Applies to: BLAZE

Summary

BLAZE appliances are designed to be even simpler to install, license, and manage, than their server-based counterparts. Shipped fully pre-licensed, there are no licenses to buy and you can add more devices up to the recorder’s limit without waiting for extra licenses to arrive. This guarantees that BLAZE appliances run at their full potential out of the box, while protecting them from being overloaded. Additional cameras can be later added as a system grows without the need to purchase additional licenses, assuming capacity is available.  BLAZE appliances are always eligible for firmware updates (assuming hardware compatibility), so they do not need a Software Update Plan.

These differences involve a slight adjustment to our understanding of the licensing scheme. Importantly, BLAZE appliances are channel-bound, not license-bound. This is different to how BLAZE servers are licensed (see BLAZE: Understanding BLAZE Licensing. This article explains the differences to how BLAZE appliances are licensed, how many devices you can add to your appliance, and how the type of device impacts the count.

Channel Limits

Each BLAZE appliance has a fixed channel limit of 16, 32, or 64, depending on the model. One channel includes recording both the BLAZE Primary and Secondary streams.

Single-sensor Cameras

For example, you can add 16 single-sensor cameras to a 16-Channel BRB appliance such as the BRB-X1610SE or BRB-X1610E. However, if  try to add a 17^th device it will not let you. Because you cannot expand the appliance, you must add another appliance, or replace it with a 32-Channel appliance.

Multi-sensors

Multi-sensor cameras consume more than one channel. A dual-sensor camera consumes two, and a quad-sensor camera consumes four channels, etc. For example, you can only add four quad-sensor cameras to a 16-Channel BRB appliance. This ensures that a 16-Channel appliance is not overwhelmed; such as with 64 channels coming from 16 quad-sensor cameras.

Audio Devices

An IP speaker and audio beacon (SPS-A100M) each count as one channel. You can add 16 IP audio devices to a 16-Channel BRB to fully load it. Even Although the appliances Settings > Licenses page might display licenses to spare, you are still restricted by the number of channels, not the number of licenses.

Encoders and NVRs

Each camera on a multi-channel encoder consumes a channel. Assuming there is a camera attached to every input, you can add four 4-Channel encoders or one 16-Channel encoder to a 16-Channel BRB.  Unused channels can be deleted to free up a channel.

Each camera attached to an NVR also consumes one appliance channel. Because of this, it is recommended to use a BLAZE server when acting as an intermediary to an NVR, as each NVR camera consumes just 1/8 of a BLAZE server-based license.

Sample configuration of a 16-Channel BRB appliance with Hanwha devices

Sample configuration of a 16-Channel BRB appliance with ONVIF devices

Comparing BLAZE Appliance and Server Licensing

BLAZE is available as pure software, which you can install on your own server or buy pre-installed (not pre-licensed) on Hanwha Vision servers. The software require BLAZE Premium licenses (BLZ-PRM-01), and the Software Update Plan (BLZ-PRM-SU3-01) is strongly recommended. 

Whereas appliances are channel-bound, servers are license-bound. Many devices use only a fraction of a license. For example, a server with 16x BLZ-PRM-01 licenses will cover 16 quad-sensor cameras (64 channels), or 16 4-Channel encoders (64 channels), or 64 IP wall speakers, or 128 NVR channels.

For more information on server licensing, see BLAZE: Understanding BLAZE Licensing.