IT Departments Buyers Guide to Video eBook

8/9/2019 IT Departments Buyers Guide to Video eBook

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Buyers Guide

MIDLANTICMARKETING, LLC

IT DEPARTMENTSThe

V I D E O S U R V E I L L A N C E


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Situation

We get it.You were asked to investigate a new-to-you technology, in this case video

surveillance or maybe an access control system, and report back with a

solution.

Today more and more projects are being shifted to the IT team that

historically were not the responsibility of IT. Specifically, we see video

surveillance system design and implementation migrating from the

responsibility of the security to the IT. Why?

Video surveillance technology is evolving faster than security professionals

can keep up. Plus, IP video is going to be running on your network or a new,

dedicated network that you create specifically for the new IP video system.

Lets not forget that you are, and will remain, the trusted technology advisor

to the school board, CEO, etc. Understanding the network infrastructure

required to deploy an IP video system takes training and understanding

of networking, firewalls, data storage, database management, bandwidth

restrictions, jumbo packets, V-LAN, WAN, etc.

So here is the information you need to get started down the right path for

your organization.

2 VIDEO SURVEILLANCE BUYERS GUIDE


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Needs Assessment

You are a logical thinker.

The decision to embark on a video surveillance or access control project can

be motivated by many different people and unique situations. Sometimes

there is a logical rationale and sometimes it is based on emotion or recent

events. In the end there needs to be a security needs assessment of

your facility based on building use, existing cameras, asset value, human

occupancy, soft/hard target, specific government requirement, etc.

A complete and thorough understanding your infrastructure and support

requirements is mandatory. You know these guidelines and capabilities asthe topic expert within your organization. Bandwidth requirements, network

topology, streaming video, up-time, storage, and network accessibility on/off

campus are all considerations. We also consider the use of existing cameras

so that we can maximize your budget.

Analog cameras from an existing legacy video system can often be re-

purposed by implementing IP encoders which can take the analog camera

feed and convert it to an IP stream. This can save a significant amount of

money in an upgrade situation. Next, overlay the recommended IP videoproposal on top of your infrastructure backbone and evaluate the feasibility of

implementation. If there is a mismatch of infrastructure and best practice, look

for a more appropriate solution before deployment. Appliances (cameras) and

storage (network video recorders) come in a variety of packages with many

capabilities.

VIDEO SURVEILLANCE BUYERS GUIDE 3


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Generally speaking, systems with a fairly low camera count can usually berecorded on a single storage and video management system (VMS) combined

appliance, known as an all-in-one appliance.

The number of cameras that a single appliance can record is dependent on

many factors. Limitations include software licensing, total camera bit rate, and

additional factors. Therefore, stating a specific number of cameras where the

shift occurs from one appliance to many is not possible unless all factors are

considered in the planning process.

Using an all-in-one appliance has its pros and cons. As the size or complexityof the system increases so changes the proposed hardware and software

solution. For example, an all-in-one appliance comes from the manufacturer

with the VMS, storage, and a few other services already installed. This makes

a smaller, less complex system easy to deploy and have operational quickly.

Conversely, systems with a greater camera count will create bit rate and

licensing demands that a single, all-in-one appliance cannot support. The

reasons to pick the path toward a bigger system will revolve around licensing,

bandwidth limitations on the storage management component of the system,

number of remote connections desired, etc.

Needs Assessment C O N T I N U E D



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Fork in the RoadE X P A N D A B I L I T Y F O R T O M O R R O W

As you design the system based on your needs today you also need to takeinto consideration the likely hood of system expansion in the future. If a single

box appliance is large enough for today and no expansion is expected, then

that solution is reasonable. On the other hand, if the appliance selected is

only scalable to 32 cameras and an expansion is expected in the near future

then either a highly scalable appliance or an enterprise solution may need to

be considered.



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Single Manufactureror Several Brands

Manufacturers of security equipment come in many different sizes andwith varying specialties. There are benefits and risks to both. One-source

manufacturers, such as Bosch Security Systems, tout the ability to provide you

with an entire system from camera to storage. The one-source concept allows

for a single source for technical support, purchasing, shipping, etc. Using

one manufacturer for one part of the system and a second manufacturer for

another part of the system can also provide benefits. Each manufacturer has

its strengths. Selecting the premier camera and the premier software can be

of great benefit.

So whats the catch?



