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Hard Knock lessons from a veteran of CCTV systems big and small
When you're looking at coming up with an IP camera system normal rules for cabling the cameras and recording the cameras go out the window. Below I have listed 3 design characteristics that have changed from normal coaxial-based camera systems to IP based camera systems.
Rule 1 : Infrastructure Design
a couple of years back I was presented with a large camera system that needed over 90 cameras in a building that was over 750,000 square ft. The challenge, using traditional camera design, was wiring each camera back to a central location where the command console was found. In some instances, camera locations were over 1,500ft from the command center. Since coaxial wires limitation for RG59 and RG6 wire are between eight hundred and 1000ft, solving the distance limitation problem was vital. Using the methods available to me at the time, I had a choice between fiber optic wire or UTP ( unshielded twisted pair ) wire. Although fiber optics often will produce a more clear picture with less distortion, it was cost prohibitive for the project. I selected UTP cable and with an active receiver at the command console and passive transmitter at the camera. This provided for cable runs of at least 3000ft. UTP wire is simply CAT3 or CAT5 cable ( frequently known as Ethernet wire ), which is used for telephone and data networks. One of the 4 pairs of wires sends video down the cable. The twisting of the cable provides its unique benefits. This gives the cable its name of unshielded twisted pair. At the time, now more than 4 years ago, this was the best solution for the application because it met the criteria for broadcasting the video and met the customer's budget.
IP Video changes everything.
Using IP cameras presents a new set of rules for transmitting video. Where before we were able to transmit a video signal up to 1000ft using coaxial wire we are now restricted to only 300ft or a hundred meters. Initially, this will appear to be a downside. To anyone that's familiar with coming up with a computer network it is apparent that this layout is really a benefit. Imagine the application below: You have 5 cameras you would like installed. They are all found along a back wall of the building looking out to the shipping and receiving area. The recorder is located at the front of the building in an IT closet. Under traditional video design, all five cameras would have a coaxial wire installed from the camera to the recorder. In this example, let's imagine the distance is a mean of 500ft from the recorder to a camera. Five cameras at 500ft each would force 2,500ft of coaxial cable. Using a network solution the following cabling would be needed. A single wire, sometimes fiber, would be pulled from the front of the building to the back. At every end of the fiber, there would be a termination point. The termination point at the front of the building would be considered the Main Distribution Frame or MDF. The point at the back of the building would be the Intermediate Distribution Frame or IDF. An IDF is defined as a location between the MDF and the end device, in this example the camera. All of the cameras would be cabled to the IDF location. For our example, we'll say it's an average of 100ft from each camera to the IDF. We would need 500ft of network cable. Conclusion is that instead of pulling 2500ft of coaxial cable you are installing 500ft of CAT5e wire and 500ft of fiber.
The large Bonus behind IP Video
The chief benefit behind a network solution is scalability, leading to serious long, and short term cost savings. When you have 5 locations all with 5 cameras and all 500ft from the recorder, the costs add up quickly with conventional systems. In this scenario the cost savings can actually begin to add up. Going back to our example for a minute, shall we say you need to add a new camera to view the interior shipping door. The infrastructure is already prepared. Now all that's's required is pulling a single CAT5e cable from the new camera location to the IDF. Maybe this is only 50ft away. Using the old design, you would need to tug another 500ft of coaxial cable back to the recorder. This adds up to a wire savings and a big work cost reduction.
Rule 2 : PoE - The'Power' of a Single Cable
PoE or Power over Ethernet is just the transmission of power together with data over the standard Ethernet wire. In a Power over Ethernet system, a PoE network switch provides up to 15Watts of power to the end device. This could be a telephone, camera or any other device that sits on a network and requires less than 15 watts of power. When coming up with an IP camera system you must look for cameras that use this technology. There are 2 basic benefits when using PoE for your system layout.
