, with storage capacity between 2 to 4 TB.

If you are using old disks from another system (RAID or LVM), make sure to erase all the metadata on the drives.

Adding a RAID disk

Some FortiRecorder units, such as the 400F, support multiple hard disk drives.

To add a disk to the RAID array

  1. Remove the hard disk bay from the unit.
  2. Install the hard disk in the bay.
  3. Insert the bay into the unit.
  4. Go to System > Storage > Local Storage.
  5. Select Refresh.
  6. The newly added disk will appear under Drives.
  7. Add the disk to an array.
  8. Select Refresh again. The new array will appear under RAID Arrays.
  9. Select the new array, and adjust the portions you want to allocate to log and video storage.
  10. Select Add To Logical Disks.

Replacing a RAID disk

When replacing a disk in the RAID array, the new disk must have the same or greater storage capacity than the existing disks in the array. If the new disk has a larger capacity than the other disks in the array, only the amount equal to the smallest hard disk will be used. For example, if the RAID has 400 GB disks, and you replace one with a 500 GB disk, to be consistent with the other disks, only 400 GB of the new disk will be used.

FortiRecorder units support hot swap; shutting down the unit during hard disk replacement is not required.

To replace a disk in the array

  1. Go to System > Storage > Local Storage.
  2. In the row corresponding to the hard disk that you want to replace (for example, p4), select the hard disk and click Delete.
  3. The RAID controller removes the hard disk from the list.
  4. Protect the FortiRecorder unit from static electricity by using measures such as applying an antistatic wrist strap.
  5. Physically remove the hard disk that corresponds to the one you removed in the web UI from its drive bay.
  6. Replace the hard disk with a new hard disk, inserting it into its drive bay.
  7. Select Refresh.

    The RAID controller will scan for available hard disks and should locate the new hard disk. Depending on the RAID level, the FortiRecorder unit may either automatically add the new hard disk to the RAID unit or allocate it as a spare that will be automatically added to the array if one of the hard disks in the array fails.

    The FortiRecorder unit rebuilds the RAID array with the new hard disk. Time required varies by the size of the array.

Replacing all RAID disks

If you want to replace the pre-installed hard drives with your own on FortiRecorder and build the RAID array from scratch, follow these instructions.

Because the HTTPs certificates are stored on the hard drive, if you still need them, you must back up the configuration first. The certificates will be backed up in the configuration file. After you install the new hard drives, restore the configuration. But if you're not using the factory certificates and you're planning to import your own certificate later on, you don't have to back up the configuration/certificates.

To replace all disks in the array

  1. Shut down the FortiRecorder unit.
  2. Remove the hard disks.
  3. Install the new hard disks.
  4. Boot up the system.
  5. Enter the following CLI command to rebuild the disks:
    execute factoryreset disk

    This command will use the default RAID level based on the number of drives used. You can also use the following command to rebuild the disks with the specified RAID level. For the supported RAID levels, see “Configuring RAID levels”.

    execute raidlevel <level>

    Once completed, the system reboots.

Configuring External Storage

To extend your local storage, you can use an external USB storage device if your FortiRecorder model has USB ports.

To safeguard your surveillance video in the event that your FortiRecorder appliance is destroyed by fire, flood, intrusion, or other event that it is recording, configure your FortiRecorder appliance to store its video at a remote location such as a branch office or cloud storage provider

Note

It is recommended to connect the remote storage devices on a different interface than the cameras.

To configure external storage

  1. Go to System > Storage > External Storage.
  2. Enable external storage.
  3. Expand the Device section and configure the following settings:

    Setting Name

    Description

    Protocol

    Select one of the following types of storage media:

    • External USB — External USB device.
    • iSCSI Server — An iSCSI (Internet Small Computer System Interface), server.
    • NFS — A network file system (NFS) server.

    Note: Support for NFS varies. Many Linux-based NAS solutions have been tested and are supported. Windows 2003 R2 and Windows 2008 Service for NFS are not supported.

    Maximum size

    Specify the maximum video file size that is allowed to be stored on the external storage device.

    You can view the remote storage usage information on the Status page under Dashboard > Status.

    Username

    The user name of the FortiRecorder unit’s account on the iSCSI server.

    This option only appears if iSCSI Server is the selected protocol.

    Password

    The password of the FortiRecorder unit’s account on the iSCSI server.

    This option only appears if iSCSI Server is the selected protocol.

    Hostname/IP Address

    Type either the IP address or fully-qualified domain name (such as nas.example.com) of the iSCSI or NFS server.

    This option only appears if iSCSI Server or NFS is the selected protocol.

    Port

    Type the port number on which the server listens for connections.

    The default is 2049 for NFS and 3260 for iSCSI.

    This option only appears if iSCSI Server or NFS is the selected protocol.

