Dual control storage server and security system

Abstract

The application relates to a double-control storage server and a security system. A first master control unit is connected with a second master control unit and a storage unit, and is used for writing received target data into the storage unit. The second master control unit is also connected with the storage unit and a compression unit, and is used for reading stored target data from the storage unit and sending the target data to the compression unit. After receiving compressed data returned by the compression unit, the second master control unit writes the compressed data into the storage unit to replace the target data. The problem that a large cost is needed to expand the capacity of the storage server is solved. The second master control unit and the compression unit are used to realize compressed storage of data without affecting normal storage business, so that the utilization of the storage space is expanded at a lower cost.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to the field of storage server technology, and in particular to a dual-controller storage server and a security system. Background Technology

[0002] In the field of data storage, as the amount of data from enterprises and individual users continues to grow, the demand for storage capacity is also constantly increasing. For example, in video storage scenarios, network video storage servers are important infrastructure equipment in traditional security projects, responsible for storing video data collected by front-end devices. On the one hand, as video surveillance points become denser and videos become higher-definition, the pressure on back-end storage is increasing, and the demand for storage capacity is growing; on the other hand, more and more customers are demanding longer retention periods for recordings, with some even requesting that recordings be retained for six months or a year, which also places higher demands on storage capacity.

[0003] The usual solution is to add more devices or hard drives, which has led to the development of storage devices with ever-increasing number of bays (such as 24-bay, 36-bay, 48-bay, 60-bay, and 75-bay models, with each bay capable of housing a hard drive), thereby expanding storage capacity. However, the hardware costs and maintenance expenses also increase accordingly.

[0004] There is currently no effective solution to the problem of high storage system costs in related technologies. Utility Model Content

[0005] This embodiment provides a dual-controller storage server and a security system to address the problem of high cost in expanding memory space in related technologies.

[0006] In a first aspect, this embodiment provides a dual-control storage server, including: a first main control unit, a second main control unit, a compression unit, and a storage unit;

[0007] The first main control unit is connected to an external device, the second main control unit, and the storage unit, and is used to write the received target data into the storage unit; the target data is generated by the external device and sent to the first main control unit.

[0008] The second main control unit is also connected to the storage unit and the compression unit, and is used to read the target data stored in the storage unit and send it to the compression unit. After receiving the compressed data returned by the compression unit, the compressed data is written to the storage unit to overwrite the target data.

[0009] In some embodiments, the storage unit includes: a first hard disk expansion controller, a second hard disk expansion controller, and a hard disk array;

[0010] The first main control unit is connected to the first hard disk expansion controller, and the first hard disk expansion controller is also connected to the hard disk array;

[0011] The second main control unit is connected to the second hard disk expansion controller, and the second hard disk expansion controller is also connected to the hard disk array.

[0012] In some embodiments, the hard disk array includes a first hard disk and a second hard disk;

[0013] The first hard disk is connected to both the first hard disk expansion controller and the second hard disk expansion controller.

[0014] The second hard disk is connected to both the first hard disk expansion controller and the second hard disk expansion controller.

[0015] The first hard disk and the second hard disk constitute an asynchronous storage space.

[0016] In some embodiments, the second master control unit is also connected to the external device, and in the event of a failure of the first master control unit, receives the target data and writes the target data into the storage unit.

[0017] In some embodiments, the compression unit is also connected to the first main control unit and is used to send the compressed data to the first main control unit, whereby the first main control unit controls the compressed data to be written into the storage unit to overwrite the target data.

[0018] In some embodiments, the first main control unit and the second main control unit are connected via a network interface. After the first main control unit recovers from a fault, the first main control unit serves as a backup device for the second main control device and receives a wake-up signal sent by the first main control unit through the network interface.

[0019] In some of these embodiments, the hard disk array uses mechanical hard disks.

[0020] In some embodiments, the compression unit includes: a network switching module and an intelligent analysis module;

[0021] The network switching module is connected to the first main control unit and the second main control unit and is used for data forwarding;

[0022] The intelligent analysis module is connected to the network switching module and is used to compress the received target data.

[0023] Secondly, this embodiment provides a security system, including: an external device and a dual-control storage server as described in any one of the first aspects.

