Hi there,

I'm an IT professional, managing a new project for cashiers. The purpose of the project to monitor all the cashiers in different geographical locations in my

city.

The network we have is a fiber network (except for 3 locations, where its a leased line).

Total locations about 7-8, each location will have an average of 5 cameras, 90% of them will be indoors, except for 3, which is a drive-thru (probably need

an outdoor camera, housing..etc)

The money is not an issue here.

Im looking for advices from you people, who have experience in this field about the following:

- What setup do you recommend? That is, how to archive the videos recorded? Should i have a DVR/NVR in each location or centrally?

- For the DVR/NVR, you suggest PC-based or a dedicated system? what are the advantages/disadvantages?

- What is the advantage of going with analog/ip cameras? which do you recommend?

- What software do you suggest? Any enterprise solution?

Any other suggestions you have that im not paying attention, more that welcome to inform me.

Best regards,

HiSoC8Y

A little more information on the nature of the footage you require, whether you wish to include till feeds with video, what type of searching or reporting, and whether you would be satisfied with motion based recording or not, and what level of archiving you are considering a month, a year etc. may alter the suggestions below. But for what its worth here goes...

The archive of the recorded video footage is probably better recorded at each site, unless the fibre network is a private one and the leased lines are a very high bandwidth. If the fibre network is private then it is probably single mode fibre and you would need to know the number of fibres left over on your cable.

The system for recording and archiving can be either embedded or PC based. PC based units can include more usability features but I find a little more likely to crash. Embedded units tend to be more secure from a network viewpoint. The choice of unit should be based on how closely they meet your requirements, and there are options both ways.

If you have the bandwidth and the storage I would go for IP, but it will be costly. A lot of IP cameras can give you megapixel images which analogue cameras will not. If you are recording locally, then analogue cameras should be fine.

Your recording solution will come with its own software. Specific software to integrate with POS for POS & DVR integrated reporting is available from some suppliers.

An alternative to the above options is that you outsource the storage to an ASP who would archive video remotely which could be accessed online. I have only seen this option used with analogue cameras.

"PC based units can include more usability features but I find a little more likely to crash"--

I completely agree with this. But I wouldn't fear it for other applications.

Six months ago I would have said the same after poor results from a variety of pci cards I tried. :(

However, now I entirely disagree and I have changed from a standalone zealot to a PC convert. :D

I have built several PC based DVRs 4, 8, & 16 channel in the last six months and not one has had a single issue.

My own 4 channel machine has been recording continuously for 5 months 24/7 , 100 fps D1.
Only one reboot in that time - to adjust the BIOS clock.

Main advantages:
Big performance difference - 400fps D1 on a 16 channel
Easy upgrades and replaceable parts.
All possible backup options.
Software flexibility like - 'on an alarm, run this program'. use your imagination. :wink:


The hardware compression card I use is not well known but there are others around that may prove just as
good or even better.


Definitely worth considering – the technology has moved on.

if money was not an issue then what i would recommend is going to a cctv consultant in your area and have them put together a complete bid specs for this project.

Yup, its seems odd to go DIY with an unlimited budget. Bound to get disappointed.


Luckly you will know enough to know if the consultant knows what they are talking about.

If money is not a problem ! i would personally by my experience in this field recommend an ip based surveillance system

Here is what I would do since bandwidth is not a problem

- Use Axis Network Cameras ( goto there website and according to your need pick one)
- Milestone develops a fully integrated IP software, each camera license is like 100 dollars but the best thing about the launch of Milestone Corporate is you can have all your feeds on one main server and make central changes according to your requirements. Each station will have its own storage too. You can contact me if you have more questions about it, I am a channel partner for them.
- Use sun microsystems storage servers
- Cisco POE routers
- Monitors as desired

Thats what i would recommend ! Any questions email me !