If your business is sensitive in nature or you simply want to make sure that thieves don’t end up with your precious inventory or computer equipment, you probably have some type of a security system in place already.

Older security systems often have very simple alarms with motion detectors that an entire generation of thieves have learned how to disable.  If this is what you are relying on today, it makes sense to consider an upgrade to a more sophisticated system that is harder to circumvent.

Older surveillance cameras also could only be viewed from one central location, which means that thefts could occur when security personnel step away momentarily.

Ethernet based security systems are scalable as your business grows, can send alarms to email addresses or mobile phones, and can allow a complete picture of your facility to be viewed over Ethernet connected security cameras from any Internet connection.  The images from multiple cameras can be used to form a real time collage, which allows a wider area to be seen and analyzed for abnormalities.

The only down side is that they will require additional Cat 5 or Cat 6 cable to be run if you choose not to take the additional risk of using a wireless network.

Ethernet security cameras come in a wide variety of shapes, sizes, and features.   Night vision cameras are available, as well as cameras that pan and zoom, include two way voice capabilities, and have hidden cabling to prevent hacking.

IP connected cameras can also send video or still images to any email address specified, allowing quick identification of intruders and enhanced communications with law enforcement personnel.

Another benefit is that hard disc drive storage of surveillance data that wasn’t possible with traditional CCTV systems is now enabled, as is computer enhancement of still images as well as video footage for greater clarity.

These systems tend to be much more cost effective than traditional CCTV based systems too, as they don’t require expensive splitters, multiplexers, and repeaters.  Enhanced competition among vendors continues to drive the price down, meaning having video added to your surveillance system no longer means high Capex.

The use of PoE or Power-over-Ethernet also means that only one wire needs to be run to each camera, instead of one for the signal and one to power the device.  This streamlines installation of Ethernet based surveillance cameras, and helps keep them unobtrusive for stealth reasons.

Perhaps the greatest advantage of an Ethernet- based security system is that it can integrate seamlessly with your company network – allowing voice, video, security, and information processing to be synchronized.   The entire capability of your network cabling can be brought to bear on solving tough security issues with this type of approach.

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If your building infrastructure was put together during the 90s or later, chances are that you have some form of Cat 5 UTP cabling installed. Cat 5 UTP cable was designed to support the demands of an ATM, CDDI, or Fast Ethernet (100 Base TX) data networking system and represented a significant upgrade over the Cat 3 cable found in buildings designed for 10 Base TX systems installed in the 80s.

Cat 5e cabling was introduced a bit later and is fundamentally the same as Cat 5, but has a few additional items specified.   A chart showing the differences between all three common types of copper cabling is shown below:

CAT5, CAT5e, and CAT6 UTP Solid Cable Specifications Comparison

Chart from http://discountcablesusa.com/ethernet-cables100.html

Delay skew is a measure of the difference between the signal delay along the fastest pair of conductors and along the slowest pair of conductors, and is a measure of the uniformity of signal transmission along the cable.  Cat 5e cable and Cat 6 cable have the same specification, which is a max of 45 nS.

NEXT and PS-NEXT are specifications for cross talk, and near end cross talk, respectively.   Cat 6 cable has more stringent specifications for these parameters, and also is rated to support bandwidths of up to 250 MHz.   Cross talk, which is the bleeding of signals from one pair to another through induction, is highly undesirable and cause slower signal speeds as well as signal degradation.

When choosing which type cable to use for your implementation, it is important to note that cat 5e is probably fine for most small businesses running Fast Ethernet. Much of the cat 5 cable available today is also really cat 5e cable that simply hasn’t been tested to the new rigorous specifications.  Cat 6 is a good choice for 1) mission critical areas such as a data center, or key on-site servers, 2) networks you want to upgrade to Gigabit Ethernet, or 3) networks you want to “future-proof” so that new standards and speeds can be easily accommodated.

A new category of cabling, Cat 6a, is being introduced to support 10 Gigabit Ethernet networks as well. It will operate up to frequencies of 500 MHz.  Some Cat 6 cable can also support 10 Gigabit networks if properly installed, but only over shorter structured cable lengths due to losses.

If you liked this article, tell all your friends about it. They’ll thank you for it. If you have a blog or website, you can link to it or even post it to your own site (don’t forget to mention http://www.intsysinst.com as the original source).