Setting up the Archiver role for ALPR - Security Center 5.11

Security Center Administrator Guide 5.11

Applies to
Security Center 5.11
Last updated
2024-04-03
Content type
Guides > Administrator guides
Language
English
Product
Security Center
Version
5.11

You must link an Archiver to the ALPR Manager to store the ALPR images that are associated with the reads and hits.

What you should know

  • By default, the Archiver uses the H.264 stream from SharpV cameras. If you want to use the MJPEG stream, you can select it in the Configuration > Cameras page in the Sharp Portal.
  • If you need to manage both ALPR and video data, we recommend that you create separate Archiver roles, each handling only one function.
  • Each Archiver role must store video on a separate drive or partition from other Archiver roles. If you are unable to have separate Archiver roles, you can manage both ALPR and video data with the same Archiver.
    NOTE: By default, the Archiver deletes the oldest files when its disks become full. This means that ALPR images might be deleted before their retention period is over. This does not affect ALPR metadata or the protected events and images.

Procedure

  1. From the Config Tool homepage, open the Video task.
  2. Click the menu button beside Video unit (), and then click Archiver ().
    The role creation wizard window opens.
  3. On the Specific info page, set the following fields and then click Next.
    Server
    This is only shown if you have more than one server in your system. If the ALPR Manager is hosted on its own server, we suggest using the same server to host the linked Archiver role. Make sure you have enough free space on disk to store the ALPR images. We recommend using a server where it is possible to configure the Archiver role with its dedicated local disk or disk partition.
    Database server
    Name of the SQL Server service (default=(local)\SQLEXPRESS). If the Archiver is hosted on the same server as the ALPR Manager, we recommend using the same database server for both.
    Database
    Name of the database instance (default=Archiver). We suggest using LPR_Archiver to differentiate it from video archive databases.
  4. On the Basic information page, set the following fields, and then click Next.
    Entity name
    Name of the Archiver role (default=Archiver).

    We suggest using LPR_Archiver to differentiate it from the Archiver role for video.

    Entity description
    Role description. If this Archiver role is shared by many ALPR Manager roles, list them here.
    Partition
    This is only shown if you have partitions defined in your system. Make sure you create this Archiver in the same partition as the ALPR Manager it is linked to. Only users who have access to the selected partition can view the ALPR data managed by these roles.
  5. Verify that the information displayed in the Creation summary page is correct, and then click Create.
  6. Click Close.
  7. From the Archiver role's Resources tab, configure the archive storage settings.
    IMPORTANT: Ensure you are not using the same disk as another Archiver role in your system, and that you have enough disk space for storing the ALPR images.
    NOTE: The Archiver follows the Hit and Read image retention period set for the ALPR Manager. If multiple ALPR Manager roles are linked to the same Archiver, the ALPR Manager with the longest image retention period has precedence. This means that the image data might be kept longer than necessary for some ALPR Manager roles, but it does not affect the ALPR metadata nor the ALPR reports. No ALPR data beyond the specified retention periods appear in reports.
  8. Click Advanced settings, and optimize the settings for storing ALPR image data.
    The recommended values are:
    Delete oldest file when disks are full
    OFF (default setting for video is ON).
    Maximum length
    60 minutes (default value for video is 20 minutes).
    Maximum size
    100 MB (default value for video is 500 MB).
  9. Click OK > Apply.
  10. In the entity browser (left pane) of the Video task, make sure that the Media Router role is running.
  11. Click Media Router and configure the ports, redirectors, and network cards to make sure that the Archiver can deliver the ALPR images to all client workstations on your system.
    If all your servers are on the same network, and all your servers have only one network card, the default settings should work without any change.