Backing up video archives on a schedule

To save important video on a regular basis, you can back up specific archives to a file server or a network drive on a schedule using archive transfer.

To back up video archives on a schedule:

1. From the Config Tool home page, open the Video task, click the Roles and units view, and select an Archiver.
2. Click the Resources tab.
3. In the Archive transfer section, set the following options:
   • Backup folder:

     Location where backed up archives are saved as G64x files.
   • Delete oldest files when disks are full:

     Turn this option on to delete the oldest video archives when the disk is full.
   • Automatic cleanup:

     Turn this option on to specify a retention period for the backed up video archives (in days). If you do not enable this option, backed up video archives are not automatically deleted by the system, and must be manually removed.
4. Click Advanced settings.
5. Set Max archive transfer throughput to the maximum bandwidth available to the Archiver for archive transfer, and then click OK > Apply .
6. In the Video task, click the Archive transfer view.
7. Click Add an item () > Backup .
8. In the Transfer group properties dialog box, name this archive transfer scenario.
9. In the Sources section, click Add an item (), select the cameras or Archivers you want, and then click Add.
   When a camera is selected as a source, the transfer will include associated video from all Archivers.

   TIP: Hold Ctrl or Shift to select multiple cameras or Archivers.
10. For Recurrence, select a schedule for the archive transfer:
    • Manual:

      Transfer archives manually.
    • Minutes:

      Transfer archives every 1-59 minutes.
    • Hourly:

      Transfer archives every 1-23 hours.
    • Daily:

      Transfer archives every day at the specified time. Optionally, set a maximum duration for the transfer to complete.
    • Weekly:

      Transfer archives every week, on specific days at the specified time. Optionally, set a maximum duration for the transfer to complete.

    NOTE: If you set a maximum duration to transfer files on a Daily or Weekly schedule, ongoing transfers are stopped at the specified time, and will resume from the last successfully transferred video frame at the next scheduled transfer. If you do not set a maximum duration, and the transfer is still in progress at the beginning of the next scheduled transfer, then the new transfer starts when the current transfer is completed.

    Transferring archives on a schedule is recommended for fixed cameras with limited network bandwidth. The transfer can be scheduled for a time when network demand is low.
11. In the Coverage option, select whether to transfer all the data that has been accumulated since the last transfer, or only for a set range of days.
12. Under Data, select All to transfer everything since the last successful transfer, or Specific to transfer specific sequences based on event filters.
13. If you select Specific, select the type of data to transfer:
    • Alarms:

      Transfer video segments related to alarm events. The record of the alarm itself is not transferred.
    • Bookmarks:

      Transfer video segments that contain bookmarks.
    • Input triggers:

      Transfer video segments that contain input events.
    • Motion events:

      Transfer video segments recorded between Motion on and Motion off events. This option only applies to unit motion detection.
    • Protected video:

      Transfer video segments that are protected.
    • Video analytics events:

      Transfer video segments that contain video analytics events.
    • Time range:

      Transfer video segments recorded during a specific period. You can specify a time range or a relative time range, such as the last n days, hours, or minutes.
14. Event-based transfer only: If you selected specific data, specify how many seconds of video should be transferred before and after the event occurs.
    Example: If you select the Motion events filter, this setting indicates how many seconds of video preceding the Motion on event, and how many seconds of video following the Motion off event are included in the transfer.
15. Click Save.
    The video archives are backed up at the scheduled time.