Milestone Systems - IP video surveillance solutions in harsh environments

As the overall security industry continues to move towards Internet Protocol (IP) based video surveillance, the possibility of deploying video surveillance solutions in harsh outdoor and often remote environments has been met by strong customer demand. For this reason, many integrators are being forced to learn how to design and install reliable systems in remote outdoor situations. This learning curve is not without it challenges.

 A typical indoor system involves items such as Milestone XProtect™ software, IP cameras, Category 5 (Cat-5) wiring, servers, routers, switches, and storage devices. Generally speaking, all of these items have been designed to be installed and operated in a room temperature (controlled) environment with easy access to each system component. Planning a remote outdoor or mobile installation however requires many additional aspects to be considered for the installation to be successful.

With remote outdoor situations, the typical infrastructure that is available for an indoor solution often does not exist. For example, there may be no AC power, no hard-wired communications and certainly no temperature-controlled environment. Faced with these challenges, that affect both the design and installation of solutions, the following questions must be addressed:

• How to select ruggedised equipment?
• What power options exist?
• How to store video and manage a distributed system?
• What can be done to plan for system reliability?

 This White Paper provides answers to these questions and identifies many of the challenges that must be considered when installing video surveillance equipment in remote, harsh environment areas.

What's inside?

• Selecting Ruggedised Equipment
• Power Options
• Communications Options
• Video Storage and Management
• Planning for System Reliability