Large-Scale Video Archiving?

BondHeadGuy asks: "Ok, say you have 1000+ cameras emitting 30 frames/second worth of 640x480 grayscale video...and you have to store it indefinitely. What do you do? This is a real question, believe it or not. 30 frames/s * 300 KB/frame = 9 MB/s per camera. 100:1 video compression brings that down to ~90 KB/s. But 90 KB/s * 1000 cameras = 90 MB/s, or ~8 terabytes/day. Retrieval, though, can be essentially arbitrarily slow. Reliability should be good enough to not be annoying long term. Is there a solution that: has 8 TB/day storage capacity, can handle the 90 MB/s write speed, and lets you save some bucks on the (slow) read side?"

Comments

Celestial Solution

[kc0dby]

and you have to store it indefinitely.

Retrieval, though, can be essentially arbitrarily slow

Oh, so your looking for a storage medium with infinite space but slow retrieval time?

Easy. Free-Space Medium.

Just use an extremely high gain antenna, a ton of power, and the space around us. Transmit the compressed data stream, aimed at a distant planetary body of your choosing. I would reccomend something in the 100 light year range or so. Now, when the waves hit the body and are reflected back to earth, you will have what is essentially a 100 light year long piece of storage.

And when the waves get back to earth, the technology for terrestrial storage will be extremely inexpensive, and the reception equipment will be too.

Who would need such a system?

[TheSHAD0W]

Do you work for that new "Homeland Security" agency??

How About....

[John_Booty]

/dev/null ???

Pros: Extremely high write speed
Cons: Hard to get data back out, but since "Retrieval... can be essentially arbitrarily slow" you've can just re-film whatever it was that you missed. With the money you save on the video gear, you should have a nice little production budget, too...