Pelco Endura Problems

[madwolf 0]

Dear ALL:

 

Can anyone confirm YES or NO that Pelco Endura Systems has problems to mange large numbers of Cameras (as I got form one source that the max they can drive is only 80 .. I have a project in which I need to mange up to 400 Camers with 30 Days Recording

 

Thanks for your help

M

[rikky 0]

would suppose that the max. qty is linked to their Database management system. Don't know if Endura is Pelco's own system, or if they're rebranding it from another Software company.

But would suppose that an enterprise level system would be capable of more than 80 cams, when using the correct software licenses and hardware combination.

[sgtjj 0]

I have worked with Endura systems that handle over 3000 cameras. It is written by Pelco so you can get help from them but you must be certified to buy, install, or get help on the equipment.

[Deluxecctv.com 0]

Yes, you can add I believe up to 3,000 cameras. This is good for large commercial building and facilities. Pelco stands behind this. They are great in my opinion. Let us know if there is anything else we can help you with. Thanks

[phil.boorman 0]

The Pelco Endura is a fully scaleable IP based video security system allowing up to 48 cameras per recording block, which is arranged as it's own dedicated VLAN.

The system is designed to operate on it's own dedicated network, and the number of VLANS is only limited by the network capacity.

Multiple viewing blocks are also possible, again each structured within a dedicated VLAN, offering the most flexible virtual matrix system available on the planet.

The system can also be seamlessly integrated into an existing analogue control room with the matrix digital decoder.

I have not posted enough replies to submit my web site address formally, but if you do a google search for puls limited, you wil find a wealth of information about the Pelco Endura within these pages.

[NetworkGuru 0]

NO. I have two large Endura systems and they both have always been buggy. I have Pelco remote in all the time and they can't fix issues and say it a known or new bug and a fix should be coming out soon.

 

I'm getting ready to tear one out and replace it with a Panasonic ND400 system running ASM software.

 

I will have a ton of Pelco Endura hardware on Ebay soon.

 

As with any network CCTV system, buy good switches! Everyone loves Cisco, so we use the SG500X-24P as a standard.

[MexicanFonzie 0]

Pelco has a new community site to post questions.....i say join and post-away...

 

http://buildingscommunity.schneider-electric.com/welcome

[ChrisL 0]

For starters, ignore all of the information in this thread, as most of it is incorrect. I am very familiar with the Endura system, have been certified, and have had success on several deployments.

 

I believe what you are referring to is the limitation of a Single NSM, each NSM has a maximum throughput of 250MBPS, so assuming you were using a camera that had 3.125MBPS throughput, then yes you would be limited to 80 cameras PER NSM. *HOWEVER* you can have up to 20 NSM's per Storage Pool, and as many Storage Pools as you like..

 

To answer some of the other questions in this thread:

 

Endura is a Linux based system, 100% proprietary to Pelco, I would assume its a MySQL database, but I have no way of finding out / checking. But it is Pelco's own flavor of Linux.

 

The 48 Camera limitation is something that was removed in Endura 2.0, we no longer have NVR's in Endura.

 

There are no camera license for Endura, once you deploy the system you can add as many cameras as you want assuming you have the throughput.

 

You do need to be Certified to purchase Endura Equipment.

 

You do not need to be Certified to call Technical Support, they will help anyone who calls in. Pelco isn't Lenel or Genetec, they don't turn people who need help away.

 

Should you need any further assistance in the design of your Endura system I strongly suggest you contact your local sales rep, or call Large Systems at 1800-289-9100.

[mlrodrig 0]

I am working with a 300+ Pelco camera system using Endura. The recording system is suffering from occasional random recording gaps, that according to Pelco is something known. There is this 2009 presentation http://www.ilasales.com/images/All_Endura_Read-Only_.pdf (refer to pag 25) where is states that it is a side affect from new file system.

 

The problem is that those recording gaps are getting longer and longer as time goes by, now reaching very few minutes and that means too much information being lost.

 

Am I the only one seeing that? Anyone else getting those recording gaps of many minutes?

 

Thanks

[ChrisL 0]

I am working with a 300+ Pelco camera system using Endura. The recording system is suffering from occasional random recording gaps, that according to Pelco is something known. There is this 2009 presentation http://www.ilasales.com/images/All_Endura_Read-Only_.pdf (refer to pag 25) where is states that it is a side affect from new file system.

 

The problem is that those recording gaps are getting longer and longer as time goes by, now reaching very few minutes and that means too much information being lost.

 

Am I the only one seeing that? Anyone else getting those recording gaps of many minutes?

