Protecting the learning environment - Security

Computer Technology Review, August, 2003 by Robert Ellis

As criminal threats and societal violence escalate, the need to protect our schools becomes more urgent than ever. Recently, a sad litany of school violence, child abuse, intrusion and burglary has joined the more familiar concerns of behavior problems, graffiti, vandalism and "duty of care" issues.

These concerns have made security a rising priority with school boards and administrations across the country. This new priority is clearly reflected in the growing allocations for security in school budgets.

In this emerging environment, IP surveillance plays a key role. IP surveillance enables remote monitoring at multiple sites--a crucial advantage over conventional, Closed Circuit TV. And IP surveillance can help police make prompt and appropriate judgments to resolve emergencies with minimum loss to persons and property.

To appreciate the enormous potential of IP Surveillance, compare it with the analog world of Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) and the "analog to digital" approach of connecting analog cameras to Digital Video Recorders (DVRs).

Analog CCTV depends on single-purpose cameras, cables, recorders and monitors. For example, the cameras output a video signal over dedicated coaxial cables. The cables connect to dedicated analog video equipment, including multiplexers, videotape recorders (VTRs) and video monitors. Analog CCTV involves a host of limitations:

Limited monitoring: Local monitoring only, limited by analog video cable runs and line amplifiers

Limited scalability: Systems are typically limited by the input capacity of the analog multiplexer

Labor-intensive recording: To maintain an archive, users must eject, shelve and replace videocassettes that are easily lost, stolen or accidentally rerecorded

Limited recorded picture quality: VHS recording can be a major limiting factor and the picture quality degrades with every generation of copying.

The Analog-to-Digital approach does offer access to surveillance images over the IP network; but it depends on DVRs for both recording and IP access. Sony has made DVRs since 1998 and understands their advantages--as well as the significant limitations that they impose on the Analog-to-Digital approach.

Complex cabling: The Analog-to-Digital approach still requires an individual video cable from each camera--a complicated arrangement.

Limited scalability: DVRs limit your growth to a typical maximum of 16 camera inputs at a time. An external server with management software may be required to control multiple DVRs or sites.

Limited remote monitoring/ control: You cannot access any camera from any client; you can only access cameras indirectly through the DVR.

Risk of hard disk crashes: The Analog-to-Digital approach exposes your surveillance recordings to loss, compared to the RAID redundancy and tape backup of IP Surveillance.

Compared to either of the two earlier approaches, full IP Surveillance is dramatically different. The system takes advantage of cameras with built-in Web servers and Ethernet ports. Instead of generating images as a continuous analog video signal, these cameras generate JPEG data files, which can be accessed, monitored, recorded and printed anywhere on the network by any authorized client. The benefits are enormous.

Simplicity: All cameras connect to the network via simple, cost-effective Ethernet or wireless Ethernet. This can leverage the LAN infrastructure you may already have. A single CAT-5 cable can accommodate both camera output files, pan/tilt/ zoom commands and in some cases DC power to the camera.

Powerful centralized control: One server with one software application can run the entire system.

Easy upgrade and full scalability: Adding additional cameras is easy; the central server is fully open to future upgrades with faster processors, larger disk drives and more.

Full remote monitoring: Any authorized client can have direct access to any camera. You can also access surveillance images through the central server.

Robust, redundant storage: Your surveillance images are protected against hard disk drive crashes by RAID redundancy and the option of tape backup storage via SCSI connectivity.

Why IP Surveillance?

* Manageable: To operate with minimum administrative burden and minimum administrative cost.

* Affordable: To save you money not only in the initial investment but also operating costs down the road.

* Reliable: Sony IP Surveillance is built with proven, high-performance components from two world leaders in technology.

* Scalable: The system accommodates extraordinary growth in cameras, growth in storage capacity and flexible choice of video archiving software.

Manageable

An IP Surveillance system uses Sony's industry-standard data networking, industry-standard JPEG data files, servers based on the industry-standard Windows 2000 Server operating system and backup storage based on the industry-standard SCSI interface. In this way, system installation and operation is extremely familiar. The components are easy to install on your existing network and the server is easy to install in your existing 19-inch rack.