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3rd Party Compatibility

IP video systems are generally proprietary in nature. Every manufacturerdeploys the industry standard H.264 recording or imaging compression

technologies to move images from the camera to the storage and then back

out to the end user who desires to see images on their device. The most

integrated manufacturer partners have software engineers who work together

to write deep integration between the components. In the security industry

this is called a SDK level integration. Other terms used to describe these

tools are API, RCP+, etc. ONVIF is another integration option.

ONVIF is an open platform technology standard that has been established

industry-wide. It allows various manufacturers to build cameras, storage, and

video management systems based upon the ONVIF standard with the desired

result being simplified, widespread compatibility.

Whats the catch?

ONVIF is a toolbox of technology standards that can be deployed by a

manufacturer in their own way. This, in some cases, causes the integration to

be less than simple. The take home point is that this is another point in the

process where good advice is critical.



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CameraFunctionality Basics

Yes, a camera is a simple network appliance. It is inherently no differentthan adding a VoIP telephone to a network, yet you may suffer great

consequences if you pick the wrong camera for your application. There are

a litany of different camera manufacturers and camera technologies. All of

these technologies either impact your network or the quality of the image

or both. The ability of a camera to create a usable image in difficult lighting

conditions is a true technology challenge, whereas the ability of a camera to

create an image in a well-lit hallway with no windows is simple. On the other

hand, if you standardize on a high performance camera for simple scenes

then you are paying more than you need to for a camera. Likewise, if youdeploy a basic camera in a difficult environment you will likely not capture

critical images when required. Examples of challenging environments include:

w Areas with little or no visible light such as data closets

or stairwells,

w High glare areas such as entry foyers with glossy floors

and windows, and

w Doors in dark areas. For instance, you might desire to have a camera

in a dark stairwell with an emergency exit. You will have a very brightdoorway opening when a person enters or exits which causes a

silhouette of a person standing in that doorway if you dont have a

high dynamic range (HDR) camera in place.



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Camera HardwareForm Factor

Todays IP cameras come in many form factors with a few functionalitydifferences.

Fixed cameras come in a box style as you might see

in a bank at the teller line or in a highway toll lane.

Most popular is a fixed camera in a mini dome.

This form factor is preferred as it is harder to

know where exactly the camera is looking, is more

aesthetically pleasing, and is more difficult to damage

or destroy.

Cameras that can be moved up and down, left and right,

and zoomed in and out are referred to as Pan Tilt Zoom

(PTZ) cameras. PTZ cameras generally have a much higher

bit rate when in motion than when sitting idle. Mount

types for these cameras can vary. They are generally mounted on a wall, flush

mounted in a ceiling, corner mounted, or parapet/roof mounted.

Powering the camera may be different between a fixed and PTZ camera. Most

fixed indoor cameras draw approximately five watts which falls well within the802.3af standard for Power over Ethernet.

Outdoor fixed cameras can draw up to 50 watts, so sometimes these can be

PoE (802.3af), PoE+ (802.3at) and sometimes they cant be powered with PoE

depending on the form factor and camera housing system requirements. PTZ

cameras draw approximately 50 watts. These are powered with a separate

power supply or a specific inline power injector to provide very high PoE.



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Data Streaming

There are many things that effect the data stream(s) coming out of a camera.Yes, you will likely have multiple streams coming from a single camera. You

must consider the total number of requests for information from the camera.

One request is always storage. Additional requests come from end users who

click on a camera to view it on their device. Are you within unicast limitations

or must you consider a multicast capable network environment?



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Bandwidth Management

You have to consider the contents of the scene within the camerasfield of view.

Are there diagonal linesor busy patternswithin the scene?

These types of image content create a higher

than normal bit rate. A carpet pattern on a casino floor or the fence at a

prison cause higher bitrates than scenes with a simple floor covering ormonotone walls.

Once the image is captured in the camera a processor then evaluates the

image frame by frame for content change. Content change historically was

called motion. For example, a person entering a scene and walking down a

hallway would be motion. This is the type of activity that security professionals

need to capture and evaluate when investigating criminal or dangerous

activities. Unnecessary data caused by busy stationary scene content can be

ignored by high performance IP cameras utilizing technology bundles suchas Content Based Imaging Technology, thus saving valuable bandwidth and

minimizing storage cost.



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If the IP camera doesnt have the capability to reduce bandwidth, then therewill be a realization of higher storage cost. Aside from the content of the

scene there are other factors to consider when calculating bandwidth and

storage requirements.

Frame rate is critical.

60 images per second (ips) is the current maximum frame rate used in the

security industry. Generally speaking 60ips is reserved for high speed imaging.