Benefit 1 : only 1 cable is necessary to each camera for both power and video transmission. As opposed to a traditional camera system that uses a Siamese wire for both video and power. A Siamese cable has a coaxial RG59 cable and typically a 18 gauge two conductor wire molded together to form a single wire. This gives the appearance and simplicity of pulling a single cable to each camera. The drawbacks to Siamese cable compared to CAT5 cable is it is seriously more expressive. Siamese wires contain more copper, which is a pricey commodity in today's market. Siamese wire is also tougher and burdensome to install.
Benefit 2 : No additional power supply is necessary for powering the cameras and it only requires a single termination at the camera and switch location. These 2 extra features lead to the same benefits : savings and a more flexible and scalable system solution. Scalability and space requirements are becoming an increasing concern for many IT departments. When adding a network camera system the potential rack space required for the present as well as future can be extremely crucial when designing a system. Using PoE can save space and reduce heavy, inflexible bundles of wires.
Rule three : Centralized or Edge Recording
There is no right or wrong when it comes to using edge recording or centralized recording. Most of your call will rely upon your own application and existing network infrastructure. A cross-breed of the two styles might be the best solution but this could add additional cost and limit your available camera options. In a meeting with a college district, I was questioned about which solution was better. I replied that I felt neither was a better solution ; both solutions have their benefits and it relies on the application. During my meeting I described the following advantages and disadvantages of each. Centralized Recording:
Imagine you have a company which has five buildings varying in size between ten thousand to fifty thousand square ft. All 5 of your buildings are found within a large economic park. Each building has a restricted number of fiber optic wires between them. Your company has a main server room found in the largest of the five buildings. The IT office manages the server room and there is limited prohibited access to that room. The leftover 4 buildings are accessible thru fiber from the server room.
For this example, centralized recording offers you the most cost-effective and scalable solution. Centralized recording works well here. There's a main server room and all of the buildings are connected through local-owned fiber. Using a single recording location is cost effective because all the recorded video is stored at a central location. A single server as opposed to five servers ( if using edge recording ) will record the video, leading to a big cost benefits. In each building, PoE network switches would connect to the cameras. The fiber optic cable would transmit the video back to the central server room for recording. This solution is also extremely scalable. Adding a camera to any location in the 5 buildings is as simple as connecting a camera to the nearest PoE switch. In this application, centralized recording fits best thanks to the environment and infrastructure available. A disadvantage of centralized recording is if a fiber is cut between any one of the buildings and the server, all of the cameras inside that building won't be recorded or be in a position to be viewed live. In this example, all of the video from these cameras will be lost.
Edge Recording:
In this example, you have a company office building and a producing plant. The two buildings are found about one mile aside from one another. You've a dedicated T1 connection between the 2 locations. The T1 is used to share information transmission between the 2 sites. Most of the installed cameras will be at the manufacturing plant so that corporate is able to monitor the plant remotely. The corporate office will have four to 6 cameras installed to view the main entrance and worker parking area.
For this example, edge recording offers the most cheap solution for your company. Limited connectivity between the 2 locations is the biggest obstacle. The standard IP camera requires about 2Mb per second available bandwidth. The 1st camera would consume all of the available bandwidth of a T1 connection making centralized recording most unlikely. Edge recording doesn't stop centralized viewing it only stops the recording of the camera centrally. For this example, you would use two network video recorders. You would scale each recorder to fit the amount of cameras they will be recording. From the customer side or remote connection, you'd be able to configure the system like it were a single connection. The sole difference would be the refresh speed of the remote cameras. In this example, edge recording provides the most inexpensive answer while still meeting the goals of your company. The downside, in this application, is the cost of having 2 servers and slower live display rates of the cameras.
The Rule Summary:
By reading this, I am hoping that you're able to see how IP video offers a very different design and new features that weren't possible or cost prohibitive with a standard coaxial cable system. There are countless other benefits when using IP video. The three noted above are only some of the benefits that IP video technology has provided to the safety industry.
