Introducing the Milestone Husky X Series

February 7th, 2019 by Amy Watkins

The new high-performance Milestone Husky X2 and X8 network video recorders (NVR) have arrived. They’re supported by a sporty new look (see the video below) and promise something different from previous Huskys and other NVRs.

So, is the product in the box radically different and crucially, is it worth the money?

What’s changed?

In a word: choice. The X Series has been created with flexibility in mind. Some of the key features are listed below:

• Standard XProtect software (no NVR-optimised versions)
• Ability to add more cameras
• More storage options
• Can be used as VMS, recording server or both

Some of the best features from the M Series have remained. For example, Huskys remain an open platform and support products from over 150 manufacturers. Plus, the X2 and X8 come with a 3 year limited warranty.

Choose your XProtect software

One of the challenges with earlier versions of the Husky is that the software has moved faster than the hardware. Not really that surprising when hardware has a 3 year development cycle, while software development is much faster.

The current M range Husky software is an NVR version of XProtect Expert and Professional. The latter was superseded by Professional+ last summer, creating a lag between the Husky XProtect software and the rest of the range.

One of the advantages of the new Husky X Series, is that you’re able to select the Milestone XProtect software you want. If you already have XProtect SLC, your software can be ported across to your Husky X2 or X8. If your needs change, you can upgrade your software through your software licence code, no specialist software required. This enables the system to grow with your business.

Storage options

For the first time the Husky X Series has enabled you to add in your own hard disk drives (HDD). At the time of writing WD purple are the only approved HDD, though we believe this will be expanded in the future. You can check if your storage is compatible on the Milestone website.

Product dive – Husky X2

Aimed at small to medium enterprises, the X2 network video recorder can support up to 133 IP cameras recording simultaneously (720P at 25 FPS, 2 Mbit/s). It comes with XProtect Essential, which can be upgraded to XProtect Express+ or Professional+.

• Intel® Core™ i3-6100 3.7 GHz
• 16 GB RAM
• 256 GB mSATA SSD
• I/O connection: 4 x in + 4 x out
• 550 Mbit/s recording rate
• 2 x 1 GbE NIC

There are two barebone versions to choose from HX2 and HX2P16. The latter includes a 16-port PoE switch. The storage options are below:

Milestone claim it’s got three times the performance of comparable network video recorders, requiring fewer units and therefore saving money in the long run.

Product dive – Husky X8

For those organisation which require an extremely reliable NVR for large scale video systems, the X8 is worth considering. It features up to 80TB of storage and supports up to 780 IP cameras (at a 1,828 Mbit/s recording rate), 300 if you’re using server-side video motion detection.

For extra security the X8 encrypts storage, credentials and keys to ISO/IEC 11889 standards.

• Intel® Xeon® E3-1515M V5 2.8 GHz
• 2 x 256 GB M.2 SSD RAID 1
• RAID 5/10
• 2 x 1 GbE NIC
• Dual hot-swap power supply
• Windows 10 IoT Enterprise CBB

The barebone variants are HX8R and HX8RC. The latter includes a converged network adapter. Both come with the following storage options:

A worthwhile investment?

The Husky X Series is a leap forward providing the reliability of Milestone NVRs with flexibility many companies are looking for.

The X Series provides greater choice and scalability, for organisations it means is there is a bit more to think about before a purchase. To help the decision making process, Milestone have released a downloadable Husky calculator on their website to help you narrow down your choice.

“The Husky NVRs are a welcome addition both to the Milestone portfolio and to Network Webcams’ expanding range. They offer a means to get guaranteed Milestone-optimised performance for your surveillance recordings. Provisioning hardware for a Milestone deployment is a tricky business and must be done with knowledge of best practice for setting up the Milestone software. Time and again we have seen corners cut when building hardware systems to run XProtect and a poorly-prepared system will always deliver poor results. These Huskys ensure that performance is not, and never will be, an issue.

Furthermore, with the Huskys now using standard Milestone XProtect software variants the process of supporting them becomes much easier, allowing for Milestone expert companies such as NW Security Group to deliver their expert support services in a more effective manner.”

Kevin Bowyer, Technical Director

Both the Husky X2 and Husky X8 are available to purchase now.