[0024] In some embodiments, the external device includes a front-end camera.

[0025] Compared with related technologies, the dual-control storage server and security system provided in this embodiment, through a first main control unit connected to a second main control unit and a storage unit, is used to write received target data into the storage unit; the second main control unit is also connected to the storage unit and a compression unit, used to read the target data already stored in the storage unit and send it to the compression unit, and after receiving the compressed data returned by the compression unit, write the compressed data into the storage unit to overwrite the target data. This solves the problem that expanding the storage server capacity requires a large cost, and can achieve compressed storage of data through the second main control unit and the compression unit without affecting normal storage services, thereby expanding the utilization rate of storage space at a lower cost.

[0026] Details of one or more embodiments of this application are set forth in the following drawings and description to make other features, objects and advantages of this application more readily apparent. Attached Figure Description

[0027] The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of this application and form part of this application, illustrate exemplary embodiments and are used to explain this application, but do not constitute an undue limitation of this application. In the drawings:

[0028] Figure 1 This is a structural block diagram of the dual-controller storage server in the embodiments of this application;

[0029] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of a dual-controller storage service server in the prior art;

[0030] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of a dual-controller storage service server in a preferred embodiment of this application;

[0031] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of a dual-controller storage service server in another preferred embodiment of this application;

[0032] Figure 5 This is a structural block diagram of the security system in the embodiments of this application.

[0033] Reference numerals: 110, First main control unit; 120, Second main control unit; 130, Compression unit; 131, Intelligent analysis module; 132, Network switching module; 140, Storage unit; 141, First hard disk expansion controller; 142, Second hard disk expansion controller; 143, Hard disk array. Detailed Implementation

[0034] To better understand the purpose, technical solution, and advantages of this application, the application is described and explained below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and embodiments.

[0035] Unless otherwise defined, the technical or scientific terms used in this application shall have the general meaning understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this application pertains. Words such as “a,” “an,” “an,” “the,” “the,” and “these” used in this application do not indicate quantitative limitation and may be singular or plural. The terms “comprising,” “including,” “having,” and any variations thereof used in this application are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion; for example, a process, method, system, product, or device that comprises a series of steps or modules (units) is not limited to the listed steps or modules (units) but may include steps or modules (units) not listed, or may include other steps or modules (units) inherent to these processes, methods, products, or devices. Words such as “connected,” “linked,” and “coupled” used in this application are not limited to physical or mechanical connections but may include electrical connections, whether direct or indirect. “Multiple” used in this application refers to two or more. “And / or” describes the relationship between related objects, indicating that three relationships may exist; for example, “A and / or B” can represent: A alone, A and B simultaneously, and B alone. Normally, the character " / " indicates that the objects before and after it are in an "or" relationship. The terms "first," "second," "third," etc., used in this application are merely to distinguish similar objects and do not represent a specific order of objects.

[0036] This embodiment provides a dual-controller storage server, such as Figure 1 As shown, it includes: a first main control unit 110, a second main control unit 120, a compression unit 130, and a storage unit 140.

[0037] The first main control unit 110 is connected to an external device, a second main control unit 120, and a storage unit 140, and is used to write the received target data into the storage unit 140; the target data is generated by the external device and sent to the first main control unit 110.

[0038] The second main control unit 120 is also connected to the storage unit 140 and the compression unit 130. It is used to read the target data stored in the storage unit 140 and send it to the compression unit 130. After receiving the compressed data returned by the compression unit 130, it writes the compressed data into the storage unit 140 to overwrite the target data.

[0039] Specifically, the first main control unit 110 and the second main control unit 120 communicate via a network. After receiving the compression command sent by the first main control unit 110, the second main control unit 120 can read the stored target data from the storage unit 140 and compress and overwrite the data for storage. Alternatively, the second main control unit 120 can actively perform compression and overwrite storage after a preset time has elapsed. The specific implementation method is not limited in this embodiment.

[0040] The second main control unit 120 can also serve as a backup control unit for the first main control unit 110. That is, when the first main control unit 110 is offline, it takes over the data storage task of the first main control unit 110, and keeps each other alive, forming a main and backup dual control system. On the other hand, when the first main control unit 110 is working normally, it cooperates with the first main control unit 110 to perform data compression and storage.

