Milestone at The University of Nottingham A Case Study

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Brent Gregory
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1 Milestone at The University of Nottingham A Case Study Chris Tadman Data Centres Team Leader Information Services

2 Aim Where we were Where we needed to be Why we went with Milestone Problems and how we overcame them Current situation Lessons learnt

3 The University of Nottingham The University Campuses University Park Jubilee Campus King s Meadow Campus Sutton Bonington Medical Schools Schools of Nursing Adult Education Centre

4 University Park

5 Where we were Original System set up in early 1990 s CCTV in Student Computer Rooms across Campus Monitored and Recorded at Security Control onto VHS tape Each camera connected via LHC (up to 1.5 km per circuit) More and more cameras required so a different solution was needed We had a good fibre optic cabling network Thus we had the ability to provide CCTV almost anywhere on site CCTV over fibre was expensive Fibre optic multiplexers started to appear on the market Network CCTV not available at that time

6 The Need Facility to monitor/record from Security s control room (24/7) Accessible from other Security and Building Attendant offices It had to provide equal or better image quality and image storage capacity compared to the current system Ability to provide the service in any building or open part of the site. What we required was :- Software to store, view and export footage Hardware to store and process large image files. Accessible simultaneously from multiple locations Use the data network rather than a dedicated network

7 Why we chose Milestone Achieving these ideals in the most cost effective way ruled out traditional CCTV installation techniques Our network infrastructure had the capacity to support the transmission of CCTV traffic on top of the existing data traffic Image manipulation (store, view and export) was being developed We investigated the existing technologies but felt that DVR was too limited and inflexible Purchased the 25 camera version of Milestone Installed it onto a standard office PC as a dedicated machine with a couple of cameras

8 Problems Initial configuration worked well As time went by though, the machine couldn t handle the footage in terms of processing or storage We were having to trade off numbers of cameras and image storage time for the hardware spec. We increased the hardware capacity, added more cameras and quickly faced another crisis point Milestone wasn t working for us and became consistently unreliable for the number of cameras we needed Upgraded Milestone PC at Security control to a server grade machine

9 IS involvement The server stopped working People available to diagnose server faults Better environment for equipment We now provide Server/storage hardware, hosting and support Camera setup Client support Network, monitoring and support Camera checking and fault reporting

10 What happened next Upgraded to Milestone Enterprise 64 cameras per server Multiple servers As numbers of cameras increased ran into familiar problems Lack of communication caused problems 2008 Review Milestone vs Cisco Decision made to stay with Milestone and upgrade to Corporate Upgrade completed in 2009

11 Where are we now 255 cameras on system Over 100 authorised users Multiple Campuses General Building Security Gate houses & car parks Computer rooms, libraries, PABX & data centres Farm buildings Theatre, Museum & sports facilities Halls of Residence bars Tills in cafeterias and coffee bars

12 Currently provide Security footage Compliance with the Code of Conduct, Data Protection etc. Currently store 14 days at various frame rates We use the system reactively Responsibilities Estates own and operate the Milestone System and cameras Information Services provides :- Network and network technical support IT hardware and technical support

13 Future requirements More cameras! More hardware! Increase retention period Increase frame rate Link LPR Cameras to Parking Permit Database Setup Intuitive Map Investigate Multistreaming Integration of other CCTV Systems Storage Teiring

14 What the User Sees

15 Auditing

16 Event Logs

17 Where we are now - Hardware 4 recording servers with DAS 1 failover recording server 1 Management Server Trialling NAS storage New Support Contract Security prefer to use AXIS cameras and video encoders (for connecting old analogue cameras)

18 Current server/storage configuration

19 Planned server/storage configuration

20 What we ve learnt Don t always believe what you are told! This goes for suppliers, manufacturers and the organisation Good planning Good communications Understanding capacity requirements Sizing hardware configuration correctly Understanding costs Understanding user requirements

21 What we ve learnt Support Standardise wherever possible Essential to have IS support Essential to trust IS staff Ways of integration old/existing systems into milestone Corporate much easier to manage than Enterprise Training

22 Any Questions

SUNY - BUFFALO. 10 Years Going and SUNYBuffalo Still Expanding. Campus-wide Security with Milestone Software. The Challenge.

SUNY - BUFFALO. 10 Years Going and SUNYBuffalo Still Expanding. Campus-wide Security with Milestone Software. The Challenge. Customer Story 10 Years Going and SUNYBuffalo Still Expanding Campus-wide Security with Milestone Software The Challenge After successfully implementing Milestone IP video as a security solution in the