Five Tips Before You Add Video Surveillance on Your Network

Brought to you by HDVIEW360
Are you ready for IP video surveillance technology?
I
t's likely that your business network already meets the basic requirements.
The technology involves simply adding IP cameras to an existing data network that has a broadband Internet connection. Following are five technical considerations for a successful installation.

1. Bandwidth

A LAN with 100 Mbps or Gigabit Ethernet connections gets you into the game. Playing requires a fast Internet service and cameras with MPEG4 compression.

• Streaming video to a LAN file server or storage unit: A single camera feeding 30 frames per second (fps) of high-quality images at 640x480 pixels using the MJPEG codec for storage requires 11 Mbps of bandwidth. Five cameras doing the same require 53 Mbps.
• Within the LAN, the maximum bandwidth of a Fast Ethernet cable is 100 Mbps. An 802.11g wireless network offers up to 54 Mbps. A Gigabit Ethernet cable offers up to 1000 Mbps.
• Streaming video to the Internet for remote viewing: A single camera feeding 30 fps of images at 320x240 pixels using the MPEG4 codec for viewing requires 1 Mbps of bandwidth. Streaming these images to three different viewers simultaneously would require 3 Mbps.
• Outbound to the Internet, the maximum bandwidth of a typical broadband service ranges from 512 Kbps (DSL upstream) to 50 Mbps (cable Internet).

2. Router and Switch

You'll use an Internet router and a LAN switch or wireless access point to connect the cameras.

• At each port that will carry video streams, allot 40 percent or more of its bandwidth to a reserve (to ensure stable connections and good remote viewing quality).
• Quality of service (QoS) is required, to prioritize video traffic.
• VLANs are required, to create a segment exclusively for video traffic.
• VPNs and 802.1X access control can secure video traffic.
• Power over Ethernet (PoE) can eliminate the need for an electricity source near a camera.

3. Computer for Managing the System

• A Windows PC with at least 1 GB RAM and a dedicated video graphics card is required for the video management system (VMS) that controls the cameras, recording, and monitoring (review the VMS capabilities and requirements).

4. Viewing the Video

• The PC will allow you to monitor video streams from multiple cameras.
• To deter crime, also place display monitors prominently where people will see them.
• Remote viewing can be done through a web browser on a range of devices, including laptops and PCs, Wi-Fi phones, 3G smartphones, and desktop phones.

5. Video Storage

• You'll collect video feeds on disk drives. The capacity required depends on the images' codec, resolution, and retention period.
• Scheduled or event-triggered recording, such as motion detection, reduces the quantity of camera feeds and demand for bandwidth and disk storage. For example, recording all feeds for 24 hours from the single camera streaming high-quality MJPEG video would require 112 GB of storage space. If you limited the recording to motion-detected capture and that totaled 6 hours, it would require 28 GB of storage.
• On-disk data encryption provides security protection.
• Network-attached storage (NAS) lets you centralize the video feed storage with the same kind of efficient access and protection that other business data has.

Businesses invest in IP video surveillance technology to reduce expenses, improve productivity and customer service, and increase revenues.

When you begin budgeting for video surveillance, you'll find that prices for cameras start at just a few hundred dollars. In total, the cost for a small business to purchase and have an IP video surveillance system installed typically ranges from a few thousand to several thousand dollars.


Dennis Mancino is the CEO of HDview360, specializing in security and surveillance for your home , office, and multi unit businesses and condos.

source: http://www.cisco.com/cisco/web/solutions/small_business/resource_center/articles/secure_my_business/five_tips_before_add_video/index.html