Securing Your Web Communications

I am sure we all have had it happen...you are surfing the web and you cruise to a site that looks like what you were looking for. All of a sudden it starts to happen: pop ups come from no where, new windows appear inviting you to click to "eliminate viruses" or "fix your pc". It happens to all of us. If you are unfortunately enough to accidentally click on a link, you enter web hell. Now your home page changes, java scripts start to run every time you open your browser, and you have to spend hours trying to remove all of the crap. Hopefully you did not get a virus.

Or we have all read about hackers intercepting WiFi data at coffee shops, stealing credit card numbers, social security numbers, etc.

Or what about privacy. Do you want Google, Akamai, Limelight, ATT, or other big corporations or government being able to intercept your personal data without your knowledge? It is very easy to do so. Most routers that carriers use have CALEA support (all HauteSpot routers support CALEA). This is a way to capture everything that passes through the router to a file that can later be read. Typically this is done with a warrant if you are the government, but sometimes without. Hackers can do the same thing.

As surveillance moves to VSaaS (video surveillance as a service), using appropriate measures to protect your communications is essential. Not only do you prevent a lot of headaches, but you may keep yourself from being sued for not taking adequate steps to safeguard your customers data and networks.

For what it is worth, here are a couple of suggestions that I have to implement good security practices while using the Web.

First a couple of definitions:

Authentication - (Skip this if you already know what authentication is) Authentication is the verification of the truth regarding a piece of information or an entity. In the Internet world this generally means either verifying the identity of a person or a computer (web server, data base server, email server, video server). There are a few ways to validate the identity of someone or something on the Internet. The most common way to authenticate is to exchange a complex key either directly (pre-shared key) or through a trusted third part (certificated).

In the pre-shared key model, two users basically create a long random key or pass phrase. This key or pass phrase is then sent to the other person. Then every message sent or connection made from that point forward requires the key to be exchanged and verified to what is already known. It is more complex than this, but in general this is how pre-shared keys work. The problem with this is that you have to know the person or machine first in order to get the key from them to start with. You can't know everyone.

The other method of Authentication is through a trusted third party. There are many commercial companies that provide these services which are known as certificate authorities (CA), but the biggies are VeriSign, GlobalSign, GeoTrust, and many others. These companies are well known and make it their business to verify the identity of many companies. The certificate authority will issue a CA Certificate, which is a complex key and identification data that can be stored on your computer. This certificate is used for you to verify the identity of the CA.

The certificate authority will also issue certificates to users. Basically the user creates a long key or certificate request on the server computer that he wants to authenticate. This is sent to the CA along with a whole bunch of verifying information like bank account information, business license data, D&B data etc. The CA then issues a certificate which is installed on the server computer by the user. Now every time someone wants to connect to that server computer, the client gets the certificate from the server, verifies the certificate from the CA, and then connects to the server knowing that is it really the server he wanted.

You can think of this as asking for an introduction from the CA to the server that you want to connect to. If you trust the CA, then you can trust the introduction. In a perfect world you would verify the identity of every server (link) that you connect to on the web. We are not there yet.

Encryption - (again, skip this if you know what encryption is). Encryption is basically scrambling your data using a key that is a reference to unscrambling. If you have the key, then you can open the message. The first thing that needs to happen for encryption is to authenticate who you are talking to. Then you send them a key to use for a short period of time to scramble and unscramble messages. Then you change keys regularly from there so it is harder to crack your key.

The level of complexity of encryption is generally measured in key length. A long key of 2048 bits is hard. A short key of 64 bits is not so hard. A key of 128 bits is enough for most generally needs. More is better. If encryption is available and relatively fast, why wouldn't you use it for everything?

Suggestion 1 - Use Firefox as your browser - Firefox is an open source browser that is not tied to any corporation, and therefore less likely to be used for sniffing of your personal data. You have to weigh this against performance and the potential risk that an open product represents. But Firefox has a very good track record. Also, it has lots of security plug ins available and an anonymous browsing mode.

Microsoft IE and Chrome are great browsers, but they were developed by companies who have a vested interest in intruding in your privacy. Can they be trusted? Not a great track record, in my opinion.

Suggestion 2 - Use SSL as much as possible in your web browser. SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) is a network communication protocol developed by Netscape for authentication and encryption of web traffic. SSL authenticates a servers identity using a certificate and then encrypts all of the data exchanged with that server.