    Directory

    Enter the path of the folder on the server, relative to the mount point or user’s login directory, where the FortiRecorder appliance will store the data.

    Note: Do not use special characters such as a tilde ( ~ ). This will cause the storage to fail.

    This option only appears if NFS is the selected protocol.

    Encryption key

    The key used to encrypt data stored on the iSCSI server. Valid key lengths are between 6 and 64 single-byte characters.

    This option only appears if iSCSI is the selected protocol.

    iSCSI ID

    The iSCSI identifier in the format expected by the iSCSI server, such as an iSCSI Qualified Name (IQN), Extended Unique Identifier (EUI), or T11 Network Address Authority (NAA).

    This option only appears if iSCSI is the selected protocol.

  4. Expand the Status section. The Status section indicates if the iSCSI share was successfully mounted on the FortiRecorder unit’s file system. This field appears only after you configure the iSCSI share and select Apply. Status may take some time to appear if the iSCSI server is slow to respond.

    If "Not mounted" appears, the iSCSI share was not successfully mounted. Verify that the iSCSI server is responding and the FortiRecorder unit has both read and write permissions on the iSCSI server.
  5. Select Apply.
    Tooltip

    If the remote iSCSI device has not been formatted, before you can use it, you must format it with the following CLI command: execute storage format

  6. Go to Camera > Configuration > Camera, then click to select a camera’s row, then select Edit.
  7. For Profile, select New or Edit.
  8. From Storage Options, select Move. In the After n options that appear, select the age threshold that will cause FortiRecorder to move the video clips to external storage. Note that the Move option only appears after you have configured and enabled external storage.
  9. Select Create.

Configuring Data Storage on the FortiRecorder

If you need to store video for longer periods of time, you can extended your FortiRecorder appliance’s built-in storage.

Configuring local storage

Initially, your FortiRecorder appliance will store video data on its internal hard disk drive. By default, it will continue to do so, regardless of the video clip’s age, until all available space is consumed. By storing files locally first, your FortiRecorder appliance’s system resources are not continuously consumed by transferring video that may not be needed, nor by transferring them while it is recording (which is itself bandwidth-intensive). But on a per-camera basis, you can configure your FortiRecorder appliance to either delete old videos, or to move older videos to an external location.

Configuring RAID levels

FortiRecorder 400D model comes with two pre-installed hard drives in its four HDD bays and supports software RAID. This means that you can add two more hard drives if required.

FortiRecorder 400F comes with one 4TB hard drive. You can have one or more RAID arrays in the logical disk. For example, if you want redundancy you can have 4TB + 4TB drives and 8TB + 8TB drives, or with no redundancy you can keep the 4TB drive and add 2x8TB drives.

Number of Installed Hard Disk Drives

Available RAID Levels

Default RAID Level

1

0

0

2

0, 1

0

3

0, 5

0

4

0, 5, 10

0

To configure RAID levels

Caution

Back up data on the HDD before beginning this procedure. Changing the device’s RAID level temporarily suspends all data processing and erases all data on the HDD.

  1. Connect to the CLI console.
  2. Enter the following command:
    execute raidlevel <level>
    The FortiRecorder unit changes the RAID level and reboots.

Recommended HDD models and capacities

Use surveillance grade rated models, such as Western Digital WD40PURX and Seagate ST4000VX000, with storage capacity between 2 to 4 TB.

If you are using old disks from another system (RAID or LVM), make sure to erase all the metadata on the drives.

Adding a RAID disk

Some FortiRecorder units, such as the 400F, support multiple hard disk drives.

To add a disk to the RAID array

  1. Remove the hard disk bay from the unit.
  2. Install the hard disk in the bay.
  3. Insert the bay into the unit.
  4. Go to System > Storage > Local Storage.
  5. Select Refresh.
  6. The newly added disk will appear under Drives.
  7. Add the disk to an array.
  8. Select Refresh again. The new array will appear under RAID Arrays.
  9. Select the new array, and adjust the portions you want to allocate to log and video storage.
  10. Select Add To Logical Disks.

Replacing a RAID disk

When replacing a disk in the RAID array, the new disk must have the same or greater storage capacity than the existing disks in the array. If the new disk has a larger capacity than the other disks in the array, only the amount equal to the smallest hard disk will be used. For example, if the RAID has 400 GB disks, and you replace one with a 500 GB disk, to be consistent with the other disks, only 400 GB of the new disk will be used.

FortiRecorder units support hot swap; shutting down the unit during hard disk replacement is not required.

To replace a disk in the array

  1. Go to System > Storage > Local Storage.
  2. In the row corresponding to the hard disk that you want to replace (for example, p4), select the hard disk and click Delete.
  3. The RAID controller removes the hard disk from the list.
  4. Protect the FortiRecorder unit from static electricity by using measures such as applying an antistatic wrist strap.
  5. Physically remove the hard disk that corresponds to the one you removed in the web UI from its drive bay.
  6. Replace the hard disk with a new hard disk, inserting it into its drive bay.
  7. Select Refresh.

