IP Video Surveillance News and Reviews
Search:
Login
The Source for Video Surveillance See Plans and Prices - IP Video Pro Service

Why Centralized NVR Recording Does Not Work

by John Honovich, IP Video Market Info posted on Jul 11, 2008 About John Contact John


Centrally recording video from remote sites is as frequently claimed as it is wrong. It is an exciting concept that fails due to basic technical details. Vendors claiming their system eliminates local recording are almost invariably wrong. The problem is simple - the cost of long-distance (WAN) bandwidth is very high and it destroys any savings you might achieve from eliminating the local device.

The Concept

You are a retailer, organization or corporation with multiple stores, locations or branch offices. Today, at each of those locations, you have a DVR with storage at each of these remote sites. It's expensive to buy all of these units. It is hard to maintain them because when they break, someone needs to be dispatched far away.

It would be far better if we just had IP cameras and used an IP network to stream the video directly from the cameras to a centralized storage cluster. This would significantly reduce equipment cost, increase storage utilization and make fixing hardware failures easy because the equipment is all in one simple to access location.

The concept is bulletproof. Unfortunately you cannot deploy concepts.

Inside the Pro Section

In the premium section, we will examine the technological and operational realities that make centralized recording impractical for most everyone. We will also break down the sales spin to show the actual issues involved.


Options




Most Recent Industry Reports

Testing Cisco-Linksys Switch for IP Video (SRW208P) on Sep 01, 2010
Switch selection for IP video surveillance is a key consideration in overall design. Unfortunately, it is often less scrutinized than the 'stars' of the solution (i.e., VMS and cameras). Moreo...

Testing Milestone GO VMS (Free 8 Ch) on Aug 29, 2010
Milestone's aggressive moves targeting the smaller video surveillance systems continue. This month's release of a free 8 channel VMS, called XProtect Go, adds to their June 2010 release that droppe...

Testing the iCam VMS / iPhone App on Aug 29, 2010
Home video surveillance systems are quickly getting a lot better and a lot cheaper. A good example of this is an application called iCam that has recently been in the news for helping a homeowner d...

Training: VSaaS Hosted/Managed Basics on Aug 22, 2010
This hour long training explains the basics behind Video Surveillance as a Service (VSaaS). If you want to learn about the most talked about emerging trend in the industry, this is an ideal place t...

Training: Megapixel / HD Basics on Aug 18, 2010
This report provides a 95 minute video series that teaches the fundamentals of using, selecting and applying megapixel video surveillance in real world deployments. We cover 9 fundamental aspects: ...

Real World CCTV / Surveillance Success on Aug 16, 2010
In this report, we find, review and share 50+ real world success stories using video surveillance. These are actual documented examples where crimes, murders, thefts and more have been recorded and...

Testing Archerfish Solo Smart Camera / DVR / VSaas (Cernium) on Aug 09, 2010
Combining many video surveillance functionalities in a single device is a growing trend. The hope is providing a turn-key, 'all-in-one' solution simplifies deployment and provides everything one ne...

Directory of Budget / Home / SMB IP Cameras on Aug 07, 2010
We have completed a broad testing program of budget IP cameras for use in the home or SMB markets. This directory provides links to each test. Full test results including video screencasts and vid...

Testing Rogo's Managed VSaaS on Aug 04, 2010
Managed / hosted video offerings continue to expand with a variety of technical and business approaches. In this test, we examine Rogo's Managed Video offering. The system uses an on-site recordin...

Testing Lorex's IP Camera (LNE1001) on Aug 03, 2010
Simplifying remote viewing is a key element in choosing and using IP cameras for home and small business users. Doing it the 'old fashion' way can require technical skill, be cumbersome and frustra...

IP Video Market Info 2010