 

Thanks

 

That should only happen in your backup pool, its happening in your normal storage? That isn't normal.

[mlrodrig 0]

I am working with a 300+ Pelco camera system using Endura. The recording system is suffering from occasional random recording gaps, that according to Pelco is something known. There is this 2009 presentation http://www.ilasales.com/images/All_Endura_Read-Only_.pdf (refer to pag 25) where is states that it is a side affect from new file system.

 

The problem is that those recording gaps are getting longer and longer as time goes by, now reaching very few minutes and that means too much information being lost.

 

Am I the only one seeing that? Anyone else getting those recording gaps of many minutes?

 

Thanks

 

That should only happen in your backup pool, its happening in your normal storage? That isn't normal.

 

Yes, unfortunately it is happening in the normal storage.

[dlaubly 0]

My name is Danny Laubly and I am a Systems Integration Engineer with Pelco. This thread was brought to my attention and I wanted to help clarify a few things, although ChrisL has done a good job of that already.

 

In reference to the presentation that mirodrig linked to, that page is being taken out of context. It was also generated 3 years ago. The way it functioned is this:

 

If you have a group of cameras you want to record onto 2 NSM's (Storage boxes), you would create a storage pool. That group of cameras would be split up between the two NSM's, and every 30 minutes, the cameras would rotate between the two NSM's. This way, in the event that something brings one of the NSM's offline, you are not missing all of the video for half of your cameras, but some of the video for all of your cameras. Once the offline NSM comes back up, all of the video would then be available again.

 

The screenshot on page 25 of the presentation is showing the difference of losing an older NVR that would have a set group of 48 cameras on it, and a 10 NSM storage pool with up to 500 cameras where 1 unit went offline. It's hard to tell in the screenshot if you don't have the context, but the timeline is zoomed pretty far out, and the gaps are exactly 30 minutes in length. This demonstrates that if you have 10 NSM's in a pool, and one goes offline, you'll have a 30 minute gap on all of your cameras occur every 5 hours, which we feel was better than losing 100% of all of the video for the cameras being recorded on a NVR. 

 

Again I want to re-emphasize that the gaps shown in the presentation are expected if one of your storage boxes is offline. Under normal operation you should not see gaps.

 

For anybody in this thread who has questions about how Endura works, or if you are having problems with your system, I would love to speak with you directly. Feel free to contact me any time. My contact information is below.

 

Thanks for your time,

 

Danny Laubly 

Pelco - Systems Integration Engineer 

danny.laubly@schneider-electric.com

1-800-289-9100 x4416

[survtech 0]

Danny,

 

I read your response with interest. Perhaps you could relay what would happen if one of the NSMs lost enough drives through some catastrophic event like malfunction of a controller or a bad batch of drives. If Pelco uses RAID5, the loss of just two drives in any RAID set would result in permanent data loss - in RAID6, that would require the simultaneous loss of three drives or a controller (in certain controller loss scenarios).

[dlaubly 0]

The NSM5200 does indeed run a RAID6 configuration, so you are correct that you would need to experience 3 drive failures at the same time to result in the data loss you're referring to. In the past, our older Endura NVR and DVR utilized a RAID5 configuration, but we configured it as two 6-drive RAID5 arrays, instead of the one 12-drive RAID6 that we use now. We have also specified and engineered the NSM so in the event of two hard drives failing, they can both be in a rebuild state without any loss in performance. This means no lowered capacity of read / write speed, meaning that it will still record all of your cameras at the specified frame rate and resolution. Additionally, when you do playback reviews, you will not see any performance differential compared to when things are running normally.

 

Hope that answers your question.

 

Thanks,

Danny Laubly

Pelco - Systems Integration Engineer

[millstoneman 0]

I am an end user who has been using a growing pelco system for about 18 months now.

The problems we are having have are getting worse. Trying to connect to view footage we get "connect failed" or if we manage to connect and try to speed up footage it freezes and "connect failed". We have to drag footage to view many times to viewing area until we get a solid green bar in order to choose time to view. The system was not installed by Pelco (a UK national N......H) and they are saying that network capacity has been reached. We are a large University and our IT have told us that we are on our own network now in order to allow much more streaming which has not helped. The supplier tells us that the pelco system "backs up" across the network every 30 minutes which is why bandwith is being restricted to viewing. Do you have any ideas that I can try to resolve these issues?

We are using Endura ws5200 02.05.03.10245

thanks

[mlrodrig 0]

My name is Danny Laubly and I am a Systems Integration Engineer with Pelco. This thread was brought to my attention and I wanted to help clarify a few things, although ChrisL has done a good job of that already.