An example might be the high speed roulette wheel in a casino. 30ips is

generally used to catch sleight of hand activity. Sleight of hand is generallyconsidered important in a casino, money handling areas, process observation,

etc. Most common frame rates range from 3-15ips. In the 3-15ips range most

users include education, healthcare, retail, and other common applications.

Once we have these details we need to factor in the desire retention time.

Most common today is 30 days of retention time.

Bandwidth Management C O N T I N U E D



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A fixed 4CIF camera set to 30ips will create a bit rate of approximately1Mbps. 720p will be approximately 2Mbps. 1080p will be approximately

4Mbps. Megapixel can run in excess of 20Mbps.

These bit rates are estimates and for reference only. The fact is that H.264

compression provides great data compression but is variable and relatively

unpredictable from one scene to another. There will only be one time that

you will know the bit rate for the scene and that is when the camera is actually

installed.

Some projects will involve bit rate sampling which is a process where youdeploy a camera in several common locations at a facility and capture sample

bit rates. The math can quickly catch up to and exceed the budget. In many

cases there will be a maximum bit rate associated with a storage calculation

so that reasonable expectations can be set. Consequently the decision

to deploy the highest resolution cameras is usually modified to provide

the proper resolution, frame rate, and viewing angle in the appropriate

environment to meet the expectations of the end user and the demands of

the scene. In many cases deploying several 4CIF or HD resolution cameras

with the properly selected mounting location will help to reduce the overallbit rate and storage requirement while providing optimal fields of view with a

better image than having one wide angle megapixel camera without optimal

viewing angles. Current camera technology can make a sharp, detailed

image; much like a person having better than 20/20 vision.

High Resolution C O N T I N U E D



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Video Analytics

Smart surveillance camera systems have been available for years. Historicallythe video analysis was performed by a high performance server in the data

closet which was licensed to perform the analysis on one or more cameras.

This was expensive, hardware intensive, and increased network traffic.

Modern camera systems provide the analytics inside the camera rather than

at a server. This means that a system can be deployed with the smarts only

where they need to be, camera by camera. The behavior rules that can be

programmed into a camera include detection of loitering, object removed

from a scene, line crossing in a specific direction, trajectory, birds eye viewpeople counting, etc. These are rules which can be applied to live video which

can cause alarm activity to alert your staff to specific areas where certain

behavior policies are being broken. These rules can also be applied after the

fact to recorded video.

Metadata from the video analytics enabled camera is stored along with the

scene images such that behavior rules can be applied after an event has

occurred.



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For example, the principal of the school may come to you and ask how manytimes a car parked illegally in the bus lane over the last 30 days. You can

create a behavior rule that outlines the bus lane and apply the rule against

recorded video from the past month which will provide you with a hit list of

events that meet the criteria that you created.

This is especially useful to investigators who are looking for patterns or

specific behaviors in a scene. When deploying analytics it is also important to

consider camera placement as these systems are most often two dimensional.

Two dimensional analytics do not have the ability to account for depth. For

example, if you use a 2-D analytics system to monitor a fence-line you are

best off to deploy the camera looking down the fence. This allows for a clear

line crossing scenario where depth of field is irrelevant. In many cases, a 3-D,

or geospatial, consideration must be applied that takes into account depth

of field. Cameras with the ability to apply the third dimension to the analytics

will provide fewer nuisance alarms than a 2-D system in most cases but that

degree of specificity comes with a higher purchase price.

Video Analytics C O N T I N U E D



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Storage Options

Storage of video data is unique. The data stream is significant in size. It isalso usually a continual stream which will place the highest of demands on

the hard drives, controller card, etc. Additionally, high performance systems

utilize iSCSI storage which has a variety of implications.

iSCSI is a standard technology but implementation may not be. Some

manufacturers create an iSCSI session between many cameras to one server

per x number of cameras, which can be referred to as a Network Video

Recorder (NVR) which has the iSCSI initiation to the storage pool, connects to

direct attached storage, or perhaps network attached storage (NAS).

Other systems create an iSCSI connection between each individual camera

and the iSCSI storage. Consideration must be given for the number of

simultaneous iSCSI connections that the storage is capable of handling and

weigh that against the other storage solution options available with NVR,

NAS, SAN, etc. This can be a significant oversight and cost extra money if not

accounted for during the needs assessment and design phase of your project.

