Since there is no industry standard for A/V-rated hard drives, there is varying opinion in the computer world about what comprises an A/V hard drive. Generally, the industry consensus for any hard drive to be A/V rated is based on a few factors:
Does the drive feature thermal recalibration? All of the Seagate recent and current SCSI and ATA drives feature an embedded servo that eliminates thermal recalibration, so this is no longer a concern with any of our drives. SCSI is generally considered the best interface for A/V work, as the many features that SCSI drives utilize and the robustness of the SCSI interface are more suited to A/V work than the lower cost IDE/ATA interface.
How much data transfer bandwidth does my A/V application require? There are many variables at play within ensuring your storage interface of choice (ATA and SCSI, usually) is fast enough to sustain the data rates required by your specific A/V application. For example: consumer-level editing of DV video and audio might only require ~5 MB/s of data rate to function normally. This level of performance is easily handled by ATA interface drives. On the other end of the spectrum, professional film editing may require ~900 MB/s of data rate to function normally. This level of performance benefits from the high end capabilities of SCSI or Fibre Channel interface drives. Usually, the best resource for determining your required data transfer rate would be to contact your editing/capturing hardware and/or software manufacturer. Having this specific information in hand will allow you to choose the most appropriate hard drive and storage interface for your A/V needs.
Surveillance Resources
Video surveillance systems must deliver full-motion video, captured continuously in real time and often employing high-definition frame resolutions. Now the industry is moving toward integrated security products that consolidate operator consoles, digital imaging and video storage into one comprehensive security solution. Such integrated systems will give rise to entirely new usage models in video surveillance, heavily reliant on hard drives to meet the massive storage requirements imposed by network-ready systems that house 24x7 full-motion and high-definition video. Seagate categorizes integrated digital video surveillance systems as indoor, enterprise, and ruggedized.
Indoor Video Surveillance
The need to safeguard organizational information and property has prompted more effective indoor video surveillance measures. Family Name: SV35
Ruggedized Video Surveillance
Mobile surveillance is rapidly gaining favor with law enforcement and the military, while outdoor surveillance has become increasingly important in safeguarding public and organizational interests. Both utilize ruggedized drives.
Family Name: EE25
Enterprise Video Surveillance
Massive amounts of captured video data demand reliable, secure and multi-drive RAID-based storage solutions; here the hard drive’s high-capacity capabilities shine most prominently.
Family Name: Barracuda ES, Savvio, Cheetah
