From the Dark Ages to Digital

By Paul Bodell

Once upon a time, long ago, there lived an information technology (IT) manager and a security manager. They both lived in the same castle, but for as little as they worked together, they may have well lived in separate worlds. The IT manager would not consider adding video to his network because it took up too much bandwidth.  So the security manager went about his business, plugging in coaxial cables and manually adjusting cameras the way he always had.

As time went by, the IT manager began to receive praise from the king as the network continued to improve. Networking technology was growing much more rapidly than security technology and the IT manager took advantage of that. All the people enjoyed high-speed connections, making him the most popular manager in the court. In fact, the king decreed one day that because the IT manager had done such a good job, he was going to allow him to install gigabit Ethernet throughout the castle — and the IT department rejoiced.

In an attempt to regain the favor of the court, the security manager announced that he was going digital, which pleased the king. However, he was not truly going digital, but was merely installing proprietary digital video recorders (DVRs) that were still mostly analog. Soon his secret was discovered, for when they needed to add a camera, it required many servants to pull the coaxial cable; and they had to buy yet another 16-channel box. When the king wanted to view his subjects from a different room, they had to purchase additional analog monitors and pull more coaxial cable. As the king’s coffers were depleted, the security manager fell further out of favor with the court.

One evening Sir IT Manager was sitting at the pub with his team, happily chatting about the new gigabit backbone they had installed and how they no longer had the problems of the past. As the drinks flowed, they thought up more creative things to do with the bandwidth available. Eventually they began to discuss using the network for video.

The security manager, who was sitting nearby, overheard the conversation and joined in. Initially the security manager tried to defend the traditional closed-circuit television (CCTV) system but after much quarreling, they all arrived at the same conclusion: A CCTV system is merely a private video network constructed with coaxial cables and proprietary protocols and hardware. Eventually, they all agreed to work together and make a truly digital network that would benefit the entire kingdom.

By morning, they had sketched out an all-digital, video-network node that offered higher performance and was less expensive than the traditional CCTV system. They replaced the powerhungry mechanical cameras with digital network cameras that had no moving parts. They used inexpensive CAT5 cable instead of bulky coaxial cable. They even powered their cameras over the Ethernet instead of running separate power cables.

They used the existing standard protocol digital network switches rather than installing new CCTV switches that only worked well with that manufacturers’ equipment. For video storage, they implemented commercial, off-the-shelf disk arrays that didn’t require a service call to expand or upgrade.

They embarked on a quest for software that could manage all the cameras and storage devices. In a nearby hamlet, they found wizards with names like Visual Security, Technivision USA, JDS and Milestone that offered such magical capabilities through network video recorder (NVR) software that could be loaded onto PCs and manage multiple cameras, storage and even 360-degree video.

They installed the software, plugged the network cameras into the RJ45 sockets and, in minutes, they had the digital video system up and running. They added wireless megapixel cameras on the parapets, moats and drawbridge where it was impossible to pull coaxial cable. By the end of the day, they had the entire castle covered with cameras that could be viewed from any PC.

They went to the king to tell them what they had done. They explained the flexible, higher-resolution video system installed was infinitely more expandable. It allowed an unlimited number of people to view an unlimited number of cameras. If they needed to add another camera, the infrastructure was already in place, so they didn’t have to buy another 16-channel box. The king could now view his subjects from anywhere in the castle. The king was so impressed, he held a great feast with the gold he had saved by going to a totally digital network video solution. And the entire kingdom lived happily ever after.

~The End~

Paul Bodell is vice president of business development for IQinVision. He can be reached at (717) 572-4307 or paulb@iqeye.com .