[0041] Specifically, in this embodiment, the target data stored by the dual-controller storage server includes, but is not limited to, video data, and can also be text or voice data. In existing technologies, an increasing number of industries, such as rail transportation and finance, use dual-controller servers. In these servers, controller A and controller B communicate with each other via a network to maintain mutual activity and synchronize information during the handover of disk array management rights. This ensures equipment reliability and business continuity. However, only one controller (A) or controller B is always active, while the other is in standby mode, resulting in a waste of hardware computing resources. Furthermore, existing storage devices typically offer 24-bay, 48-bay, and 75-bay options to meet different customer requirements for access paths and storage cycles. However, this also presents a disadvantage of inflexible deployment. Once a customer selects a 24-bay or 48-bay configuration, when a longer storage cycle is needed, they can only replace the hard drives with larger capacity drives or devices with a higher number of bays, or purchase more devices for stacking, often leading to uncontrollable costs. To address the aforementioned issues, this embodiment utilizes the compression unit 130 to enable simultaneous use of both controllers. Without affecting normal storage operations, the second main control unit 120 can serve as a backup to keep the first main control unit 110 alive, and also provide compression control for the disk. This significantly increases the utilization rate of hard disk space and greatly extends the storage cycle of the storage server with a relatively low cost.

[0042] The first main control unit 110 and the compression unit 130 are connected via a serial bus. The compression method and the read / write method of the target data can be implemented using existing methods. For example, the compression method can be either lossless or lossy. Lossless compression refers to a compression method where no information is lost during compression and decompression, and the original data can be completely recovered. Examples include: Huffman coding (encoding based on character frequency, with higher-frequency characters using shorter codes); Run-Length Encoding (RLE) (representing consecutively repeated data with a single value and the number of times that value is repeated); and Arithmetic Coding (encoding the input information as a single real number instead of a series of bits, theoretically more efficient than Huffman coding). Lossy compression allows for a certain degree of information loss to achieve a higher compression ratio and is suitable for applications where high precision is not required, such as feature extraction and keyframe extraction based on Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs). Especially for different video scenarios, there are many existing compression methods, such as frame interpolation generation methods, dynamically generating intermediate frames, reducing the number of keyframes (I-frames) to reduce video data size; and long-term background static optimization + high bitrate preservation of abnormal events, etc. This embodiment aims to achieve compression using suitable existing algorithms, without relying on algorithm improvements to solve the technical problem of expanding storage server capacity.

[0043] In this embodiment, the first main control unit 110 is connected to the second main control unit 120 and the storage unit 140, and is used to write the received target data into the storage unit 140. The second main control unit 120 is also connected to the storage unit 140 and the compression unit 130, and is used to read the target data stored in the storage unit 140 and send it to the compression unit 130. After receiving the compressed data returned by the compression unit 130, the compressed data is written into the storage unit 140 to overwrite the target data. This solves the problem that expanding the storage server capacity requires a large cost. It can achieve compressed storage of data through the second main control unit 120 and the compression unit 130 without affecting normal storage services, and expand the utilization rate of storage space at a lower cost.

[0044] In some embodiments, the storage unit 140 includes a first hard disk expansion controller 141, a second hard disk expansion controller 142, and a hard disk array 143. A first main control unit 110 is connected to the first hard disk expansion controller 141, which is also connected to the hard disk array 143; a second main control unit 120 is connected to the second hard disk expansion controller 142, which is also connected to the hard disk array 143.

[0045] Specifically, such as Figure 3 As shown, the first main control unit 110 and the second main control unit 120 expand to include more SAS bus interfaces through the first hard disk expansion controller 141, thereby expanding to include multiple hard disks, which are dual-port SAS hard disks. That is, the first main control unit 110 can read and write data in the first hard disk HDD1 through the first hard disk expansion controller 141 via the A_SAS_1 bus, and the second main control unit 120 can also read and write data in the first hard disk HDD1 through the second hard disk expansion controller 142 via the B_SAS_1 bus. Similarly, the first main control unit 110 and the second main control unit 120 can perform the same operations on the second hard disk HDD2. In this embodiment, for the sake of simplicity, only two hard disks, HDD1 and HDD2, are shown to represent the hard disk array 143. In actual use, the number of hard disks is configured according to user needs.