By using SSL you assure that you know that the server that you are communicating with is whom you think it is. And you also encrypt your communications to that server so that hackers and others cannot see what you are sending.

If you use Firefox, then the Electronic Freedom Foundation offers a tool that makes your browser first check to see if SSL is available before reverting to unsecure mode. HTTPS Everywhere makes it easy to at least try to secure your connections. This is a zero effort step to improve your safety.

Suggestion 3 - Enable SSL in your email client to connect to your mail server. This is a complex topic and I won't provide details on configuring your client. But if you use Outlook, Thunderbird, or other similar clients, you should make sure that your SMTP server and your IMAP or POP3 server connections use SSL. Many ISPs still use unencrypted connections for email. Definitely not good.

Just because you send and receive through your server using SSL, that does not mean that your mail goes out or comes into the server using SSL. Without certificated, authenticated and encrypted email, there is no way to know what happens once your email leaves your server or where it has been before reaching you.

Suggestion 4 - Use certificates in your email. This step sometimes can create problems. Not everyone has a mail client that can read encrypted and authenticated mail. Some mail servers will bounce your mail. But in general, it works pretty well. You can get a free certificate to install in your mail client from a number of sources: Comodo, StartCom, Secorio, TCTrustCenter and others.

Suggestion 5 - Use private browsing where possible. Firefox has a mode called Private Browsing which can be reached under the tools menu. Chrome has a mode called Incognito which can be reached under the toolbar. IE has InPrivate browsing which can be found under safety. All of these modes do basically the same thing, they hide all cookies, temp files, cache, and other identifying information during the time that you have them turned on. When you exit the mode, all your regular information is returned.

If you are going to be surfing the Internet with no particular destination in mind private browsing is a good idea. Then when you go to your bank or check your stocks, flip back to normal mode. You will lose all of your cookies at the end of session along with form data, etc, so if you planning on going back to a site later, maybe you want to use normal mode with SSL.

Suggestion 6 - Use a VPN. A virtual private network encrypts your network connection from end to end. There are lots of VPN solutions out in the market. I would suggest either setting up your own gateway at your office using something like a HauteSpot WRAPNXi router. Then you can run PPTP, L2TP or OpenVPN to dial in. There are also many different service providers that give you a cloud to VPN over. This is a more complex topic, but basically a VPN will secure your connections when connecting to remote sites or from your laptop or PDA to your office.

Suggestion 7 - Use TOR. (From their web site) "Tor is a network of virtual tunnels that allows people and groups to improve their privacy and security on the Internet. It also enables software developers to create new communication tools with built-in privacy features. Tor provides the foundation for a range of applications that allow organizations and individuals to share information over public networks without compromising their privacy.

Using Tor protects you against a common form of Internet surveillance known as "traffic analysis." Traffic analysis can be used to infer who is talking to whom over a public network. Knowing the source and destination of your Internet traffic allows others to track your behavior and interests. 
Some attackers spy on multiple parts of the Internet and use sophisticated statistical techniques to track the communications patterns of many different organizations and individuals. Encryption does not help against these attackers, since it only hides the content of Internet traffic, not the headers.


Tor helps to reduce the risks of both simple and sophisticated traffic analysis by distributing your transactions over several places on the Internet, so no single point can link you to your destination. The idea is similar to using a twisty, hard-to-follow route in order to throw off somebody who is tailing you — and then periodically erasing your footprints.

Tor makes it very difficult to sniff your data over the network.

Suggestion 7 - Use NoScript to selectively enable/disable javascript in your browser. This plugin for Firefox is a a mixed blessing. Javascript, Flash and Java are the programming languages used to manipulate web browser behavior. Without NoScript these programs are free to run on your browser. With NoScript you have to allow them. This is a great tool for preventing these programs from taking over your browser. The downside is that you have to explicitly enable each site. I think it is worth the hassle.

Suggestion 8 - Use an external password vault. Up until recently I used the saved password feature of my web browser to save my web site passwords. I should know better. I am sure that soon, if not already, someone will have figured out how to hack this. So I started using LastPass, which is a secure password vault. You have to make the leap of faith that LastPass can be trusted, but the reviews seem pretty good.

LastPass moves all of your passwords off site. You create an account and then secure it with a really good, long password. A plug in for your browser then grabs passwords from your vault when you visit sites.