When you're looking at coming up with an IP camera system normal rules for cabling the cameras and recording the cameras go out the window. Below I have listed 3 design characteristics that have changed from normal coaxial-based camera systems to IP based camera systems.
Rule 1 : Infrastructure Design
a couple of years back I was presented with a large camera system that needed over 90 cameras in a building that was over 750,000 square ft. The challenge, using traditional camera design, was wiring each camera back to a central location where the command console was found. In some instances, camera locations were over 1,500ft from the command center. Since coaxial wires limitation for RG59 and RG6 wire are between eight hundred and 1000ft, solving the distance limitation problem was vital. Using the methods available to me at the time, I had a choice between fiber optic wire or UTP ( unshielded twisted pair ) wire. Although fiber optics often will produce a more clear picture with less distortion, it was cost prohibitive for the project. I selected UTP cable and with an active receiver at the command console and passive transmitter at the camera. This provided for cable runs of at least 3000ft. UTP wire is simply CAT3 or CAT5 cable ( frequently known as Ethernet wire ), which is used for telephone and data networks. One of the 4 pairs of wires sends video down the cable. The twisting of the cable provides its unique benefits. This gives the cable its name of unshielded twisted pair. At the time, now more than 4 years ago, this was the best solution for the application because it met the criteria for broadcasting the video and met the customer's budget.
IP Video changes everything.
Using IP cameras presents a new set of rules for transmitting video. Where before we were able to transmit a video signal up to 1000ft using coaxial wire we are now restricted to only 300ft or a hundred meters. Initially, this will appear to be a downside. To anyone that's familiar with coming up with a computer network it is apparent that this layout is really a benefit. Imagine the application below: You have 5 cameras you would like installed. They are all found along a back wall of the building looking out to the shipping and receiving area. The recorder is located at the front of the building in an IT closet. Under traditional video design, all five cameras would have a coaxial wire installed from the camera to the recorder. In this example, let's imagine the distance is a mean of 500ft from the recorder to a camera. Five cameras at 500ft each would force 2,500ft of coaxial cable. Using a network solution the following cabling would be needed. A single wire, sometimes fiber, would be pulled from the front of the building to the back. At every end of the fiber, there would be a termination point. The termination point at the front of the building would be considered the Main Distribution Frame or MDF. The point at the back of the building would be the Intermediate Distribution Frame or IDF. An IDF is defined as a location between the MDF and the end device, in this example the camera. All of the cameras would be cabled to the IDF location. For our example, we'll say it's an average of 100ft from each camera to the IDF. We would need 500ft of network cable. Conclusion is that instead of pulling 2500ft of coaxial cable you are installing 500ft of CAT5e wire and 500ft of fiber.
The large Bonus behind IP Video
The chief benefit behind a network solution is scalability, leading to serious long, and short term cost savings. When you have 5 locations all with 5 cameras and all 500ft from the recorder, the costs add up quickly with conventional systems. In this scenario the cost savings can actually begin to add up. Going back to our example for a minute, shall we say you need to add a new camera to view the interior shipping door. The infrastructure is already prepared. Now all that's's required is pulling a single CAT5e cable from the new camera location to the IDF. Maybe this is only 50ft away. Using the old design, you would need to tug another 500ft of coaxial cable back to the recorder. This adds up to a wire savings and a big work cost reduction.
Rule 2 : PoE - The'Power' of a Single Cable
PoE or Power over Ethernet is just the transmission of power together with data over the standard Ethernet wire. In a Power over Ethernet system, a PoE network switch provides up to 15Watts of power to the end device. This could be a telephone, camera or any other device that sits on a network and requires less than 15 watts of power. When coming up with an IP camera system you must look for cameras that use this technology. There are 2 basic benefits when using PoE for your system layout.