A common storage calculation will take into account the following items:

[max Mbps per camera]x [# cameras]

x [# days]

x [% storage overhead]

= gross storage required



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Unicast orMulticast Network

In a unicast IP video environment there are a limited number of simultaneousconnections available for a single camera stream. This available connection

count varies from manufacturer to manufacturer. Each request beyond the

storage stream will multiply the bit rate. So for example, if you have a camera

producing a bit rate of 2Mbps and no one is watching the camera it will

be pushing a 2Mbps stream across the network. If at some point two users

decide to view that camera at the same time, the total bit rate coming from

this specific camera will increase to 6Mbps. Each request in this example

adds an additional 2Mbps to the network load. If you have users looking

at multiple cameras you can see how this will add a measurable amount ofbandwidth demand on the network. One connection must be allocated to

storage which leaves you with only a handful additional stream connections

available depending on the manufacturer of the camera. If you will have

situations where more than a few people will need to see the same camera

stream at the same time, then you need to consider deploying a multicast

capable network if it is not in place already. In a multicast environment the

number of connections to any single camera is increased but is not unlimited.

One video stream is now provided to the network by the camera and then

is made available more widely by the network switches while minimizingbandwidth impact.



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End User System Access

Your camera system users have the option to view live and playback video onthe local area network or across the internet or a wide area network should

you decide to allow such remote connectivity. A user can access a camera

system on a Windows based laptop or desktop, but not usually or easily on

an Apple OS. Most video systems utilize ActiveX and other Windows-friendly

technologies that are not all compatible with Apple OS. A user may also

desire to have access to your system on an iPhone or an iPad. You may also

be asked to consider providing law enforcement with access to your system

during emergencies.



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Hardware Installation

There are a few different ways to handle installation and ongoingmaintenance. Traditional security integrators are highly capable of installing

your cameras with the ability to hide cabling in even historic buildings. These

specialty integrators have years of experience installing camera systems in

ways that meet the needs of your security team and administrative leadership.

Considerations include camera height, range to desired target, environmental

conditions, use of lifts to reach high camera mounting locations, etc. A

security integrator is a great resource for a professional camera installation.



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Software Installation

Many security integrators have also migrated to become IT service providersas well. This transition is not made lightly. Security and IT professionals

must be properly trained, certified, and experienced in the

installation of a VMS. Manufacturer training is usually several

days long. This, in and of itself, is not enough training to

successfully install the software and bring the system

to full functionality. The installer must thoroughly

understand your network environment and how to

properly apply the VMS without causing significant

problems. The VMS will need to be deployed ondedicated servers or on your virtualization platform. The

amount of the project that you want to contract versus the amount that you

want to take on in-house will vary from IT department to IT department.



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Network Installation

After learning more about IP video system options, you now have anotherdecision to make. Will this IP video system be placed on your existing

network or will you deploy a network specifically dedicated to security? You

may decide to handle the entire network environment in-house, with your

existing network contractor, or you may also elect to have your security

integrator deploy a dedicated network for you. Many factors go into this

critical decision. Is dark fiber available? Is spare copper in place? Are there

corporate or government policies in place that mandate the course of action

to be taken?



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Maintenance

Most systems will require periodic, usually quarterly, maintenance. This startswith making sure that your software maintenance agreement (SMA) is up to

date. Some systems require a SMA and others do not. This consideration is

taken into account in the needs assessment and design phase.

A video management system SMA commonly allows for system software

patches and software upgrades as part of the agreement. The SMA covers

the software, however there is a good deal of hardware in your system now.

Cameras will need to have firmware updates that match the current or new

VMS version.

There will also need to be camera lens cleaning and mechanical checks.

When cameras are not functioning properly there will need to be a plan in

place to remove and repair the cameras. This is another example of where

your professional security integrator will be a great resource. The security

integrator will have a long standing relationship with the camera manufacturer

representative and will streamline the process of removing, repairing, and

replacing cameras during normal maintenance visits.



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The Next Phase

We are here for the long haul, beside you for the entire process from dayone through year 10. Midlantic Marketing and Chesapeake Marketing will

remain your trusted security advisor. Our team of professionals will bridge the

gap between your IT requirements and the operational expectations of the

security system.

We will help you prepare for the each phase of your security project whether

that is a multi-camera expansion, storage upgrade, or even the addition of an

access control system or intrusion detection system to your facility. In many

cases end users desire to have these various systems integrated. An example

of this could be a situation where your company desires to have a video

window appear automatically on a computer screen every time that an access

control credential is denied. The integration of two different systems can be

complex and technical. Undoubtedly you will be asked to lead this integration

and we will be there to help you.

We know what you are up against. We have helped other IT professionals

with great success. Now you have a partner that understands your challenges.

Contact us today at

www.MidChes.comto get started.

MIDLANTIC


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