Why do this? Well with a password vault you can then type in really long, random passwords that are difficult to break for all of your web sites. Save these really hard passwords in your vault. Then rely on your one password to protect all the others. Also, the passwords are available on other systems like your smartphone. Again, takes a leap of faith, but I think it is better than the alternatives of short, easy passwords stored in your web browser.

Suggestion 9 - Do the obvious. Have a good virus scanner, use a firewall, don't visit hacker sites and don't install pirate software.

Hope this helps protect you and your customers.

Trinity VPN Networking

We have been making great strides forward on building the next generation wide area network architecture for video surveillance. In my last post I explained how we were using a point to point VPN connection to link the Network Optix office in Burbank to the HauteSpot office in Los Osos over standard broadband Internet connections using our HauteWRAP routers. This link has been up and running for three weeks now with no issues. It supports layer 2 network discovery of cameras, multicast broadcasting (completely filterable and route-able using PIM and IGMP).

Trinity VSE VPN using HauteSpot Routers

Over the last week we have expanded this capability to include plug and play point to multipoint VPN connections to support Veracity, IQInvision and Network Optix field demonstrations of the Trinity "serverless" VMS system. Using our WRAPNXi VPN router/Gateway at the Veracity headquarters and WRAPLXi client routers in demo kits, sales staff can now take the Veracity office demo network on the road with them.

The WRAPNXi (data sheet is coming soon) is a 9 port gigabit Ethernet router that supports same complete feature set of all HauteSpot routers including layer 2 bridging, VPN gateway, BGP, RIP, OSPF, and mesh routing, firewall, QoS management, full diagnostics, and more. Setting this up for "dial in" layer 2 VPN was easy. User accounts can be stored on the router or on a RADIUS server, so you can scale up by simply adding more routers. The WRAPNXi can also support 2x2 or 3x3 multi-band MIMO wireless.

The WRAPLXi is a compact, single 10/100 Ethernet and 2x2 multiband MIMO wireless router. It acts as a client router that can sit behind a broadband firewall router, automatically configure itself, and automatically establish a VPN connection to the WRAPNXi gateway. It then shares the VPN connection to any devices attached to it. To the devices attached to it, the remote network appears local.

ColdStore NAS Appliance

Veracity is using this network to connect cameras and PCs at customer sites with their demonstration network. At their main office they have a Veracity ColdStore Network Attached Storage device and a couple of IP cameras. In a field demo kit they have a HauteSpot WRAPLXi, a Veracity Camswitch Quad, an IP Camera, and an optional Veracity PointSource power supply.

Connections are fully secured using AES256 encryption and SHA-1 certificated authentication. The WRAPLXi units automatically establish the connection and can be configured for both wireless or wired client operation. As far as the cameras are concerned, they see the local network at the Veracity headquarters and can stream their video to the ColdStore NAS as if they are in the office.

Trinity client viewing cameras in New Jersey
over VPN from California

Sales staff use the Trinity VSE client software to view live video from cameras both at the customer site and back at the Veracity office. They can also attach to the ColdStore NAS and scroll forward and back along a time line, moving from live viewing directly from the camera to stored video from the ColdStore.

This is an incredibly strong sales tool. But more important, it can be an incredible infrastructure for deploying Video Surveillance as a Service. Using the HauteSpot VPN architecture, you can securely connect remote locations over the Internet, quickly, easily, and cost effectively.

Maybe we should call this "Virtual Networking as a Service" or "Networking on Demand"

HauteSpot and Network Optix

For the last year or so we have been collaborating with Network Optix to create a network video processing solution that is simple to use, compact, cost effective and bleeding edge. This solution combines Network Optix software with HauteSpot microNVR and WRAP hardware.

Network Optix is a software startup founded this year by Nathan Wheeler and Sergey Bystrov. I met Nathan and Sergey several years ago when they were working at Arecont Vision. Nathan was in charge of West Coast sales and Sergey was writing the software behind Arecont's products. Both are geniuses in their own right.

Nathan, a former Navy submariner, must have picked up a little atomic energy from the nuclear subs he served on, because it is really hard to keep up with his enthusiasm, excitement, and myriad of innovative ideas. Nathan not only can envision new ideas but he can make them practical and sell them.

