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Overview

1. Equipment Required

The listed hardware items are necessary for the Avatar system to function

  • TP- Link PoE Switch

  • HDMI Encoder

  • USB Flash Drive (5GB Min)

  • Avatar Hardware

Hardware Requirements:

a. Processor (CPU):

  • Minimal Requirement: Intel Core i5 or AMD Ryzen 3.

  • The CPU choice should meet the basic processing needs for running the system and handling camera streams.

  • Recommended:
    10th Generation CPU (2019) or newer. However, 6th-9th generation are compatible.
    Intel i5-10500, AMD Ryzen 5000. (4 Core/8 Threads).
    Intel Xeon processors recommended due to 24/7 nature of compute demands.
    Processors are measured in cores and threads.
    Without analytics enabled, each core can generally handle 6 video streams. (4 Core’s x 6 video streams each = 24 streams total).
    With analytics enabled, each core can generally handle 1 video stream. (no GPU present).
    Nvidia GPU’s 1060 or later (CUDA Enabled) offer 10x performance in analytics processing.

b. Memory (RAM):

  • Minimal Requirement: 8GB of RAM

  • Recommended Requirements: 16GB DDR-4 RAM

  • RAM helps in smooth multitasking and efficient data processing.

c. Storage Configuration:

  • Minimal requirements (for test purpose only): single >100GB disk. This will allow Avatar to run but isn’t enough for storing appropriate amount of  media and analytics data  Recommended setup: 2 disks, OS and Storage.

  • Recommended at least 1TB Storage Minimum. Local Storage: Include a >1TB HDD (Hard Disk Drive) for local storage. HDDs offer more storage capacity at a lower cost compared to SSDs.

d. Graphics Processing Unit (GPU):

  • Minimal Requirement: NVIDIA GTX 1060 or equivalent.

  • NVIDIA CUDA enabled GPU’s required for machine learning inference.

  • The GPU is essential for graphics rendering and may be utilized for video processing and analytics.

  • Recommended - Workstation or server grade GPU due to 24/7 demands.
    Example: NVidia Tesla. NVidia Quadro. Nvidia RTX A2000, etc.
    AMD Graphics Cards not compatible.

Storage Calculation Based on Camera Quantity:

To estimate the storage needs based on the number of cameras and their streams, follow these calculations:

  • Camera Quantity: Assume you have 20 IP cameras.

  • Stream Bitrate: Each camera provides a 2 Mbps (megabits per second) video stream.

Calculations:

  • Calculate the total stream bitrate: Total Stream Bitrate = Camera Quantity × Stream Bitrate Total Stream Bitrate = 20 cameras × 2 Mbps = 40 Mbps

  • Convert the total stream bitrate to MBps (megabytes per second): Total Stream Bitrate (MBps) = Total Stream Bitrate (Mbps) / 8 Total Stream Bitrate (MBps) = 40 Mbps / 8 = 5 MBps

  • Estimate storage needs for a day (24 hours): Daily Storage Usage = Total Stream Bitrate (MBps) × 60 seconds/minute × 60 minutes/hour × 24 hours/day Daily Storage Usage = 5 MBps × 60 × 60 × 24 = 432,000 MB or approximately 432 GB per day

  • Calculate monthly storage needs: Monthly Storage Usage = Daily Storage Usage (GB) × 30 days (average month) Monthly Storage Usage ≈ 432 GB/day × 30 days ≈ 12,960 GB or approximately 13 TB per month

2. Download the latest ISO Image File

ISO Image File Download

3. Create a bootable flash drive

Windows

Use Rufus to create a bootable flash drive

  • Select USB Device

  • Select ISO file from File Explorer

  • Once READY, press START to begin transfer to the USB Flash Drive

Mac OS

Use Balena Etcher to create a bootable flash drive

  • Click "Select Image" and choose the downloaded Link OS ISO file.

  • Select your USB drive under "Select Target."

  • Click "Flash" to create the bootable drive.

4. Link OS Installation

  • The Link OS installation process is fully automated. It covers disk partitioning, network configuration, and software installation, and it does not require any user input.

  • The installation supports both single and dual-disk configurations. For dual-disk installations, the smallest disk is selected as the system drive, and storage is configured on the second disk. Other disks are ignored during the installation but can be mounted later.

  • Default Ubuntu network configuration is used, typically involving dynamic IP address assignment via DHCP.

  • During installation, a user named 'sos' is created with the password 's.o.s.'

  • The installer will automatically generate a hostname based on the MAC address of the first Ethernet adapter.

5. After Successful Installation - Login and Commands

  • After a successful Link OS installation, you can log in to the installed OS via the command line interface (CLI).

  • User name: sos

  • Password: s.o.s. (It is highly recommended to change this password for security purposes).

From Command Line:

  • Open a terminal

  • Login as “sos” user

  • Run a superuser (root) shell using the following command: 

    sudo -i

  • Use the following commands to interact with the system:

    • To register the device to a server cluster, use the command: Example:  

      /user/bin/vnlk -rx "link register test1.vsaas.videonext.net"

    • To check the status of the device's link, use the command:

      /usr/bin/vnlk -rx "link show status"

  • The output of the above commands should reflect:

    • Version: 4.1…xxxx

    • GUIID: xxxxxxx-xxxxxxxx-xxxxxxxx (a unique ID for your edge device)

    • Endpoint: Server Cluster Where the Device Is Registered

    • Connected: Yes/No (registration status)

6. Avatar Deactivation

Only use these steps if the avatar configuration is unresponsive or needs to be reset.

  • Login as Root: Log in to the Avatar as the "root" user.

  • Stop vnlk Service: Execute the command to stop the vnlk service, which is responsible for Avatar operations. 

    systemctl stop vnlk

  • Remove Configuration: Delete the Avatar's configuration files by running

    rm -rf /etc/vnlk/vnlk.conf*

  • Start vnlk Service: Restart the vnlk service with the bellow command. This action clears the Avatar's configuration and prepares it for reactivation

    systemctl start vnlk

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