[0046] In some embodiments, the hard disk array 143 includes a first hard disk and a second hard disk; the first hard disk is connected to a first hard disk expansion controller 141 and a second hard disk expansion controller 142, respectively; the second hard disk is connected to the first hard disk expansion controller 141 and the second hard disk expansion controller 142, respectively; the first hard disk and the second hard disk constitute an asynchronous storage space.

[0047] Specifically, when the first hard disk space is full, the first master control unit 110 writes the newly received target data to the second hard disk and simultaneously wakes up the second master control unit 120. After being woken up, the second master control unit 120 reads the target data already stored on the first hard disk and sends it to the compression unit 130. After receiving the compressed data returned by the compression unit 130, it writes the compressed data to the first hard disk to overwrite the target data. In the above data interaction process, the first hard disk, as the primary storage medium, undertakes the real-time writing task, and the second hard disk, as the secondary storage, provides an overflow buffer. When the primary storage is full, it can seamlessly switch to the secondary disk for writing, ensuring continuous data reception without interruption. At the same time, through the compression control of the second master control unit 120, the primary disk space is expanded. The above process uses two hard disks in use as an example. In actual use, the hard disk array 143 includes several hard disks, and any two hard disks can be used as a pair of primary and secondary hard disks to cooperate. The hard disk array 143 forms a structure of asynchronous storage space with physical isolation.

[0048] In some embodiments, the second main control unit 120 is also connected to an external device to receive target data and write the target data into the storage unit 140 in the event of a failure of the first main control unit 110.

[0049] Specifically, when the first master control unit 110 malfunctions and cannot acquire the target data normally, the second master control unit 120 cannot detect the heartbeat signal of the first master control unit 110. The second master control unit 120 then suspends the compression service and takes over the original services of the first master control unit 110, including acquiring and writing the original target data, to ensure the continuity of storage services.

[0050] In some of these embodiments, such as Figure 3 As shown, the compression unit 130 is also connected to the first main control unit 110 and is used to send compressed data to the first main control unit 110, and the first main control unit 110 controls the compressed data to be written into the storage unit 140 to overwrite the target data.

[0051] Specifically, when the first master control unit 110 recovers from a failure, the second master control unit 120 continues to perform storage operations, while the first master control unit 110 takes over the task of compressing and overwriting existing historical data to ensure business continuity and smoothness. This avoids the risk of data loss caused by repeated switching between the two master control units.

[0052] In some embodiments, the first main control unit 110 and the second main control unit 120 are connected via a network interface. After the first main control unit 110 recovers from a fault, the first main control unit 110 serves as a backup device for the second main control device and receives a wake-up signal sent by the first main control unit 110 via the network interface.

[0053] Specifically, when the first master control unit 110 recovers from a failure, the second master control unit 120 continues to perform storage services, while the first master control unit 110 stands by as a backup device to avoid the risk of data loss caused by repeated switching between the two master control units.

[0054] In some embodiments, the hard disk array 143 uses mechanical hard disks. Specifically, the hard disk array 143 includes several hard disk groups, with multiple hard disks forming a RAID disk group, and the physical hard disks in it can be mechanical hard disks.

[0055] In some of these embodiments, such as Figure 4 As shown, the compression unit 130 includes a network switching module 132 and an intelligent analysis module 131. The network switching module 132 is connected to the first main control unit 110 and the second main control unit 120 and is used for data forwarding; the intelligent analysis module 131 is connected to the network switching module 132 and is used for compressing the received target data.

