DRACONiDigital

Unfortunately, without the streaming part, or at least some means of remote access, that doesn't help too much. Thanks though!

How does a switch provide for routing capability via the Internet? Some clients think that Linksys routers are totally insecure and won't go for them. At those locations I put in a Linux router box.

Can you expand on this? Where, exactly, is it illegal for you? This is very interesting for me, and maybe for others out there. Maybe we can come up with a good list of places where it's legal and not. Thanks!

I know this is an old post, but I'm new here and I've got some relevant info on this subject. We have a client with over 10 Geovision servers (6.05 currently, due to mix of new and old cards), each located at a different remote location. They have a fairly complex Wide Area Network. They wanted to view ALL of their servers from the Internet (i.e., from home or anywhere else on the Internet, they wanted to pull up any of their 10+ servers). The problem? Only 5 public IPs. I ended up solving the problem using only ONE Internet IP. I installed a Linux server with firewalling software. On the Geovision side, I set up each server so that it had a unique port range. Then, I created a custom web-based (PHP/MySQL) app which had a GUI in which users could click on the server they wanted to view. It works great. Geovision must tell the ActiveX client what port range it's using, because no setup is required on client PCs. Using the Windows clients of course requires lots of setup, due to the non-standard ports. But this particular client is fine with the ActiveX viewer. Anyway, the client found the app so useful that they had me expand it to include usernames/passwords with security permissions, so certain users could only access certain sites. Of course, this wasn't REALLY blocking someone from accessing those particular ports, but none of these people are network hackers, and live by the GUI. So, if you've got lots of systems behind a firewall, keep in mind, this IS definately possible. It does require some effort, but it can most certainly be achieved!

This is typical government hypocracy right here. My clients are actually being REQUIRED by state-level government agencies to do this! The clients in this case are Youth in Residential Care providers whose customers are basically the state and county family agencies. They house kids with severe behavioral problems. In Ohio, every single time a kid makes an accusation it must be investigated. From our experience, going straight to video has made this MUCH easier. So much so that the state and county agencies have caught on big time, and are really starting to demand this from us. More cameras. More microphones. They want to know what the kid is saying. They want to know what the staff is saying. Here in Ohio, audio recording is allowed as long as one party involved knows it's going on. At our locations, we post signs that indicate audio and video monitoring is taking place.

The problem is most of the sites already have the video cameras and audio. They're currently using Panasonic VCRs with Robot Quads. They want to go digital and get rid of the tapes. I've actually thought about the VoIP stuff. But my clients are more interested in past stuff than live. They won't go back and look at the video until information about an incident reaches the central office (which can be an hour or two weeks)! Only then will they want to review the video/audio. Unfortunately, to throw a wrench in here, motion detection is important too, due to storage. I've been messing with some post-recording motion detection, but it seems to drag stuff down. Anyway, I'm open to ANY thoughts you may have on this, and certainly appreciate your feedback!!!

Thanks Scott. I'm familiar with the legal problems. My clients problem is they're actually being REQUIRED to record audio. These clients are in Youth in Residential Care situations, and nearly every day agencies are being asked to record more and more, including audio. When I say "tape quality", I mean we have Panasonic 24-hour recorders (not time-lapse, but 24 hours on an 8 hour tape, the tape will play in a standard VCR, but it plays a bit fast). When we play these tapes in another Panasonic recorder, they play back fine. The audio quality is fluid and understandable. With Geovision, the quality is horrible. I have done tests at several locations where we'd compare the existing cameras (Silent Witness) and existing microphones (Loroue mics with base stations) on the Panasonic VCR system (with Robot Quad), and then switch to a Geovision system, and the audio just doesn't compare. I know very well that ambient noise is a killer. At one location, a school, it's horrible for audio. However, on the Panasonic VCR, conversations can be made out when necessary. With Geovision, it's just crap. It's nearly impossible to make out conversations. You mentioned Center. Can Center even do audio for PAST recorded video? That's another big part of my requirements.

I agree, and am going to add my two cents here. I have a different view. I have several clients in the Youth in Residential Care field. They are being forced more and more into doing video AND audio recording. And these people are having a HARD time finding good DIGITAL equipment and balancing that with their non-profit nature. Obviously, the problem is exactly as you stated, legalities. But in this field, people are SCREAMING for audio.

I am a huge Linux fan. I've been using Linux since around kernel 2.0. For servers it just works. For workstations it also just works. For family desktops, I'd unfortunately have to agree with Rory, there are lots of issues. Mostly due to manufactures ignoring it in terms of drivers. I started with Red Hat (4.0?), and then moved to Mandrake (now Mandriva ) around 7.0. Aside from Linux, I've found that WinXP w/SP2 is working quite well with firewall for my Geovision-based systems.

Check out: http://www.marchnetworks.com/pdf/products/4410_DVR_Datasheet_low-res_01-05.pdf Go to the bottom in the NOTES section. #1: RAID = Random Array of Independent Disks

Wow. I looked on the line that said 'Audio I/O', and I saw no checkmarks, and that was it. Maybe I should, uh, look a bit more closely!

G22, thanks for the quick reply. I looked at their DVR comparison page, and it seems they offer NO audio Thanks though!