Author: jeromeandjames

The impact of virtualization on the IT Infrastructure has shaken IT at its core. Virtualization is changing the current model of assigning one physical server for each application by effectively consolidating multiple servers onto one piece of server hardware and then optimizing its resources. Despite these benefits, virtualization initiatives can prove challenging. For example, deploying certain components of the IT infrastructure with backup and recovery is one area where there can be unanticipated challenges in the support of virtual infrastructures.

About 40 years ago, high-tech video surveillance consisted of closed-circuit television (CCTV) that had to be monitored 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Then came the move to video cassette recorders (VCRs) with analog video capture, which helped bring about a revolution of video surveillance in the ’70s. But just as all of us movie buffs have figured out, VCR tapes eventually wear out, tear or become unmanageable, and the same occurs with video surveillance tapes. While there are many new features in tape-based video recording, such as charged-coupled device (CCD), digital multiplexing as well as time-lapse and motion-only recording, the ability to digitally record data to network-attached storage is starting to takeoff and, as it does create a more scalable solution for video surveillance.

A picture is worth a thousand words, so even in a world with a great deal of economic uncertainty, the video surveillance market is still forecasted to grow 30 percent or more this year and beyond, according to Security Products magazine. This is mostly due to the fact that corporate security needs are growing more critical. Yet the reasons behind the explosion of video surveillance go well beyond just security; companies are finding that the sharp pictures possible with the new generation of digital IP cameras can help them better analyze shoppers’ behaviors and buying patterns at their stores.