It's becoming harder to believe that VCRs were once the only option for CCTV recording and storage. Digital video recorders (DVRs) revolutionized the industry by putting the process into the digital domain, addressing several issues with respect to reliability, storage capacity, connectivity and
Just in case you have forgotten, VCRs are electromechanical. Consequently, they suffer from the issues that plague all things with wheels, belts and gears. Additionally storage capacity in a VCR is limited by the size of the videocassette and recording speeds. In the lexicon of VCRs and videocassettes, the term connectivity amounted to duplicating cassettes and physically conveying them to other VCRs.
Fast Foward to Third Generation
Network video recorders (NVRs) using IP network video are the third generation—the next step in this evolution of more cost-effective and space-efficient solutions for viewing and storing video. IP-based digital encoders put video onto the network for storage processing and viewing.
The nature of these new techniques permits total or incremental transition from analog to digital technology.
As video moves into the networked world, it permits the use of other IT technologies such as network-attached storage and storage area networks. Rather than individual hard drives, larger systems are using dedicated high-density storage servers which can share their video with anyone anywhere on the network.
Reliability is another benefit of Internet technology. For example IP can automatically redirect video traffic to a backup storage system in the event of a power failure or network outage. Storage devices can be configured into fault tolerant arrays which backup data and enable hot swapping to ensure uninterrupted service.
The convergence of voice, video, and data traffic over a shared network introduces heightened concern over ensuring efficient, reliable application performance, particularly latency-sensitive traffic like Video-over-IP.
Video-over-IP uses an invariable amount of bandwidth but it is highly susceptible to interference from other applications.
Bandwidth is the speed limit which video data must overcome as it travels over networks. Bandwidth issues are somewhat within the LAN, but not as much when the data must ravel over the Internet. When a Video-over-IP system is being contemplated within an enterprise, the network's resources (capacity to support data traffic) becomes a primary concern the same way the hardwired cable sizes, lengths and locations would be addressed in a conventional CCTV infrastructure.
QoS is a term which refers to Quality of Service, an area of network performance and management which network designers and administrators to determine the bottlenecks and loads on their network and employ measures to control it. With video, measurement can be determined by a number of methods, most notably by “user perceived performance.”
Bandwidth throttling is a bandwidth management tool used by cutting-edge manufacturers to self-regulate their equipment's throughput so as to provide the highest level of “user perceived performance.” Other technologies are coming online which place specialized routers at points along the network to monitor the OSI Layer 7 and interactively respond in real-time to latencies which could also adversely affect system performance (video quality).
IP technology offers improved flexibility for enlarging a CCTV system. System scalability includes the ability to add cameras, add storage space and distribute it across the network...Another dramatic change is that Video-over-IP networks are able to support multiple viewers. In the same way that an e-mail server can send the same data to multiple people at the same time, the network switch has the ability to clone the video and use the same data multiple times.
While this month's column brings 2006 to an end, it opens the door to 2007 and the new horizons to be viewed and explored in the New Age of Video-over-IP.
Recording at the Edge
Bosch's second generation of Video over IP includes its iSCSI RAID storage. Direct-to-iSCSI RAID is unique to Bosch Security Systems. iSCSI RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks) combines the storage and communications worlds – SCSI storage (which uses the SCSI protocol) and the IP network (which uses the TCP/IP protocol). iSCSI is simply SCSI over IP.
The new iSCSI RAID devices can be used to add storage to a system by plugging them directly into the network. There is no NVR (Network Video Recorder) server, NVR software, or Microsoft OS to manage – and there are no patches or virus updates. The video goes directly from the IP camera or encoder to the hard disks.
One of the main benefits of Bosch's unique iSCSI RAID solution is recording at the edge, which allows users to attach the iSCSI unit directly to the VIPX1600. This means that up to 6 TB of audio and video can be recorded on a RAID 5 disk array without a single byte of data ever touching the network.
Intelligent Analysis
The Arteco SPY-SYSTEM is the enterprise-level 16-channel intelligent analysis, hardware component of the Arteco Proactive Surveillance Intelligent Video Solution (IVS). Arteco IVS surveillance alerts and displays in real time.
Intelligent analysis detects events such as abandoned/removed objects direction/speed, and the number of people entering and leaving a location.