[0056] Specifically, the intelligent analysis module 131 implements many intelligent compression methods. In the video field, the existing methods are as follows: (1) Intelligent analysis and feature extraction: AI analyzes video content through deep learning models (such as convolutional neural networks CNN), identifies features such as scenes, objects, and actions, and distinguishes important information (such as faces and moving areas) from unimportant information (such as background and static areas). (2) Key frame extraction: AI automatically identifies key frames in the video, reducing the storage and transmission of redundant frames. (3) Adaptive quantization: AI dynamically adjusts the quantization accuracy according to the importance of the video content. Important areas (such as faces) retain high accuracy, while unimportant areas (such as background) have reduced accuracy, reducing the amount of data. (4) Noise removal and denoising: AI removes noise in the video through deep learning models, reducing data redundancy. (5) Super-resolution enhancement: After compression, AI can restore video details through super-resolution technology (such as SRCNN and GAN), improving the quality of the compressed video. When multiple target data need to be processed simultaneously, the intelligent analysis module 131 can have multiple AI modules. Each AI module is connected to the network switching module 132, so that the intelligent analysis module 131 and the main controller (i.e., the first main control unit 110 or the second main control unit 120) form a distributed architecture, without a master-slave relationship, thus improving the efficiency of data transmission.

[0057] This embodiment provides a security system, such as Figure 5 As shown, it includes: external devices and the dual-controller storage server in any of the above embodiments. The external devices include: recording devices such as front-end cameras or PTZ cameras.

[0058] The present embodiment will now be described and illustrated through preferred embodiments. Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the dual-controller storage server in this preferred embodiment. Figure 3 As shown, the dual-controller storage server includes: a first main control unit 110, a second main control unit 120, a compression unit 130, and a storage unit 140. The first main control unit 110 is connected to a front-end camera IPC, which is used to acquire video data. The first main control unit 110 and the second main control unit 120 are connected via a network, and both are connected to the compression unit 130 via serial buses. The first main control unit 110 is connected to a first hard disk expansion controller 141, which is also connected to a hard disk array 143; the second main control unit 120 is connected to a second hard disk expansion controller 142, which is also connected to the hard disk array 143.

[0059] The working principle of a dual-controller storage server is as follows:

[0060] 1) In normal operating mode, the first main control unit 110 is responsible for receiving the video stream of the IPC and then writing the video data to the first hard disk HDD1 for storage through the first hard disk expansion controller 141 and the A_SAS_1 bus.

[0061] 2) When HDD1 is full, the first main control unit 110 continues to write video data to the second hard disk HDD2 and closes the data write channel to HDD1. At the same time, it notifies the second main control unit 120 that HDD1 is full via the network bus.

[0062] 3) The second main control unit 120 switches from standby mode to working mode, takes over control of HDD1 through the second hard disk expansion controller 142, and then performs read and write operations on HDD1 via the B_SAS_1 bus. Specifically, this includes the following operations:

[0063] The second main control unit 120 first reads the data from HDD1, and then sends the read video data to the AI ​​analysis module of the compression unit 130 for analysis via serial bus B.

[0064] The AI ​​analysis module first decodes the video, then performs intelligent analysis and compression, and finally sends the compressed video back to the second main control unit 120.

[0065] The second main control unit 120 rewrites the compressed video data into HDD1 using an overwrite method.

[0066] 4) Based on step 3, the second main control unit 120 analyzes and compresses the existing historical recordings, effectively freeing up space on HDD1 without affecting the original business operations. The second main control unit 120 synchronously updates the compression information of HDD1 (such as the recording directory, address, and remaining space on HDD1) to the first main control unit 110 via the network bus. This facilitates the first main control unit 110 in accurately querying recording information.

[0067] 5) The first main control unit 110 records and writes video to HDD2. When the first main control unit 110 fills the space of HDD2, it similarly informs the second main control unit 120, which then compresses and overwrites the data on HDD2. At the same time, the first main control unit 110 can continue to write new recordings to the remaining storage space of HDD1.

[0068] 6) When the first master control unit 110 malfunctions and cannot perform normal streaming storage, the second master control unit 120 cannot detect the heartbeat signal of the first master control unit. The second master control unit 120 then suspends the historical video recording analysis service and takes over the original services of the first master control unit, including streaming the original IPC and storing the video recordings that the first master control unit was writing to.

[0069] 7) After the first main control unit 110 recovers from its failure, the second main control unit 120 continues its original video recording and storage services, while the first main control unit 110 takes over the analysis of existing historical video recordings. This ensures the continuity and smoothness of the service and avoids the risk of video loss caused by repeated switching between the two main control units (due to the latency of IPC streaming channel switching and hard drive mounting, some video loss may occur during main control unit switching).

