Wednesday, July 25, 2018

Looking for advice on a PoE surveillance setup

Even though the title says this is regarding a surveillance setup, the majority of my questions definitely revolve around the networking specific part of it.

I've been tasked with setting up from scratch a network for PoE surveillance cameras for a new business. I'll start off by saying that I'm not green at surveillance or networking, but I'm also not extremely well versed in either beyond a certain point. I have a good bit of experience in smaller projects, but this is one of the larger projects that I have ever been approached with, and it's something that has to be done right the first time so I'd like to get some input from you all if possible. It is pretty straight forward for the most part, with a couple of exceptions compared to what I am experienced with.

The questions I have are in order below as follows related to: •Ethernet/PoE distance

•Physically protecting the cable

•Hardware/physical interaction triggered recording (This one may be a surveillance specific question, I'm not sure but I wanted to throw it in here anyways if there is someone who reads this that has knowledge of making this happen regardless)

•Ethernet/PoE Distance:

This installation is going to require 16 cameras, and 9 of those cameras are estimated to be on cable runs of 270FT-400FT from the main PoE switch that everything will originate from. I've never been tasked to run ethernet beyond 300FT ever before, so I've never had to use any type of additional PoE injector/switch in the middle to boost it to that distance, and therefore I'm not exactly sure what is proper to use in the middle of those runs to achieve that required distance.

In my picture here: https://i.imgur.com/9xGe2L0.png you'll see a purple star that dictates a 2nd switch. That switch is not there, none of the listed equipment is, I just put that there as a potential location for example. Cameras 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, and 13 are the cameras that will be on cable runs of 270FT+ distance, and all of those are on that same side of the property. The cable run from the proposed main switch and proposed 2nd switch is estimated at roughly 200FT. From that proposed 2nd switch location, to each of the 9 cameras on that side of the property that are in question, is roughly another 200FT cable run to the furthest away cameras from that point.

I plan on using Cat6 STP, unless otherwise suggested. There are other cable-type related questions in the "•Physically protecting the cable" section below, so I'm not certain exactly what type of cable I will be, or should be, using just yet. I do not believe there will be much, if any, interference with any other type of electrical lines, or anything else that I should have to cross paths on, but I am not 100% certain on that just yet, in case that matters.

•Physically protecting the cable

I plan on burying the cable from the office building where the main switch will be, under the roadway and up to warehouse 2 where the 2nd switch is proposed, and I plan on enclosing it in some type of PVC or metal conduit. Do I need to use direct burial UV/Water proof cable if it is going to be enclosed in conduit? I had planned on it, but when I looked at prices of Cat6 STP direct burial cable, I wanted to double check before spending a ton of extra money for no added benefit.

Also related to the protection and grade of cable, regardless of what I do or don't use related to the previous question, is there a need to use direct burial UV/Waterproof or any type of reinforced cable inside of the warehouses for any extra durability and protection? The cable would not be directly exposed to the outdoor elements, but the warehouses are not climate controlled, they are fairly open the majority of the day with large doors that may allow some rain and dust/debris inside, and the cables would be run along the metal building structure. Would there be a need to use direct burial or any type of reinforced cable in those conditions? Should I enclose all of the cable in conduit, even the cable inside the warehouses? If I do run conduit inside the warehouses, would I also need direct burial or reinforced cable as well?

•Hardware/physical interaction triggered recording

This may or may not be a surveillance specific question and not networking but I wanted to throw it in anyways in case anyone does have some experience with anything like this. Another thing that is required that I have not had any experience with is, there is the need for some type of trigger mechanism on camera 14 facing the "Future Fuel Depot", to trigger that camera to record at that moment that it is triggered. What is needed is some type of mechanism that would be tied to the Fuel Depot, possibly the fuel nozzle at the actual pump, to where when someone picks up the fuel nozzle it triggers the camera to start recording. It doesn't have to be a trigger on the fuel nozzle, but it does have to be some type of hardware/physical trigger somehow. Whether that be a weight sensor buried in the ground to detect when a vehicle parks there, etc, something hardware of that nature to trigger the camera. What ever is most efficient and most practical of that nature. Neither motion detection or continuous recording are acceptable in this situation.

Those are my immediate questions, and I know the distance and cable grade questions are probably the most basic questions ever but I want to make sure I'm 100% on all of this because I've never done an installation with these requirements before. The other question regarding the triggered camera may be very basic too, but I've never seen that done before so I don't know what that would involve.

I am also open to any and all suggestions, questions, or comments, regardless if they're related to these specific things directly or not.

I definitely appreciate any and all responses I can get from this.



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