The SPY-LOGIC remote software allows complete access and control of an unlimited number of Arteco IVS hardware components. The advanced filtering of SPY-LOGIC allows for the remote set-up and maintenance of every intelligent application of the Arteco IVS
A number of SPY-SYSTEMs may be integrated and controlled through dedicated SPY-LOGIC software. All system functions can be controlled on multiple SPY-SYSTEMs locally by connecting a monitor, keyboard and mouse; or remotely with the aid of SPY-LOGIC software installed on a PC. For more information, visit www.ArtecoUS.com.
Take this Drive and Store It
Store-It Drive Hi-Speed USB portable hard drives store thousands of digital photos, data files, mp3 files, hours of digital video and more…all in your pocket. Connect to any USB-enabled desktop or notebook computer and instantly add gigabytes of ultra-portable, pocket-sized storage. Backup an entire computer with the push of a button using the EZ-Touch One Button Backup System. View reports, customize and manage backups, encrypt and password protect your data and more.
Store-It drives come with Retrospect backup software and have a Hitachi Travelstar hard drive inside.
Like your video to go? Store-It Drive portable solutions are pocket sized and USB bus powered. The Ultra-thin, extremely durable aluminum design makes these drives portable and robust, allowing you to take it wherever you go.
Take your favorite TV shows, Movies, and more with you wherever you go. With a Hi-Speed USB 2.0 interface, Store-It Drive 's support transfer speeds of up to 60MB per second allowing for playback of DVD quality video directly from the drive. Transfer files between computers in a flash with write speeds of up to 25MB per second. Drag and drop, copy and paste, or use it as working storage for your video projects.
Protecting Data Where it Lives
Seagate DriveTrust delivers a simple, cost-effective way to deploy the highest levels of security for computing systems, computer electronics and mobile devices by protecting data where it lives on the hard disc drive. The platform of the Seagate DriveTrust technology combines strong, fully automated hardware-based security with a programming foundation that makes it easy to add security-based software applications for organization-wide encryption key management, multi-factor user authentication and other capabilities that help lock down digital information at rest. The Seagate security platform automatically protects all drive data, not just selected partitions or files, at all times; and its security functions operate independently of the hard drive, preserving the hard drive's full performance.
DriveTrust, secure hard drives are as easy to install and operate as standard drives. The DriveTrust software developer kit (SDK) includes the documentation and tools necessary to build DriveTrust technology-enabled applications such as access controls needed to manage encryption keys, passwords and other forms of authentication for large deployments.
Seagate currently offers a hard disc drive family featuring DriveTrust Technology, the DB35 Series for digital video recorders (DVRs) and other digital entertainment devices. In the first quarter of calendar 2007, Seagate plans to introduce Momentus 5400 FDE.2 for notebook computers,
The Metro Grid
ClearMesh Networks' new wireless optical mesh solution is capable of aggregating hundreds of video streams across a reliable mesh topology – spanning a campus, business park or metropolitan area- for almost no cost at all. IT applications, including internet access, primarily generate only ‘downstream' traffic on the network. Surveillance video traffic, on the other hand, is purely an ‘upstream' application, terminating the video streams at a central security facility. Hence, in most cases one of these applications ‘rides for free' on the mesh. The ClearMesh 300 nodes integrate wireless optical transmission with mesh networking capability based on open LAN switching standards.
The ClearMesh Metro Grid can consist of hundreds of CM 300 nodes, and is managed from a central NOC location with the carrier-class ClearMesh Management System (CMS). The CMS provides scalable element management support for large deployments, as well as mesh oriented end-to-end monitoring, diagnostics and configuration capabilities – making the “over-the-air” operation of the entire Metro Grid easy. The ClearMesh Metro Grid solution integrates standards-based LAN switching technology with wireless optical transmission capable of distributing gigabits of business-grade LAN service capacity across metropolitan areas.
DVR with Immense Storage
The DX8100 digital video recorder is an innovative, easy-to-operate unit that delivers high-quality images. It offers an immense storage capacity and a competitive price. The DX8100 is completely interoperable with the existing DX8000 and also features a new optional 16-channel expansion module for enhanced flexibility–making it cost-effective to add cameras as security needs grow. It comes with a number of added features that improve network capabilities such as a Gigabit Ethernet port and improved bandwidth throttling capabilities. It continues to provide server-to-server capabilities, permitting multiple connection options, multi-event recording and online help and support.