Sergey is a software coding marvel unlike anyone else I have met. You can sit across the table from him, suggest a new product feature, and in minutes he will have coded, compiled and have running in the application not only your suggestion but additional extensions to your idea, all without breaking a sweat. His work is elegant, his understanding of complex video compression, processing, manipulation is unparalleled, and his focus is amazing.

EVE Media Player

Trinity Video Surveillance

The Networks Optix product set includes a multimedia client application named EVE for Extreme Video Environment (also named after Nathans year old daughter which is just darling), Trinity which is a "serverless" video surveillance system, and an upcoming client/server distributed video surveillance system. EVE was first announced in April last year and wowed users with its menuless, highly intuitive, user friendly, feature rich user interface.

Prior to ISC West in 2011 HauteSpot worked with Network Optix to port EVE onto our microNVR. Then we amazed show attendees with a demonstration of the microNVR running four 3 megapixel cameras and playing several dozen video files using the EVE media player. The video was in stunning 1080p High Definition and at full frame rate. The performance was excellent. ISC was a portend of things to come.

Much work has continued with HauteSpot updating the operating system build, driver set, and performance tuning the microNVR and Network Optix refining the performance of EVE, while also working on the development of Trinity and the new client server video processing architecture.

Nathan and I discussed our plans for product release and we agreed that we needed a demonstration system. So yesterday I drove down from San Luis Obispo to the Network Optix office in Burbank to set up our demonstration environment. I brought with me a HauteSpot WRAPSXC3E-N router and a microNVR.

Our plan was simple:

220 miles from Los Osos to Burbank

1. We have four cameras (Arecont, IQInvision, Axis, and Vivotek) all set up at our office in Los Osos (just outside San Luis Obispo). The cameras are connected to our WRAP wireless routers in a point to multipoint wireless network throughout and outside our office. The wireless camera network is connected to the Internet through a HauteSpot WRAPNXi router that supports VPN (Virtual Private Network) server and client capabilities. We also have a microNVR in Los Osos running Network Optix software for recording and transcoding.

WRAPSXC3E-N

2. In Burbank we set up the WRAPSXC3E-N router behind the SonicWall firewall router in the Network Optix office. The WRAPSXC3E-N automatically got a DHCP address from the SonicWall, it automatically configured itself for Internet connectivity, it automatically established a VPN tunnel connection to Los Osos, and the two networks (250 miles apart) were immediately connected as a layer 2 Ethernet network with a single IP broadcast domain. All by just plugging it into the network.

3. We set up the wireless interface of the WRAPSXC3E-N to be an access point for the new demonstration network. Then we also created a virtual access point (VAP) for local access to the Network Optix office network, replacing the low power-short range wireless that they were receiving from the SonicWall.

4. Everything was secured, end to end with AES-256 encryption, SHA-1 authentication, ssl certificates, and complex pass phrases. This is important when tunneling over public networks. However the set up of a remote client router really required no user intervention at all.

microNVR and EVE displaying a AV5105 camera over VPN tunnel

5. Then we connected a microNVR over wireless to the local network in Burbank running EVE. It automatically discovered and started to stream the live video from the Arecont and IQInvision cameras in Los Osos, as if they were local. The Axis and Vivotek cameras still needed some configuration modifications (you can't get everything right the first time :( )

6. Then we went one step further and set up dial in access to the WRAPSXC3E-N so that remote PCs could access the network over the VPN. This was a little more complicated and involved requesting and installing server certificates on the WRAP, setting up the VPN server, and port forwarding on the SonicWall. But this is something you would probably only need to do once at your central monitoring location, not at all of your remote sites.

In conclusion, our demonstration system went up without a hitch, it completely self configured itself, discovered all of the networks, established a secure VPN tunnel linking the two offices, discovered and self configured all of the cameras and was up and recording in minutes.

This model could be easily adopted for provisioning of remote monitoring sites by service provider. We are working on making it even easier and more cost effective. We are really excited about getting the finishing touches on this configuration so we can broadly deploy it. VPN tunneling is essential for remote service delivery and we have it nailed.

New Open System microNVR

Well, it has been two months since my last blog post. Time slips by so fast.

Over the last two months we have made some pretty significant progress on a lot of fronts.

microNVR Linux Version

The microNVR platform has received a couple of major upgrades. The first is a release of our first Linux OS build. This took a while as we spent a lot of time optimizing video drivers, wireless drivers, ethernet drivers, fixing ACPI, and getting the overall system tested and stable. The result is exceptional. The Linux OS has a similar look and feel to the MS Windows system build. The menus, the controls, the utilities available are all similar. Our hope was that customers who knew how to use MS Windows could easily learn how to use our Linux system.

