Reindexing an Archive in DW Spectrum
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Affected Roles: Administrator, Owner
Related Digital Watchdog VMS Apps: DW Spectrum IPVMS
Complexity: Low
Software Version: DW Spectrum v4.2 or newer
Last Edit: March 3, 2022
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DW Spectrum Database Reindex Function
When a DW Spectrum System is created, a database is created for its server(s) to store and index the mapping and relationship between the archive filenames and the storage location of the archive in the physical storage drive of the server(s). Reindexing a database will restore the relationship between the database and the storage drive.
The process can take up to several hours, but the duration varies depending on the size of the archive storage files. The DW Spectrum System will continue to record video and will write to the archive, even while the reindex process is ongoing. As long as there is still enough storage capacity available to perform both the reindex and record video, the system can perform both simultaneously. However, performance may be affected as more processing power will be required from the server computer’s resources.
This article will outline how to reindex an archive and additional information regarding this function.
Reindexing an Archive
When should the Reindex function be used?
Reindexing an archive should be performed when the archive index (that helps the system recognize stored archive files) is broken or corrupted. This can occur when:
- A camera has been removed/deleted from the Device List registration of the DW Spectrum System
- A storage device has been moved, renamed, or deleted from the system
- An archive file has been removed, renamed, is incorrectly timestamped, or is otherwise corrupted
If an archive is damaged, DW Spectrum will notify the administrators of the system when attempting to view that section of the archive. This notification will indicate the storage path where the indexing problem has been detected.
When a camera is deleted from the DW Spectrum Resource Tree, its archive will remain within the DW Spectrum Servers storage, but access to the footage will be lost. After reindexing the archive, the DW Spectrum Client will display the deleted camera in the Resource Tree again, but as an offline device. While live video will not be possible for the once deleted camera, access to its archived video files will be recovered and made available for viewing once again.
What happens during a Fast Archive Scan?
A fast archive scan checks to see that the database is intact and that it matches the archive. This process usually only takes a few seconds and occurs automatically when:
- The DW Server is initially started or has been restarted
- An archive file was closed improperly
- The index files cannot be read by the system
During a fast scan, video recording will be temporarily put on hold, but will resume after the process has completed. This process usually only takes a few seconds, but may experience delays when:
- The archive has a large filesize
- The server database was moved while the DW Spectrum Server program was still offline
- An archive was transferred over from another server before the DW Spectrum Server program could be launched
How to Reindex an Archive
- In the DW Spectrum Client, right-click on the server in the Resource Tree and select “Server Settings”.
The Server Settings window will display. Select the “Storage Management” tab.
- In the Storage Management menu, you may perform one of the following reindexing actions as required:
- Reindex Archive – selecting this will prompt the DW Spectrum Server to attempt to restore the index for all Main storage locations, as designated within the DW Spectrum Storage Locations
- Reindex Backup – selecting this will prompt the DW Spectrum Server to attempt to restore the index for all Backup storage locations, as designated within the DW Spectrum Storage Locations
- After making your selection, a pop-up message will display warning that the “Hard disk load will increase significantly”.
Click the “OK” button in the pop-up to proceed with the reindexing.
- The pop-window will close and the reindexing process will begin to run in the background.
A progress bar will display to indicate the current status throughout the process. DW Spectrum will indicate that the reindexing process has completed or stopped when:
- The archive reindex has completed successfully – a system-generated event notification will display in the Notification Panel disclosing, “Rebuilding archive index is complete”.
- The archive reindex has been cancelled before being completed – a system-generated event notification will display in the Notification Panel disclosing, “Rebuilding archive index is cancelled by user”.
- The archive reindexing process can be cancelled at any point, but an incompletely indexed archive may be partially or entirely inaccessible. It is recommended that the reindexing process be allowed to complete
