Designed for use with both existing Aruba wireless LAN networks and green field applications, the new video solution is based on open standards and works with virtually any Internet-enabled and legacy analogue camera. Based on technology from Aruba and partners Milestone Systems and Wren Solutions, the new video solution also incorporates pan/tilt/zoom control, two-way audio, and advanced video storage and retrieval to round out the solution.
"Campus-wide real-time video monitoring for public safety has become a necessity, but until now the cost of deployment has been an impediment to wide scale deployment," said Charlie Clay, Ohio State University's Associate Director of Voice and Data Services. "Aruba's solution offers a combination of easy-to-install wireless mesh networking, end-to-end encryption for privacy, and a rich suite of features - all of which can be overlaid as an extension of an existing Aruba wireless network. In addition, since the Aruba video system is governed by the same network and security policy management architecture as the rest of the wireless network, we don't have to retrain our IT staff or purchase a parallel system. That makes the total cost of ownership of the Aruba system exceptionally attractive relative to other alternatives."
The simplicity of the new video system architecture extends from camera to control centre. Cameras installed anywhere on the LAN or across the WAN are automatically discovered with Aruba's centralised architecture. All camera traffic is tunneled to the camera management system, eliminating the need for complex camera VLANs or IP addressing schemes. Since the system is based on open standards hundreds of models of IP cameras are supported. Legacy analogue cameras can be incorporated using 3rd party encoder modules. If a solar-compatible, ruggedised Aruba outdoor access point is used, mesh networking allows cameras to be placed wherever needed, without regard to the availability of either a wired network or AC power.
Remote sites can be easily monitored using Aruba's Remote AP products, which establish a secure IPsec tunnel to multiple data centres, ensuring that video can be accessed in the event of a disaster at the primary data centre. Simultaneous data, voice, and video transmission over a common network is assured using Aruba's application continuity services.
"Our video surveillance solution leverages an existing Aruba wireless LAN and transforms it into a public safety, security monitoring, or logistics support network depending on the application," said Manav Khurana, Aruba's head of industry marketing. "In our view the robustness, redundancy, and military-grade security built-into our networks make them the ideal platform for a mission-critical video system. And because the entire system is standards based, end users have the freedom to select from the widest possible range of cameras and other components - that fact alone sets us apart from competing technologies."