[0070] In this preferred embodiment, under dual-control mode, the first main control unit 110 performs normal video recording and writing, while the second main control unit 120 analyzes, compresses, and overwrites the existing historical video recordings. By effectively utilizing the computing resources of the second main control unit 120, the hard disk space utilization rate is improved, and the video storage cycle of the dual-control storage device is greatly increased.

[0071] It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are merely illustrative of the application and not intended to limit it. All other embodiments derived by those skilled in the art based on the embodiments provided in this application without inventive effort are within the scope of protection of this application.

[0072] Obviously, the accompanying drawings are merely some examples or embodiments of this application. Those skilled in the art can apply this application to other similar situations based on these drawings without any creative effort. Furthermore, it is understood that although the work done in this development process may be complex and lengthy, for those skilled in the art, certain design, manufacturing, or production modifications made based on the technical content disclosed in this application are merely conventional technical means and should not be considered as insufficient disclosure of this application.

[0073] The term "embodiment" in this application refers to a specific feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with an embodiment that may be included in at least one embodiment of this application. The appearance of this phrase in various places in the specification does not necessarily imply the same embodiment, nor does it imply that it is mutually exclusive with or independent of other embodiments. It will be clearly or implicitly understood by those skilled in the art that the embodiments described in this application may be combined with other embodiments without conflict.

[0074] The embodiments described above are merely illustrative of several implementation methods of this application, and while the descriptions are relatively specific and detailed, they should not be construed as limiting the scope of patent protection. It should be noted that those skilled in the art can make various modifications and improvements without departing from the concept of this application, and these all fall within the scope of protection of this application. Therefore, the scope of protection of this application should be determined by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A dual-controller storage server, characterized in that, include: The system comprises a first main control unit, a second main control unit, a compression unit, and a storage unit. The first main control unit is connected to an external device, the second main control unit, and the storage unit, and is used to write the received target data into the storage unit; the target data is generated by the external device and sent to the first main control unit. The second main control unit is also connected to the storage unit and the compression unit, and is used to read the target data stored in the storage unit and send it to the compression unit. After receiving the compressed data returned by the compression unit, the compressed data is written to the storage unit to overwrite the target data.

2. The dual-controller storage server according to claim 1, characterized in that, The storage unit includes: a first hard disk expansion controller, a second hard disk expansion controller, and a hard disk array; The first main control unit is connected to the first hard disk expansion controller, and the first hard disk expansion controller is also connected to the hard disk array; The second main control unit is connected to the second hard disk expansion controller, and the second hard disk expansion controller is also connected to the hard disk array.

3. The dual-controller storage server according to claim 2, characterized in that, The hard disk array includes a first hard disk and a second hard disk; The first hard disk is connected to both the first hard disk expansion controller and the second hard disk expansion controller. The second hard disk is connected to both the first hard disk expansion controller and the second hard disk expansion controller. The first hard disk and the second hard disk constitute an asynchronous storage space.

4. The dual-controller storage server according to claim 1, characterized in that, The second main control unit is also connected to the external device, and in the event of a failure of the first main control unit, it receives the target data and writes it into the storage unit.

5. The dual-controller storage server according to claim 4, characterized in that, The compression unit is also connected to the first main control unit and is used to send the compressed data to the first main control unit, so that the first main control unit controls the compressed data to be written into the storage unit to overwrite the target data.

6. The dual-controller storage server according to claim 5, characterized in that, The first main control unit and the second main control unit are connected through a network interface. After the first main control unit recovers from a fault, the first main control unit serves as a backup device for the second main control device and receives a wake-up signal sent by the first main control unit through the network interface.

7. The dual-controller storage server according to claim 3, characterized in that, The hard disk array uses mechanical hard disks.

8. The dual-controller storage server according to claim 1, characterized in that, The compression unit includes: a network switching module and an intelligent analysis module; The network switching module is connected to the first main control unit and the second main control unit and is used for data forwarding; The intelligent analysis module is connected to the network switching module and is used to compress the received target data.

9. A security system, characterized in that, include: External devices and the dual-controller storage server as described in any one of claims 1 to 8.

10. The security system according to claim 9, characterized in that, The external device includes: a front-end camera.

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