Picking the Right Distribution
We tried to make the microNVR completely open and capable of supporting almost any application a customer wanted to use. In the surveillance market this is not what most vendors try to do. Most NVRs are closed and users are limited to the programs and functions that the manufacturer chooses to provide. On the HauteSpot microNVR the system is open and users can install whatever programs they wish. For this reason we wanted to be able to offer the widest possible selection of programs for installation, this means being able to install "packages" from a major Linux distribution like Fedora or Ubuntu.

The problem Fedora and Ubuntu distributions is that they are built for desktop systems and not targeted at performance on small systems. We decided to go with Ubuntu, which we believe has better end user design. Standard Ubuntu desktop uses a desktop manager (the program that provides the user interface) called Gnome. Gnome is very powerful and well supported, but it is a system resource hog. We replaced Gnome with a lighter weight product  that is faster and consumes fewer system resources, but still delivers all of the attractive and easy to use tools of Gnome.

The microNVR is able to access all of the programs from the Ubuntu Repository, which currently is more than 3000 applications. So if you are not happy with the applications that come pre-installed, you can always add your own. Although for most users, this will not be necessary.

Retaining Graphics Performance
In testing the video performance of the system we are able to decode and display 1920x1080 video at 30fps. At VGA resolution we can support over 300fps in decoding. So the microNVR is a very useful video client and, provided that the Video Management System (VMS) software can use the OpenGL drivers that route decode and encode functions to the Intel GMA 500 GPU, we can also handle transcoding and other functions needed for edge video processing. In most video surveillance applications you will just be piping the video stream right from the Ethernet port to disk and back out, without any need for transcoding, so we can handle under these conditions a lot of attached cameras.

Video Management Server Software
On top of this desktop and our optimized video and hardware drivers we wanted to run the best possible VMS software. In Linux there really are only two choices that we know of: Exacq Vision and ZoneMinder.

Fortunately, Exacq Vision is one of the best all around VMS solutions we have found, regardless of operating system, so we were very happy to run with that. We installed the Exacq Start server, which lets you run a single camera system for demonstration and test purposes. We also ran the Exacq Web Service which provides remote video management and control. The Exacq installation runs exceptionally well. In fact we think it runs better under Linux than Windows. The VMS can handle high demand cameras like Arecont AV8185 with no problem at all, and there is no problem remotely viewing the video using the Web Service.

For production systems you should purchase an appropriate camera license from Exacq. This can be from 1 to 12 cameras. While the microNVR can probably handle more cameras than this, provided no transcoding is involved, we don't recommend more than 12 cameras.

ZoneMinder is an open source VMS. It also runs well on the microNVR and provides a lot of features and functions, but is somewhat complex to configure and manage, when compared to Exacq. Also, as open source, there is no tech support department to call when you need help. Although the community support for ZoneMinder is pretty good.

To enable either of the VMS systems, all you need to do is log in and start the server processes using the Boot Up Manager GUI application. Can't be much easier than that.

Remote System Management
Since most installations of microNVRs are going to be in remote locations, where the microNVR will not be easily accessible, it has to have a very robust remote management capability. The first way to connect to the microNVR for management is using Virtual Network Computing (VNC). This gives you a full remote desktop as if you were locally attached with a monitor. This is very easy to use and gives you a nice GUI to configure everything with. But, VNC may not always work due to port forwarding restrictions or bandwidth limitations.

Both the Windows and Linux versions of the microNVR come with a Web Administrator interface. This powerful tool allows you to fully administrate the system from a web browser. The Web Administrator is easy to use and very fast. It even has an embedded Java VNC client so you can connect to the GUI desktop from within the Web Administrator if you like. From the web administrator you can install software, upgrade applications, start and stop system services, manage user accounts, transfer files and much more.

Connectivity Tools
Of course one of the most important aspects of the microNVR is its connectivity. Of course the microNVR comes with integrated 2.4GHz 802.11b/g/n MIMO and two 1Gbps Ethernet ports. But it also has 4 USB 2.0 ports which can be used for 3G and 4G modems. Users simply configure the modem using the graphic Network Manager application.

