Intransa Unveils VA1020 Video Surveillance Appliance

Intransa, Inc. introduced its most powerful all-in-one platform to date – the VA1020 Server/Storage Appliance.

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The Intransa VideoAppliance 1020 series (VA1020) leverages the power and cost effectiveness of IT hardware while optimizing for video surveillance, access control and analytic software choices. It is designed for organizations with small to midsized camera installations and for both standalone and multiple site applications.

The addition of the VA1020 extends Intransa’s aMaximum Simplicity VideoAppliance family, which includes server/storage purpose-built appliances for the demands and rigors of physical security. Intransa is offering performance, reliable and affordable all-in-one server/storage appliances with integrated physical security optimization technology.

"The VA1020 is truly unique and delivers the best ratio of price and performance while simplifying installation and operation for the security professional," said Alex Doorduyn, director of product management, Intransa. "The savings in initial equipment costs and in ongoing operation make the Intransa VA1020 stand apart from commodity IT servers and storage."

Powered by the latest Intel CPUs, the VA1020 provides the server power to support small to medium sized VMS projects. Deployments typically include one to 168 typical IP cameras (MPEG4 @ 4CIF @ 30fps; number of cameras will vary by codec, camera settings, and VMS choice). The VA1020 is the platform for a range of certified and preloaded physical security application choices, including video management system (VMS), video analytics, access control, and physical security information management (PSIM) software.

The VA1020 includes choice of 10 or 20TB of raw video recording capacity with high performance, high density SATA-II storage, suitable for the majority of physical security needs. Also, when required by the application, the single, 2U VA1020 appliance supports two-tier recording with 1.2TB of maximum performance SAS drives for first-tier video, and 12TB of raw, SATA-II video retention capacity, enough for weeks to months of recording for many projects.

A redundant platform, the VA1020 is built for risk free, non-stop operation, including dual OS offload disks, so all video capacity is available for recording and not for system operation or overhead. Redundancy also includes separate, hot-swap video recording storage, all with RAID protection, as well as dual, hot-swap power supplies for use for demanding physical security projects.

To make ongoing operation easy for security practitioners, the VA1020 Server/Storage Appliance is equipped with Intransa VideoAppliance Services (VA Services), a new feature of Intransa’s patented and patent-pending Video and Data Management & Retention (VDMR) technology. VA Services allows instant system health checks, and management of both the server and storage components of the appliance from an easy to understand management window.

"While the average security operator may never need to use the new VA Services capability thanks to its impressive design features, having the capability instantly available means that extensive IT skills are not needed when an issue occurs," said Doorduyn. "That makes the VA1020 ideal for small projects where changes are unlikely to occur and IT skills are not present, all the way up to medium sized needs where conditions vary from time to time and VA Services will be frequently used. You just don’t find these kinds of security-friendly capabilities in commodity servers and storage, since they are designed for IT and not security requirements."

The VA1020 is installer ready. No guess work is needed, picking a commodity IT server platform, then integrating video cards, memory, network connections, disk drives, and other hardware, and then testing to ensure it operates as a complete security system, not just a bunch of expensive parts. Order the appliance model that the configuration tool identifies is best for your project, then unpack it and plug it in. In just a few minutes, the VA1020 sets itself up, including auto-activation of the security-tuned Microsoft Windows application environment.

Simplified Design & Configuration
Intransa has also unveiled a new design and configuration tool for the Maximum Simplicity family, including the VA1020. The new online tool allows for entry of specific project requirements, such as number and type of cameras (standard IP, Megapixel, or HD), frames per second, compression, etc., plus VMS software choice and days of required video retention.

Intransa Technology Lab Certified
The VA1020 has been jointly tested and certified by the Intransa Technology Labs, for Certified-level, risk free installation with hundreds of physical security vendors and their products ensuring headache-free post-install operation. More than three dozen of the most popular VMS, access control, video analytics and PSIM applications have achieved even more advanced and preloaded status as Select and Select Elite Certified products.

Each of these applications is an available choice for rapid activation with Intransa USB Application Preloaded Media Kits. Preloading eliminates the need for cumbersome DVDs or CDs for installation and bench time, or the requirement for a live Internet connection at installation time to locate and download application software. The media kit needs to be plugged in for the application software to load. It is then ready for configuration to manufacturer’s recommendations and can be activated with the software license key (purchased separately).

Availability
The Intransa VA1020 is available to security practitioners through Intransa Silver, Gold and Platinum authorized dealers and integrators. Interested dealers and integrators can become certified through the online Intransa VideoAppliance Academy. Once certified an Intransa VideoAppliance can be purchased through Anixter, ScanSource Security, Accu-Tech, and other certified distributors worldwide. Some conditions apply to the authorization process.