Configuring Media Gateway roles - Security Center 5.10

You can enable the RTSP protocol on your system or improve the streaming performance of the Web Server role by changing the settings of the Media Gateway role it is assigned to.

1. Open the Video task, and select the Archiver role to configure.
2. In the entity tree, click the Media Gateway role you want to configure and click the Resources tab.
3. (Optional) Change the role’s primary server.
4. To configure load distribution for the Media Gateway, add servers to the role.
   1. Under the Servers list, click Add an item ().
      A dialog box opens, listing all remaining servers on your system not assigned to the role.
   2. Select the server you want to add, and then click Add.
   All video streaming requests are distributed among the listed servers.
5. Click the Properties tab.
6. (Optional) Enable the RTSP protocol.
   1. Under the RTSP section, turn on the Enable option.
   2. Ensure that the default Start multicast address and port settings for IPv4 and IPv6 do not conflict with other roles, such as the Archiver roles, the Media Router role, the redirectors, and other applications on your system.
      In multicast, all video sources are streamed to different multicast addresses using the same port number, because multicast switches and routers use the destination IP address to make their routing decisions. Similarly, the Media Gateway assigns that same port number to all streaming cameras, starting with the specified IP address and incrementing the IP address by 1 for each new camera it encounters.
   3. If the default Listening port (654) conflicts with other roles or applications on your server, select a different port number.
   4. Turn on the Require TLS (RTSPS) option to force RTSP client applications to use secure transport (TLS) to communicate with this Media Gateway role.
   5. Turn on the User authentication option to limit the user accounts that RTSP client applications, such as third-party video analytics software, can use to communicate with this Media Gateway role.
      If you disable this option, anyone can connect to the Media Gateway. We recommend that you enable this option to heighten the security of your system; however, you can disable it if you know that your network is secure.

      NOTE: The cameras that an RTSP client application can view in the system depend on the user account the client uses to log on to Security Center. If RTSPS is disabled, you must specifically add the users you allow to access this Media Gateway role to the Accessible to list. Assign to each user a different password than the one used for connecting to Security Center to minimize the risks of exposing their Security Center passwords. If RTSPS is enabled, the Media Gateway uses regular Security Center credentials to validate access. Moreover, the Security Center users must have the Log on using the SDK privilege.
7. If necessary, change the default HTTP ports and URL used to connect to this Media Gateway role.
8. If necessary, change the default settings for streaming video to the Web Client applications.
   Decide between one of the five standard streams: Live, Recording, Remote, Low resolution, High resolution, or Automatic.

   With the Automatic option, the Media Gateway decides between the Low resolution, the Live, or the High resolution stream, based on the resolution of the viewing tile in the browser. The following thresholds help the Media Gateway make that decision.

   Low resolution to Live

   Resolution at which the Media Gateway decides to use the Live stream. Below this resolution, the Media Gateway uses the Low resolution stream.

   Live to High resolution

   Resolution at which the Media Gateway decides to use the High resolution stream.

9. Decide whether the Media Gateway should be allowed to transcode and in what situation.
   Transcoding is very CPU intensive and should only be performed by high end servers. You have the following options:

   Never

   The Media Gateway never transcodes. If the client device cannot decode the stream, the error "Unsupported codec" is displayed.

   Only for PTZ control and Mobile Server

   The Mobile Server role can request transcoded streams at any time. Other applications can only use transcoding to reduce video latency while the user is controlling a PTZ, otherwise an error message is displayed.

   Always (for unsupported devices and codecs)

   The Media Gateway transcodes when:

   • The client application requests it.
   • PTZ camera is being moved (to reduce latency).
   • The codec used by the camera is not supported by the client application.

10. If you allow the Media Gateway to transcode, configure the following settings:

    Maximum resolution for MJPEG transcoding

    When transcoding, downscale the resulting transcoded stream to this resolution. Stream that are not transcoded are untouched.

    Frame rate

    Maximum frame rate of the resulting transcoded stream.

11. Click Apply.