The microNVR Linux version comes pre-installed with a Dynamic DNS updater, a GUI firewall management application, and even full routing capabilities. It also has a DNS server, DHCP server, NTP server, OpenVPN client and server, StrongSWAN client and server and much more. All of the servers have simple to use GUI management applications or can be administered through the web administrator.

Capable Yet Simple
While this may all sound like a lot, the out of box experience with the microNVR Linux edition is very simple. We have learned a lot about customer experience, and making the microNVR easy to use is a top priority. Essentially the steps to configure the system are:

• Connect up the network
• Connect up the cameras
• Power on the system
• Log into the web administrator or use VNC 
• Enable the VMS system of your choice (Exacq or ZoneMinder)
• GO!!!

People who have not seen Linux recently should look at the microNVR Linux edition. It is really an excellent  solution that excels in many areas including performance, cost, reliability and remote management. 

Edge Video Processing

One of the biggest issues with distributed wireless video surveillance is bandwidth and scalability.

For the last 12 years, SentinelAVE has been developing scalable technology for Geo-spacial video data processing. Their flagship product is 3D Video Fusion, which I discussed in earlier blogs.

HauteSpot has been partnering with SentinelAVE to develop a new solution for in-vehicle mobile, nomadic, and remote location video. The idea is to create a system which records locally at full resolution from IP cameras that are attached to a microNVR. This video is evidence grade and provides full chain of evidence management including fragile digital watermarking for tamper proofing. At the same time streaming a highly bandwidth optimized stream to remote viewers for live situational awareness viewing.

SentinelAVE built a light version of their AVE server which is very efficient and runs extremely well on both the current microNVR v1 and prototype versions of the new microNVR version 2. The light version of AVE server can record and store locally on the microNVR host from up to 8 IP cameras, it can provide local display in a simple user interface, it can gather location, sensor, alarm, access control, SCADA, OPC and other related data, and is a good quality Video Management Server. More important, it can transmit in real time live or recorded streams using the SentinelAVE patent pending bandwidth optimized video protocol. Video can then be displayed in either a full Sentinel 3D or a lite 2D client.

How optimized is this stream? Last week we were back East at a customer site. We were connected using a tenuous 4G wireless connection. Download speed was fluctuating between 1 and 5 Mbps. We were displaying 5 cameras each in full VGA resolution using less than 2Mbps. When the network speed degraded to less than 2Mbps, we were still receiving images with slightly lower quality. In fact, usable video could be received down to less than 200kbps. Remember that we were recording all of the cameras at full frame rate and full resolution at the remote server end, so no evidence was lost.

We can capture GPS position, camera azimuth, camera tilt and camera velocity. This allows us to know exactly where the video is in 3 dimensional space, what it is looking at and where it is headed. Using this information, SentinelAVE can calibrate the image in real time to their 3D model background, allowing for  the model and the live video to be dynamically combined. Cameras can now roam the Earth and remote viewers will always have a context in which to comprehend the camera surroundings.

So how can this be used? For police, public safety, commercial central station monitoring and other mobile users, the microNVR with AVE is a low power, ultra compact, fully managed edge video processing platform that records and transmits over whatever available wireless network is available. Plus, you can display the video locally in the vehicle over 802.11 on any smartphone, PDA, tablet computer or laptop.

Put this solution on a bus or train and you have a location of the vehicle, the views of each camera inside and outside the vehicle, and a full context in which to view the video from the vehicle. You can also overlay data such as OMB 2 diagnostics, location, occupancy, etc. For school buses we can add RFID or badge readers, so at any time you can retrieve on screen the full passenger manifest of the bus. You can map entry and exit events of passengers to video. And you can relate surrounding buildings, streets, etc to video of a passenger as they leave or board the bus.

For dispatchers, incident commanders, central station monitoring stations the SentinelAVE 3D client presents camera displays in a the model so that they can see surrounding cameras, tie the cameras on the vehicle to cameras on poles near by. They can look ahead at traffic conditions. They can even control traffic signals, gates, valves, relays and other devices remotely.

Other solutions I have seen try to take video events and create text reports and alarms that can be combined with access control reports. SentinelAVE takes access control, alarms, SCADA and OPC and makes is visual, putting it right into the video display.

Look for product announcements soon regarding the new microNVR with SentinelAVE Lite Server.

