VSaaS
Cloud Video Surveillance using IP Camera
Video Surveillance as a Service (VSaaS) refers to hosted cloud-based video surveillance. The service typically includes video recording, storage, remote viewing, management alerts, and cyber security. The video processing and management is performed offsite using the cloud, though the VSaaS system may have a simple onsite device to communicate with the cameras and the cloud, acting as a communications conduit. This is in contrast to traditional model, the video processing and recording and management occurs on a computer that is installed at on-premises.[1]
Video Surveillance as a Service (VSaaS) takes video monitoring into the cloud. Sometimes referred to as hosted or managed video services, video from customer IP cameras or webcams is transmitted to the service provider’s secure cloud infrastructure.The transmission of the video is made through streaming protocols such us RTSP (Real Time Streaming Protocol) through Ethernet or Wifi networks but can also be done through 3G/4G/LTE mobile communications networks if the cameras are to be portable or in movement.
VSaaS also eliminates the needs to store recordings of every video from every camera in video servers. These recordings are kept in the cloud and can be viewed using a web browser or a smartphone or tablet app.
The global market of VSaaS, according to recent studies, is expected to reach US$48 Billion by 2020.[2]
A true cloud video surveillance system – or VSaaS – with its associated benefits, is very different from a traditional DVR, NVR, or video management software (VMS) solution connected to the internet for remote access or remote storage.
The U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has created The NIST Definition of Cloud Computing which can help clarify some of the differences. NIST defines a cloud system as having five “essential characteristics”, as summarized below.
On-demand self-service: A user can automatically set and adjust capabilities without requiring human interaction with each service provider.
Broad network access: The capabilities are available over the network and accessed through standard mechanisms that promote use by thin or thick clients, such as mobile phones, tablets, laptops, and workstations.
Resource pooling: The service provider’s computing resources are pooled to serve multiple consumers, with different physical and virtual resources dynamically assigned and reassigned according to consumer demand. Examples of resources include storage, processing, memory, and network bandwidth.
Rapid elasticity: Capabilities can be elastically provisioned and released, in some cases automatically, to scale rapidly outward and inward commensurate with demand.
Measured service: Cloud systems automatically control and optimize resource use by leveraging a metering capability appropriate to the type of service. Resource usage can be monitored, controlled, and reported, providing transparency.
To deliver these five “true cloud” essential characteristics the compute resources are executed in a shared cloud infrastructure – it can be a public or a private cloud. Let’s look at how this works for VSaaS (cloud video surveillance) in contrast with a traditional DVR, NVR or VMS that is connected to the internet.[3]