About roles

A role is a software component that performs a specific job within Security Center. To execute a role, you must assign one or more servers to host it. You can assign roles for archiving video, for controlling a group of units, for synchronizing Security Center users with your corporate directory service, and so on.

In Security Center, role entities are defined by the following:

Role type:
Determines the specific set of functions that should be performed by the role, such as managing video units and associated video archives.
Role settings:
Define the specific set of parameters the role should operate within, such as the retention period for the collected data, or which database the system should use.
Servers:
The servers that should be hosting (running) this role. You can assign one or more roles to the same server, or assign multiple servers to the same role to provide load balancing and failover.

After a role is configured, you can move it to any server in your Security Center system (for example, one with a faster processor or more disk space) without having to install any additional software on that server. Moving a role to another server might cause a short pause in the role’s operations. In addition, some roles can spawn subprocesses (called agents) and execute them simultaneously on multiple servers for greater scalability.