QNAP Systems, Inc., a leader in computing, networking, and storage solutions, recently showcased their innovations at COMPUTEX 2024, demonstrating their commitment to performance, reliability, security, and accessibility. This year’s exhibition highlighted QNAP's comprehensive IT solutions, including AI-powered file management and surveillance, high-availability solutions, myQNAPcloud One cloud storage, 25GbE solutions, Thunderbolt™ 4 NAS for video editing, and manufacturing execution system (MES) solutions. These innovations reflect QNAP's dedication to addressing the complexities of managing exponential data growth across various industries.

One of the key highlights at COMPUTEX was QNAP's AI Fusion technology, which enhances functionalities within their NAS and surveillance systems. Led by Pong, a product manager director in the surveillance department, QNAP introduced QuMagie, a smart photo album that categorizes photos stored on a NAS device offline using AI-powered image recognition. This system leverages the CPU and, when available, MPU resources within the NAS. For additional computing power, users can utilize the AI Dango, an AI accelerator that can be plugged into the NAS, enabling even older models to handle AI processes efficiently.

QNAP has also enhanced their surveillance capabilities with AI integration through QVR Pro Client, allowing efficient management of applications like QVR Face for facial recognition and QVR Human for people counting. These features are accessible via a single, flexible portal that supports various display configurations, catering to diverse surveillance needs. The large storage capacities of QNAP NAS devices allow extensive footage recording from multiple camera brands. This footage can be analyzed in two ways: pre-processing, where analysis occurs during recording, and post-processing, where analysis is performed on recorded footage. Pre-processing provides immediate results, aiding security personnel in timely responses.

The AI-powered analysis is notably efficient, with one hour of footage taking about 90 seconds to search. This capability ensures that even extensive video archives can be analyzed overnight, providing detailed results based on specific criteria. QNAP collaborates with partners for advanced features like license plate recognition, demonstrating the system's flexibility and integration with external AI solutions. This partnership model allows QNAP to offer a comprehensive suite of AI-driven tools without covering every AI topic in-house.

QNAP's AI features extend beyond surveillance to include real-time analysis and playback options. The AI models are continuously improved and updated with software updates, enhancing accuracy and performance over time. This ongoing improvement is evidenced by the AI's ability to detect more precise results from the same video clips compared to previous versions. Users benefit from these updates as the AI models evolve, providing better analytics and insights with each iteration.

Beyond surveillance, QNAP envisions expanding AI capabilities to more personalized applications, such as recommending movies based on user preferences. While currently focused on photo and video analytics, this future development could offer tailored content suggestions, leveraging AI to enhance user experience further. This concept aligns with QNAP's broader vision of integrating AI across different media types and user needs.

QNAP also addresses the performance of storage solutions with the Skyhawk AI hard drives, designed for continuous writing, essential for surveillance devices. These drives reserve bandwidth for AI analytics, allowing simultaneous writing and reading operations without compromising performance. This innovation highlights QNAP's commitment to optimizing hardware for AI-driven tasks, ensuring reliable and efficient storage solutions.

In addressing the reliability of storage, QNAP acknowledges the importance of monitoring hard drive health. While traditional methods check the status of hard drives, there is potential for AI to enhance this process. AI could offer more predictive insights, although the primary recommendation remains to replace any failing drives promptly and prepare for potential failures in advance. This proactive approach ensures data integrity and system reliability.

In summary, QNAP AI Fusion represents a significant advancement in integrating AI within NAS and surveillance systems. By enhancing photo and video analysis, improving storage performance, and envisioning future AI-driven applications, QNAP positions itself at the forefront of smart, efficient, and user-centric technology solutions. The continuous improvement and collaborative approach ensure that QNAP's AI features remain cutting-edge, providing valuable insights and capabilities to users across various domains.

by Chatgpt

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