...

The screenshot on page 25 of the presentation is showing the difference of losing an older NVR that would have a set group of 48 cameras on it, and a 10 NSM storage pool with up to 500 cameras where 1 unit went offline. It's hard to tell in the screenshot if you don't have the context, but the timeline is zoomed pretty far out, and the gaps are exactly 30 minutes in length. This demonstrates that if you have 10 NSM's in a pool, and one goes offline, you'll have a 30 minute gap on all of your cameras occur every 5 hours, which we feel was better than losing 100% of all of the video for the cameras being recorded on a NVR. 

 

Again I want to re-emphasize that the gaps shown in the presentation are expected if one of your storage boxes is offline. Under normal operation you should not see gaps.

 

I understand what you say Danny, but the presentation clearly says "Gaps at random times". Random is not the same as you say... Anyway Pelco is trying to downgrade to Endura 2.1 to solve the problems. Looks like they took version 2.2 out due to some of those problems.

[ChrisL 0]

I think you are missing the point. When you have a "random" outage, and the NSM kicks into fail over mode you can lose "Random" video.

 

But you have to understand that you are looking at a slide from a ppt that is way out dated. Are you running NVR's or are you running NSM's. They will react to the situation very different.

 

Its almost like I am talking about a Boat, but you are pointing to the manual of a car telling us the boat needs a new tire.

[aruegger 0]

If you need Pelco product help and can't find answers, even if your not a registered Pelco buyer, they offer free support on their community page where fellow techies and their support team handle issues quickly. I don't bother calling anymore I just go there www.pelco.com/community - just need to register. Hope this helps! Its nice when everyone works together

[Bondo 0]

If you need Pelco product help and can't find answers, even if your not a registered Pelco buyer, they offer free support on their community page where fellow techies and their support team handle issues quickly. I don't bother calling anymore I just go there www.pelco.com/community - just need to register. Hope this helps! Its nice when everyone works together

 

 

I have never had Pelco support turn me away or charge me.. I have a large installation and no integrator or Tech nearby. just call the 1 800 289-9100 support line and they will work with you.

[Arthur van Bemmelen 0]

Hello, my name is Arthur and I have a question about a Pelco Endura system with just 36 cameras. I'm struggling for already a long time with bugs in the CCTV or network system.

I recently changed the switches, which improved the stability of the system, but now I still have a problem with the NET5402R. The images freezes and a hardware reset is necessary the get the NET5402R going again.

It’s an endure 2 system

 

The system consists out of:

• SM5000

• DVR5100 (with 4 analog cameras connected to it)

• 3 x WS5070

• VCD5004

• VCD5202

• NET 5402R-HD

 

The network consists out of:

• 1 Core switch: Zyxel XGS4728F with the above mentioned equipment connected to it.

• 2 Edge switches: Zyxel MES3500-24F with the 32 IP cameras and 3 net5301T encoders connected to it.

 

The edge switches are both connected to the core switch with fiber optic trunk (2x2 fibers) with lacp.

Only 3 IP cameras are recorded

In my opinion this is really a small system, but why I still have the impression that the Pelco Endura system is just not reliable. It’s really a problem when you buy a CCTV system from one supplier and the network from another. It means I have to try all their advices without knowing if it will solve the problem. This cost a lot of time and money of course.

Does anyone have any experience with this kind of problems? And how can I get the NET5402R running fine again without crashing 4 weeks after my visit. Pelco support says it’s the network.

 

Hope to get some answers. Thanks in advance.

 

Arthur

[ChrisL 0]

Can you be a little more specific about the freeze - is the device still ping-able after the freeze?

Does it show up in Endura Utilities as offline?

[Arthur van Bemmelen 0]

Hello Chris,

 

Thanks for your reply. The customer told me about the freeze. I did not go to the customer at the time it occurred. There are 2 monitors connected to the NET5402R, and he said only one was freezed. So I guess it was ping-able.

 

Unfortunately I don't know what the device status was in utilities.

 

I will ask the customer to gather this information the next time it occurs, it might take a few weeks. I will be there next Tuesday and I would like to fix it or change anything if possible on this day.

 

Best regards, Arthur

[ChrisL 0]

So only 1 stream freezes? I assume you are unable to change / highlight the monitor?

[Arthur van Bemmelen 0]

Hello Chris,

 

Yes thats true. It was not possible to change or highlight any viewport. Any ideas?

 

Thanks a lot, Arthur