Large Surveillance System Uses Virtual Servers and Optimized Compression

In 2009, when the Grand Casino in Baden in Switzerland upgraded and expanded its video system it chose a Geutebruck high-availability IP solution designed by local system integrators Honegger System Technik. At the time, the design broke new ground by incorporating thirty-five 1.3 megapixel cameras into the 250-camera system and introducing virtual Gevisope platforms to handle the large amount of generated data with high redundancy. The complex upgrade was made without any interruption to operation of the system or business and could equally well be made in banks, industrial complexes, transport and logistics operations and hotels, for example.

Until 2009 the video monitoring system installed in Baden was not able to record all the data it generated. To keep storage costs and access time for external libraries within reason, operators were using high resolution images for live monitoring but only recording and retaining the 25 fps sequences for 28 days which is legally required by Swiss law for such establishments. Clearly this compromise solution was far from ideal, especially as better technologies appeared on the market. For instance, with around three times the resolution of conventional analog cameras, and hence significantly better picture quality, the attractions of megapixel cameras were clear to the building's operators. What they required was a new solution that could handle the very large data streams, but a completely reliable one with instant access storage.

Two Key Technologies
The chosen Geutebruck IP solution for this particular installation was designed and installed by Honegger System Technik. It supports many more cameras than before, including megapixel ones and exploits two technologies in particular that enable it to handle and store the complete video history from all the cameras at full available resolution on a 320 terabyte instant access database.

The first key technology is Geutebruck's own CCTV-optimized video compression process called MPEG4CCTV. This is an MPEG-4 compliant process that uses standard MPEG-4 compression tools in unusual ways for the specific purpose of improving both performance and image handling for security users. Consequently, systems using this compression technique are very fast, delivering top quality video images without any perceptible latency, as well as being lean and efficient with low network and storage requirements.

The second is the IT technology of virtualization which offers the ability to produce virtual devices. With the aid of Microsoft's Hyper-V tool, Geutebruck can generate several virtual Geviscope servers on a single piece of hardware. These virtual servers are then linked into clusters with so-called ‘failover' functionality to ensure that, if one of them fails, another automatically and instantly takes over without any effect on service.
In the server room at the Grand Casino Baden, what is really impressive is what is not there! Because visualization uses less hardware, there is considerable saving of space, energy and costs - less power is consumed and less emergency capacity is on standby. Fewer hardware devices are throwing out less waste heat, so less air-conditioning is required and again less energy is being used. All of this leads to significant reductions in the total cost of ownership.

System Design
It goes without saying that, wherever possible, the system design incorporated the existing infrastructure. For instance, the dozen or so existing analog speed domes and the one hundred analog box cameras were linked to the existing Cat5 Ethernet cabling by adding CAM2IP video encoders. These support MPEG4CCTV compression and its efficient video management features.

35 new 1.3 megapixel cameras were installed where their detailed pictures would enable close observation of specific sensitive areas. One hundred new VIPCAMs were introduced to monitor the gaming machine area, the cashier's desks and for other general views. These are high resolution day/night IP-cameras with automatic IR-cut filters, which provide crisp sharp pictures even under widely varying light conditions.
The data streams from all cameras go to two Intel modular servers, each of which incorporates five high performance computers. Together these run a total of 21 virtual Geviscope video system platforms, all operated in cluster formation. These in turn record to the high redundancy RAID Level 6 databases mounted on 21 Promise SAS storage systems, which currently use sixteen 1TB capacity server disks each but can take more if needed. Thanks to this design, if Murphy still strikes despite all preventative measures and cutting-edge technology, the full functionality of the system is then re-established automatically without any significant down-time. The same configuration can of course be applied to any business-critical industrial or commercial installation to provide the same high availability.

Close-up Clarity
The new system more than meets the requirements of the Swiss regulations. The high resolution provided by the megapixel cameras gives the operators increased picture quality along with increased security and operational efficiency. The images offer excellent clarity for recognizing detail with fewer cameras, and the high resolution of the megapixel cameras enables supervisors to zoom in for close-ups. They have eight 30-inch monitors to observe the casino operation and can access all of the 250 cameras from each workstation, where live and recorded footage of identical quality can be pulled up in milliseconds.

In contrast to the technical complexity of the system, the users find it simplicity itself to operate. Supervisors use GSC View, Geutebruck's user-friendly software for display and operating. Its flexibility allows extensive customization to maximize security as well as for operator comfort and convenience. With it, for example, you can display up to 100 cameras at once, you can choose them as a group to be shown permanently in a pre-programmed formation, or display them at the touch of a button. Pre-determined picture sequences from selected areas are automatically switched to the operator's monitor in alarm situations. And, when required, all cameras can also be controlled using Multimap, a site-plan-based interface that gives additional information on the status of individual cameras and systems.

Investing for Longevity
Against a backdrop of continuously changing markets and regulatory frameworks, video security system purchasers are clearly keen to ensure that any investment, especially a large one, provides for their needs for as long as possible. The (virtual) Geviscope devices at the heart of this solution not only meet current needs, but are scalable almost without limit in every direction and offer exceptional flexibility in terms of adaptability and integration with third party systems.