Assess network use of current LAN: what are you or the company using it for?

• There are software and hardware tools available to measure the level of congestion on a LAN. Talk to your company's network administrator.

Assess network use of current WAN links

• You may also have WANs that span between office buildings. WANs are geographically dispersed networks. You can measure the level of network congestion.

Determine the pattern of congestion levels over a given period

Do you need to add new equipment to the network, e.g. switches, or use existing infrastructure and equipment?

• It may be that the network traffic drops off during nighttime and weekends.
• The usage pattern will help you to determine whether you can:
  a) simply use existing network infrastructure as for general purpose network needs (i.e. same cabling and outlets, same switches if there is sufficient capacity) to add network video surveillance equipment,?BR>b) use a combination of existing general purpose network as well as new network for IP-Surveillance, or?BR>c) a separate network altogether for IP-Surveillance purposes.
• If additional network capacity is needed after assessing your existing network(s), new cabling is normally not needed. You may simply need to add a switch or reconfigure the patch panel.

Do you need to subscribe to additional ISPs for redundancy?

• If there is mission critical data, you may want to have a backup Internet connection.

Is distributed storage needed?

• Storage of recorded video can be distributed at local and distant sites to conserve bandwidth, as well as for security purposes.