This is my first BLOG post on securityinfowatch.com and I am extremely excited about this opportunity. My first posted article "Understanding Wireless Bridges for IP Networks" was my "interview" and because enough of you thought it was interesting, I made the cut.
I would first like to thank you all before I get started. My goal here on "The Command Line" (TCL) will be to write about IP networking in general and as it relates to IP Video Surveillance. Hopefully you will find the information helpful in your new installs as the industry increasingly focuses on IP and starts phasing out Analog systems. I plan to start with the basics and work up from there. If you have a specific topic you would like discussed please feel free to comment, email, call, send a letter, hire a sky writer, etc., and I will do my best to work those posts into the mix (you might even get a shout out).
OK so a little about me. My name is Ronen Isaac and have been working on computers since I was born. My parents, Sarah & Ezie Isaac, started a computer company (Continental Computers) back in 1984 specializing in buying, selling and maintaining DEC systems. If you are not familiar with DEC it was, along with IBM, one of the first computer manufacturers and actually created the roots of networking as we know it today. As time went on it was purchased by Compaq (now HP).
My first job in life (I think I was 8 or 9-years-old), was taking out the trash at Continental. I then graduated to testing keyboards, printers, monitors, etc. My involvement in the family business tapered off a bit as I grew up, but returned when I enrolled at USC to get my degree in Mechanical Engineering. Although at first, I wanted to design cars, my love for networking and technology drew me back to work part time at Continental Computers. Along with the legacy DEC business, we began offering solutions with leading edge vendors such as Cisco Systems and Juniper networks. I was hooked! When I graduated with my mechanical engineering degree I dropped ME and got a job at a storage networking start up in Waltham, Mass. I moved out there for a brief period, learned quite a bit in a short time and met some really great people. When the company folded in the .com bust I moved back to Los Angeles and the family biz. I invested heavily into continuing my networking education to better serve our clients. With newly added team members we began creating complex network designs from the basic small business office to remote access VPNs to Internet Service Provider networks using protocols such as BGP and OSPF.
In the past several years we have hit the books hard on newer licensed and unlicensed wireless technologies and IP video surveillance. I obtianed my MWFE and MWSE Motorola wireless certifications and have worked on designing many point to point high speed backhauls, wireless mesh and point to multi-point systems (we do it on a daily basis and love every minute). IP video surveillance came when one of our wireless clients also needed a surveillance solution to monitor their stores. Well, we jumped in and got our Milestone certification and have since managed to consult and develop many IP video systems for local government, law enforcement and schools.
My goal is to pass the network experience that I have gathered in the past 29 years of being alive on to you in the hope that it will help some of you on your journey migrating to IP. As more and more services and applications move to IP my passion for those two little letters grows as well. I am very excited to share this passion with you and I look forward to your feedback as this blog develops.
- Ronen Isaac - Continental Computers & WLANmall.com
