Controlware Communications Systems

In this article Controlware's Country Manager Mark Harraway takes a look at the CCTV landscape and the way forward.

A year ago I wrote an article comparing the costs between a theoretical 750 IP camera CCTV system and a traditional DVR solution. It demonstrated that the IP solution was more cost effective and had a far better set of features. Over the last year we have seen many more systems being specified as IP, while technology advancements have also continued to move on. Therefore it seems timely to review some of the points raised in the first article and see how the latest technology improvements impact on IP CCTV systems and design.

In CCTV bigger is better:

In the last year we have seen an increasing number of systems being specified with Megapixel or HD CCTV cameras and a sharp increase in vendors releasing models to meet these needs.  It would seem that traditional CCTV has reached it’s technological limits with 4CIF / D1 resolution whereas a Megapixel or HD camera can offer around 4 times the image size thus allowing for greater image quality and the ability to digitally zoom in either a live or recorded image without any image pixilation. This can be a great aid when reviewing footage to see small details or identify suspects that might otherwise have been lost.

We have also seen advances in hard drive capacity with 2 Terabyte (TB) drives now being released for little more cost than their 1 TB counterparts.  This means that we can now supply 28 TB of useable storage in a 4U footprint and, by the use of RAID, still have no single point of failure ensuring that footage is not lost.  There is a fantastic TCO argument of reducing the power, footprint, air-con operational costs by the savings that this level of storage can offer, as well as the reduced costs from simply having to buy fewer boxes.

Power over Ethernet (PoE) also offers additional cost savings when looking at IP vs analogue. The release of Hi-PoE or PoE+ now means that even PTZ domes can now support video, telemetry, I/O, audio and power over a single cable therefore reducing installation costs and time.  Even standard PoE allows for standard fixed CCTV cameras to be quickly installed over either new or existing structured cabling without the need to run additional power cables. This can be a great help if you are looking to quickly install covert cameras.

The savings made by using PoE can also apply to Access Control, as there are a number of PoE enabled readers and controllers.  This also allows us to PoE power internal mag-locks to further reduce cost & installation times.  An IP-enabled access control system used in conjunction with IP CCTV brings further benefits to improve processes and operator experience by enabling functionality such as linking a PTZ to a main door entry to verify people trying to enter a site, linking to Time and Attendance systems or protecting lone workers through automated monitoring. 

Future technology improvements include the planned release of an IP-enabled intruder system combined with Active Directory from Microsoft to give enhanced functionality to security deployments. It will enable security policies for all the services, functions, processes and operations within a company can be assigned and managed from a single database with combined rules engines, therefore allowing security managers to effectively monitor, report and manage all of their required services and responsibilities.

Another cost-saving area is lighting. The release of LED illuminators from companies such as Ganz, have a longer operational life than traditional lights and also use less energy than traditional light sources.

It’s not just about the CCTV cameras:

Over the last year we have also seen a number of projects being deployed into virtual environments.  Virtualisation of servers and storage is a fast becoming the de-facto standard for large scale IP-based deployments due to the levels of redundancy and cost savings it can support.  As servers become increasingly powerful they can support more and more cameras but there remains a bottleneck in the system with writing the video to the discs for instance. 

To avoid wasting resources on the physical server you simply install virtualisation management software to manage the server resources (processors, memory, hard drives etc.) and then you can create multiple “virtual machines” on one physical one.  This then allows more storage to be attached to the unit, and to have built in redundancy of various elements of the system.  (Virtual Server 1 on Physical Server A is the failover server for Virtual Server 3 on Physical Server B while Virtual Server 4 on Physical Server B is the failover server for Virtual Server 2 on Physical Server A etc.).  This can be applied to all the storage attached to the servers, thus promoting multiple paths of redundancy for mission critical installations.

Also by promoting a smaller physical footprint further cost savings, in addition to green credentials, are added to the operational cost base through reduced power consumption and lower cooling costs.

Virtual servers have also been used to promote remote monitoring and recording.  We have deployed projects over the last year in which a single corporate LAN or WAN has a single large virtual environment at a HQ or data centre.  CCTV cameras are then installed at remote locations and can be monitored at a different site to both the camera installations and the data centre.  Interestingly some of these deployments aren’t even being used for security applications but rather for process control: watching water levels in rivers or sewers or to verify other applications such as alarms on constant motion devices or pumps.

We are also seeing more demand for integration with mobile devices. With improvements in connection speeds and the wider adoption of “smart” phones and PDA’s, we can now send video or stills either automatically or on demand to mobile and remote staff.  This aids improved response times when attempting to find or identify suspects but yet still meets legal or operational guidelines by not storing the video on the actual device.

All sounds good but…

On the one hand IP has so much to offer but only if it is deployed by knowledgeable people who understand how the various components of IP interact and what to look out for when specifying the relevant components: which ports to configure on a firewall to retain network security but allow remote video traffic, how many PoE ports will function on a PoE switch depending what device is plugged in to them, how far to run that DVI extender or to effectively calculate the storage and transmission profile to ensure no footage is lost. 

We are seeing an increase in IT / IP literate people in the industry but there is still a large knowledge gap on some elements of design and commissioning. Successful implementation of IP security needs a broad church of skills. Controlware for instance has Cisco CCNA certified engineers, Allied Telesis certified engineers, Microsoft MSCE / MCTS engineers as well as working closely with all the vendors we support so that we can support our partners 100% in designing and implementing IP systems for now and the future.  Skills like these will become more and more important as IP grows its market share and technology advances.

It’s security Jim, but not as we know it:

As we enter the final quarter of 2010 and start to prepare for 2011 I think it would be fair to say that if you are looking at a replacement, upgrade or new security system then IP has proven that it has come of age for the security market and can offer so much more than traditional security systems and should rightly be the technology of choice.

 

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