    The RAID controller will scan for available hard disks and should locate the new hard disk. Depending on the RAID level, the FortiRecorder unit may either automatically add the new hard disk to the RAID unit or allocate it as a spare that will be automatically added to the array if one of the hard disks in the array fails.

    The FortiRecorder unit rebuilds the RAID array with the new hard disk. Time required varies by the size of the array.

Replacing all RAID disks

If you want to replace the pre-installed hard drives with your own on FortiRecorder and build the RAID array from scratch, follow these instructions.

Because the HTTPs certificates are stored on the hard drive, if you still need them, you must back up the configuration first. The certificates will be backed up in the configuration file. After you install the new hard drives, restore the configuration. But if you're not using the factory certificates and you're planning to import your own certificate later on, you don't have to back up the configuration/certificates.

To replace all disks in the array

  1. Shut down the FortiRecorder unit.
  2. Remove the hard disks.
  3. Install the new hard disks.
  4. Boot up the system.
  5. Enter the following CLI command to rebuild the disks:
    execute factoryreset disk

    This command will use the default RAID level based on the number of drives used. You can also use the following command to rebuild the disks with the specified RAID level. For the supported RAID levels, see “Configuring RAID levels”.

    execute raidlevel <level>

    Once completed, the system reboots.

Configuring External Storage

To extend your local storage, you can use an external USB storage device if your FortiRecorder model has USB ports.

To safeguard your surveillance video in the event that your FortiRecorder appliance is destroyed by fire, flood, intrusion, or other event that it is recording, configure your FortiRecorder appliance to store its video at a remote location such as a branch office or cloud storage provider

Note

It is recommended to connect the remote storage devices on a different interface than the cameras.

To configure external storage

  1. Go to System > Storage > External Storage.
  2. Enable external storage.
  3. Expand the Device section and configure the following settings:

    Setting Name

    Description

    Protocol

    Select one of the following types of storage media:

    • External USB — External USB device.
    • iSCSI Server — An iSCSI (Internet Small Computer System Interface), server.
    • NFS — A network file system (NFS) server.

    Note: Support for NFS varies. Many Linux-based NAS solutions have been tested and are supported. Windows 2003 R2 and Windows 2008 Service for NFS are not supported.

    Maximum size

    Specify the maximum video file size that is allowed to be stored on the external storage device.

    You can view the remote storage usage information on the Status page under Dashboard > Status.

    Username

    The user name of the FortiRecorder unit’s account on the iSCSI server.

    This option only appears if iSCSI Server is the selected protocol.

    Password

    The password of the FortiRecorder unit’s account on the iSCSI server.

    This option only appears if iSCSI Server is the selected protocol.

    Hostname/IP Address

    Type either the IP address or fully-qualified domain name (such as nas.example.com) of the iSCSI or NFS server.

    This option only appears if iSCSI Server or NFS is the selected protocol.

    Port

    Type the port number on which the server listens for connections.

    The default is 2049 for NFS and 3260 for iSCSI.

    This option only appears if iSCSI Server or NFS is the selected protocol.

    Directory

    Enter the path of the folder on the server, relative to the mount point or user’s login directory, where the FortiRecorder appliance will store the data.

    Note: Do not use special characters such as a tilde ( ~ ). This will cause the storage to fail.

    This option only appears if NFS is the selected protocol.

    Encryption key

    The key used to encrypt data stored on the iSCSI server. Valid key lengths are between 6 and 64 single-byte characters.

    This option only appears if iSCSI is the selected protocol.

    iSCSI ID

    The iSCSI identifier in the format expected by the iSCSI server, such as an iSCSI Qualified Name (IQN), Extended Unique Identifier (EUI), or T11 Network Address Authority (NAA).

    This option only appears if iSCSI is the selected protocol.

  4. Expand the Status section. The Status section indicates if the iSCSI share was successfully mounted on the FortiRecorder unit’s file system. This field appears only after you configure the iSCSI share and select Apply. Status may take some time to appear if the iSCSI server is slow to respond.

    If "Not mounted" appears, the iSCSI share was not successfully mounted. Verify that the iSCSI server is responding and the FortiRecorder unit has both read and write permissions on the iSCSI server.
  5. Select Apply.
    Tooltip

    If the remote iSCSI device has not been formatted, before you can use it, you must format it with the following CLI command: execute storage format

  6. Go to Camera > Configuration > Camera, then click to select a camera’s row, then select Edit.
  7. For Profile, select New or Edit.
  8. From Storage Options, select Move. In the After n options that appear, select the age threshold that will cause FortiRecorder to move the video clips to external storage. Note that the Move option only appears after you have configured and enabled external storage.
  9. Select Create.