Headed to ASIS

Today I am headed to the ASIS Conference in Orlando. In fact, I am at LAX waiting for my flight out as I write this. Business has been so busy this month and is forecasted to stay that way through the end of the month, that we really have had little time to prepare for this show.

On Thursday I was in LA working on formulating a RFP response for the LAPD Digital In-Car Video System. We have pulled together a great team of collaborators and expect to have an exciting, innovative, all IP solution for this project. As this project develops I will share what I can on the blog.

On Thursday afternoon I stopped in to see our team at SentinelAVE, our partner in developing 3D Live Video streaming. We have made great progress towards developing a new technical capability that will truly change the nature of remote video surveillance, particularly from mobile cameras. The team at Sentinel is amazing and they have added so many new features and made significant progress on our joint project. When we show you what we have built, you will be amazed.

Illuminar New IR Illuminator

Friday night I opened up two new microNVR systems, installed the latest versions of Exacq (4.7.11), ClearPix, and made sure all of the drivers, etc were current. Packed them in a box and stuck them in my suitcase, along with a ClearPix 180 camera, an Arecont AV8180 camera and an Arecont 1315 camera. Our plan is to set up one system at the Illiminar Booth 3610 with one of more of the cameras that we are bringing along, and to set up a second system in the Basler Booth 3253 using some of their cameras. Since we are arriving at the last minute, this is a good test of portability, configurability, and ease of use.

If you are in town for the ASIS show, please stop by either of the booths or give us a call so we can meet you.

On Wednesday I will be participating in the IPVideoMarket Info discussion that John Honovich is arranging in Orlando. This is the first time John has pulled together a meeting of industry folks to have a candid discussion about the surveillance market, trends, new products, etc. I am really looking forward to this innovative meeting and am expecting great things. I think the event is sold out, but you can check with John.

Global Emergency Resources at the Baltimore Grand Prix

First there was Hurricane Irene, and Global Emergency Resources (GER) and HauteSpot assisted first responders with evacuations by providing HC Standard patient tracking and the eWRAP mobile communications platform. "The systems just flat out work."

Baltimore Grand Prix Debuts With Muscle

Then came last week's Baltimore Grand Prix. GER deployed 6 eWRAPs along the race course. They powered them on at 7am on Friday morning and powered them off at 6pm on Sunday night. During the course of the event over 150 people received medical treatment and had their status tracked using HC Standard and the eWRAP. "Total success."

The story in the Baltimore Sun tells all about the event.  Suffice to say we were happy with the performance, particularly given the challenges of RF noise, changing reflection, heat and moisture. The eWRAP was a real trooper.

Havre de Grace Citizen’s Care Nursing Home Evacuated
Posted on September 8, 2011 by Adam Rybczynski

And now, over the past 3 days, Harford County MD had tremendous flooding, and GER was on the job again, with HC Standard and the eWRAP helping track the evacuation of 158 senior citizens from threatened nursing homes. Again, "everyone was ecstatic about the systems."

Over the past month, we have hundreds of hours of actual powered on use of the eWRAP and HC Standard in real disasters, with real lives at risk and real success.

We did learn a few things that we are now cooking into the eWRAP and HC Standard system. One of the most critical functions we added recently is central network health monitoring. Using a highly redundant  hosted server provider, we set up our HauteSpot Network Manager (HSNM) which monitors proactively every eWRAP system. We watch all facets of the system including CPU, IO, service status, connect time and more. Each eWRAP pushes log events to the HSNM server so we have a running record of all events on every device, so if there is a failure, we have a history to review.

HSNM also monitors each device by polling. Every eWRAP registers with the HSNM server and we have it's dynamic IP address being pushed, so we know when we last heard from each unit and what its condition was.

The next step for monitoring is to add carrier monitoring such as Verizon, ATT and Sprint, so we can get even more detail about system status.

We also ran some burn in tests. Connectivity Solutions Inc. in Sterling VA is our partner who builds the eWRAP into a rapid deployment kit. With the batteries that they provided in the kit, the eWRAP will run for 2 days (48 hours), without a recharge.

We also have been load testing the eWRAP with connections for hand held WiFi devices such as PDA, netbooks and the like. We have had over 100 active connections without any issues.

The eWRAP is a light weight, easy to deploy, weather proof, self contained communication platform. Just carry it to the scene, turn is on, and you are up.

With every incident we are improving the system performance, reliability, and management. The eWRAP is already the most reliable, most flexible, and easy to use communications platform there is.