Video management : External storage
 
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.
 
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. Select the Enable check box.
3. Configure these 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 Monitor > System Status.
Username
Type the user name of the FortiRecorder’s account on the server.
Alternatively, if using iSCSI, select Initiator name as username to authenticate using a name that follows RFC 3721.
Password
Type the password corresponding to the user name.
Hostname/IP Address
Type either the IP address or fully-qualified domain name (such as nas.example.com) of the server.
Port
Type the port number on which the server listens for connections.
The default is 2049 for NFS and 3260 for iSCSI.
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.
This setting appears only if Protocol is NFS.
Note: Do not use special characters such as a tilde ( ~ ). This will cause the storage to fail.
Encryption Key
Enter the private key that will be used to encrypt data stored on this location. Valid key lengths are between 6 and 64 single-byte characters.
This setting appears only if Protocol is ISCSI Server
iSCSI ID
Enter 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 setting appears only if Protocol is ISCSI Server.
4. Click Apply.
 
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
 
5. Go to Camera > Configuration > Camera, then click to select a camera’s row, then click Edit.
6. For Profile, click New or Edit.
7. 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.
8. Click Create.
See also
• Camera settings