Tag Archives: HD CCTV

Seagate or Western digital

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Seagate  or Western digital.

Hard drives! Anyone in the IPCCTV world will tell you these are the only two hard drives that are really used in most digital recorders today. They will also tell you that both are the same , there is no difference, it does not matter which one you use. This is especially true of installers who buy their DVR’s from the manufacturers and install their own hard drives .This can save a lot of money. Most manufacturers will advise against this but all in the know realize that on paper it makes little difference.

But……….

However we have come across a case where it seems some DVR’s really do need the hard drive installed that the product has been tested on. Below we carried out a series of test on a DVR that seemed to fail for no apparent reason the results were surprising and indeed could shed some light onto why DVR’s seem to fail for no apparent reason.

The test.

Below is the findings as described by the technician who carried out the testing…………………….

“I have been undertaking an extensive test on the DVR to emulate some of the issues we are seeing reported in the field”………..

The issues we were hearing were:-

  • Alarms locking up the units
  • Rebooting
  • HDD / recordings missing

I have set up a unit and  over the last 2 weeks, here are the results of my tests:-

Seagate 1Tb ST31000525SV – 2 of them to make 2Tb –  DVR 400ips unit

  • 5 cameras connected (1 camera looped to 4 other inputs)
  • CCTV Camera 1 is set up for motion and also I have turned on Sensor 1 and set to N/O – basically causing the alarm to be permanently on
  • Cameras 2-5 are set for motion
  • Recording schedule set for motion and continuous 24/7
  • Notify set to send alarm data to an internal IP address………….my laptop,……….so not always there (testing to see if a non-connection will cause lockup)

After 1-2 days of me not being present, the unit shows the ‘no HDD’ symbol with a red cross through the symbol………..looking at the System info, no HDD’s are present………reboot and they still do not appear……..when I do a full power recycle, both HDD’s appear again, the system continues recording and all video recording is still present (up to the point where the HDDs disappeared obviously)

last week, I observed the unit reboot after 3 hours, and when I checked the System info, one of the HDDs had disappeared……..a couple of hours later, both HDDs had gone after another reboot

So, I had taken delivery of 2 x Western Digital 1Tb HDDs Caviar AV 10EVDS and proceeded to put those into the  DVR in question

It is now Wednesday (5days later) and the exact same test has been performed with no reboot, lockup or HDD / Video recording loss……………….this leads me to suspect the following:-

  • The Seagate drives we were using were a faulty batch (possible but unlikely)
  • The Seagate drives we were using are actually not fully compatible with the DVR firmware, even though the manufacturer gave us the part number (possible)
  • The Seagate drives were not correctly inserted  by the client and my changing the drives to another unit is purely coincidental and corrected the fault – again  unlikely

Conclusion , it would seem that there is some subtle difference between the hard drives that has caused the DVR to crash although in practice this is not really possible the testing proves that somewhere within the firmware of the DVR a problem has occurred with the original hard drives.

When we at integrated CCTV asked the engineer if he thought there was a difference between the hard drives he replied.

“No same spec should make no difference, hard to understand, the Seagate is a good make so its not the Hard drive just the way it works with the DVR”

Feedback.

Has anyone else experienced hard drive failures on your own DVRs that may in fact be caused by a similar problem? If so we welcome your thoughts and feedback.

International Security Exhibitions

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We may be based in the UK, but we always like to follow some of the up and coming International Exhibitions!

Volcano ash permitting, we are looking to bring good information on emerging technologies from the following exhibitions in 2010

ESSEN – Essen, Germany 5th to 8th October

ASIS – Texas, USA 12th to 15th October

ISC EAST – New York, USA 3rd and 4th November

more to follow!

Emerging Video Surveillance Technologies – PIXC revolution! Pt1

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An interesting guide has just been issued from http://ipvideomarket.info/ entitled ‘Emerging Video Surveillance Guide 2010’

it details ‘What to Look for and what to Look Out for’ so over the next few days we will detail some of their opinions – for the full guide, head over to their website and simply sign up to receive the free PDF!

Emerging Technologies

  • IP Cameras
  • Megapixel Cameras
  • IP Based Storage (NAS / SAN)
  • Storage on-Board IP Cameras
  • Mesh Wireless IP Networks
  • Panoramic Cameras
  • Video Analytics
  • Business Intelligence
  • Remote Video Monitoring
  • Managed Video / Hosted Video Surveillance
  • Physical Security Information Management

they are keen to point out that the directory is purely meant as a survey of key risks for the ‘non-expert’

we think it is a great discussion document in this emerging Security arena…………………more to follow…………….

IPCCTV over WIFI

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The scenario.

Picture the scene (pardon the CCTV pun!)

Building A is 500 metres from building B

There are 4 cameras on building A, one on each corner (don’t you just love perfect worlds!) and they need to be viewed, recorded and controlled (did I mention they were PTZ?) all from building B

THE PROBLEM

The two buildings are separated by a river – a very nice river, big boats coming up and down, delivering stuff to dockside delivery points.

No chance of cabling then….. Until recently, the answer was to use free range wireless transmission solutions, such as RF, Microwave, Laser etc……… but, history shows that each has it’s positives and negatives but they all share one common negative….. expense.

ANOTHER WAY?

With the upsurge in IP, there is another way………..Wifi…………ok, professional wireless is what all the proper ‘wifi’ consultants will call it, but wifi nonetheless.

You see, Wifi does not have to be a one to one transmission solution…………. with typical bandwidth of 54Mbps, even if we halve it (because clever network guys will tell you that there is always a drop over distance etc), we can expect a 27Mbps bandwidth allowance……

So, take our building A and B scenario…. cable all the 4 cameras to a central point (it is a perfect world after all !) and either convert to IP from analogue using encoders (or, if we are to get this industry into the 21st century let’s push the boat out and go true IP cameras!) and connect to a regular 4 port network switch…

Take the output of that switch and insert into something like the Silvernet product range….. 1Km line of sight, pre-configured to create a point to point connection…..go to building B, position the receiving unit line of sight to building A and either decode back to analogue or bring one, neat, simple CAT5/6 cable out and introduce to the network for full control and view of the system ! simples !

THE THEORY AND THE PRACTICE

Ok, we don’t always have a perfect world, clearly, however, using the above solution, we have sent 4 cameras over the one link….saving a LOT of money:-

RF/Microwave/Laser = at least £2000+ for EACH camera

WIFI = under £1000 for a 1Km link with the ability to run a good few cameras – typically a PTZ IP camera would be around 5Mbs and a static at around 2Mbs

But, just like RF/Microwave/Laser, if the Wifi states ‘Line of Sight’ or LoS, then it REALLY means that…..so much as a leaf on a overhanging tree, or, in the case of our River separating the two buildings, boats that might momentarily ‘interrupt’ the signal, it is imperative to ensure that the TX and RX units are positioned so as to enjoy clear and uninterrupted transmission!

The cost savings are impressive and just might give this industry the excuse to use IP !!

CCTV.

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Integrated CCTV.

Integrated CCTV seek to answer all your questions on CCTV security, Access control, Biometric solutions, Hybrid security systems and much more. We have over a hundred Blogs on our site that explain new products and different security scenarios that can help you make the right decisions BEFORE you spend your money on an integrated security system.

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Browse the site or simply post your question and we will ensure that we will find you the answer you need. Alternatively if you already have a system and want to make an improvement or simply want to find out how you can integrate IP cameras, HD CCTV or Megapixel cameras into existing security systems, we are here to help.