Benefit 1 : only 1 cable is necessary to each camera for both power and video transmission. As opposed to a traditional camera system that uses a Siamese wire for both video and power. A Siamese cable has a coaxial RG59 cable and typically a 18 gauge two conductor wire molded together to form a single wire. This gives the appearance and simplicity of pulling a single cable to each camera. The drawbacks to Siamese cable compared to CAT5 cable is it is seriously more expressive. Siamese wires contain more copper, which is a pricey commodity in today's market. Siamese wire is also tougher and burdensome to install.
Benefit 2 : No additional power supply is necessary for powering the cameras and it only requires a single termination at the camera and switch location. These 2 extra features lead to the same benefits : savings and a more flexible and scalable system solution. Scalability and space requirements are becoming an increasing concern for many IT departments. When adding a network camera system the potential rack space required for the present as well as future can be extremely crucial when designing a system. Using PoE can save space and reduce heavy, inflexible bundles of wires.
Rule three : Centralized or Edge Recording
There is no right or wrong when it comes to using edge recording or centralized recording. Most of your call will rely upon your own application and existing network infrastructure. A cross-breed of the two styles might be the best solution but this could add additional cost and limit your available camera options. In a meeting with a college district, I was questioned about which solution was better. I replied that I felt neither was a better solution ; both solutions have their benefits and it relies on the application. During my meeting I described the following advantages and disadvantages of each. Centralized Recording:
Imagine you have a company which has five buildings varying in size between ten thousand to fifty thousand square ft. All 5 of your buildings are found within a large economic park. Each building has a restricted number of fiber optic wires between them. Your company has a main server room found in the largest of the five buildings. The IT office manages the server room and there is limited prohibited access to that room. The leftover 4 buildings are accessible thru fiber from the server room.
For this example, centralized recording offers you the most cost-effective and scalable solution. Centralized recording works well here. There's a main server room and all of the buildings are connected through local-owned fiber. Using a single recording location is cost effective because all the recorded video is stored at a central location. A single server as opposed to five servers ( if using edge recording ) will record the video, leading to a big cost benefits. In each building, PoE network switches would connect to the cameras. The fiber optic cable would transmit the video back to the central server room for recording. This solution is also extremely scalable. Adding a camera to any location in the 5 buildings is as simple as connecting a camera to the nearest PoE switch. In this application, centralized recording fits best thanks to the environment and infrastructure available. A disadvantage of centralized recording is if a fiber is cut between any one of the buildings and the server, all of the cameras inside that building won't be recorded or be in a position to be viewed live. In this example, all of the video from these cameras will be lost.
Edge Recording:
In this example, you have a company office building and a producing plant. The two buildings are found about one mile aside from one another. You've a dedicated T1 connection between the 2 locations. The T1 is used to share information transmission between the 2 sites. Most of the installed cameras will be at the manufacturing plant so that corporate is able to monitor the plant remotely. The corporate office will have four to 6 cameras installed to view the main entrance and worker parking area.
For this example, edge recording offers the most cheap solution for your company. Limited connectivity between the 2 locations is the biggest obstacle. The standard IP camera requires about 2Mb per second available bandwidth. The 1st camera would consume all of the available bandwidth of a T1 connection making centralized recording most unlikely. Edge recording doesn't stop centralized viewing it only stops the recording of the camera centrally. For this example, you would use two network video recorders. You would scale each recorder to fit the amount of cameras they will be recording. From the customer side or remote connection, you'd be able to configure the system like it were a single connection. The sole difference would be the refresh speed of the remote cameras. In this example, edge recording provides the most inexpensive answer while still meeting the goals of your company. The downside, in this application, is the cost of having 2 servers and slower live display rates of the cameras.
The Rule Summary:
By reading this, I am hoping that you're able to see how IP video offers a very different design and new features that weren't possible or cost prohibitive with a standard coaxial cable system. There are countless other benefits when using IP video. The three noted above are only some of the benefits that IP video technology has provided to the safety industry.
About the Author:
Modern day security can be very challenging. Before you invest in expensive security systems, go to Access Security, to get more information on IP camera security system and provides integrated security systems. Visit us today!
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