SubscribeA manager’s guide to configuring an IP network for video surveillance
Assessing the readiness of a network to support IP video surveillance can be a daunting task for both experienced IT engineers and physical security professionals. Understanding these technologies, design requirements, and best practices will keep the network from being the bottleneck to IP video security. There are several necessary steps to designing a network, whether new or existing, so that it is capable of supporting IP video.
The first step in a network assessment typically starts with questions surrounding potential network capacity issues or gaps. The fact is, the perception of network bandwidth problems are still plaguing the video security industry and are not going away anytime soon. This, however, is not a technological issue, but a direct result of two things: lack of industry knowledge regarding networking and communication gaps between physical security, IT and end-users. This failure to communicate is often worsened because the goals and objectives specific to each group may not be synchronized.