Load Balancing Between Recorders
Safe Volume Reallocation
Background
A large enterprise initially deployed some Recording Servers to manage all their cameras using a shared SAN-based storage architecture. Each Recorder was connected to multiple iSCSI volumes that collectively stored all video archives.
The system performed well initially when the compute and camera loads were balanced. However, over time, several factors increased the computational demand: higher camera resolutions and frame rates, additional analytics modules requiring data from these recorders, and extended retention periods that increased media database activity. As a result, the existing Recorders faced compute saturation, even though the shared storage array still had adequate capacity.
Problem
To resolve the compute bottleneck, the customer planned to add new Recording Servers to balance the camera workload more evenly. The goal was to distribute the total number of cameras evenly across all Recorders. However, since each storage volume in XProtect is exclusively owned by one Recording Service, it was not possible to directly reassign existing volumes from the original Recorders to the new ones. Manual reassignment would lead to catastrophic data loss because the new Recorder cannot safely take ownership of a volume that contains another Recorder's media database.
Solution: XPort Volume Migration
The XPort Volume Migration workflow enabled safe redistribution of existing volumes across all Recording Servers without reformatting or reindexing:
XPort identified the storage volumes currently owned by each Recorder.
For selected volumes, it automatically quiesced recording and enabled a clean detach from their original owners.
The same volumes were reassigned to the destination Recorders, preserving their media databases.
After media database rehydration, the new Recorders assumed control of both live recording and playback from those volumes, with complete database integrity.
A PDF report captured the journey for future audit purposes.
Outcome
Balanced Compute Load: Camera workloads were evenly distributed across all Recorders.
No New Storage Required: The existing SAN or NAS infrastructure was reused without modification.
Zero Data Loss: All previously stored media databases remained intact and readable by their new Recorder owners.
Summary
As systems grow, compute demand often increases faster than storage utilization. XPort Volume Migration enables controlled, lossless reassignment of existing storage volumes between Recording Servers — allowing balanced performance without adding new storage.
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