Security Dreamer

Video: How I Evaluated Three Video Analytics Management Platforms

I performed an independent, no-money-changed-hands evaluation of three products advertising video surveillance management plus video analytics management.  Here is a short video explaining my process and what I learned from my experience with Milestone XProtect, Aimetis Symphony, and Verint Nextiva.

All three products performed admirably, but there was one standout.  A few vendors chickened out, er, I mean, decided it was not of interest to them to participate.  :)  So kudos to Milestone, Aimetis and Verint for being proud of their products - as they should be.

DreamerGear Evaluation of Aimetis

DreamerGear Evaluation of Milestone

DreamerGear Evaluation of Verint

DreamerGear Review of Aimetis' Video Management plus Video Analytics

Aimetis Symphony Enterprise Edition 6.2

What We Loved: Complete, unified video and analytics management

What We Didn't:  Limited to Windows platforms

Price:  Starts at $13,600

Overall Score:  4.4 out of possible 5

 

Overview

Aimetis Symphony Enterprise Edition is a very satisfying product, mainly because it does everything you hope it will, easily and affordably.  I mean, if you’ve gone to the trouble to set up a surveillance environment using video analytics, you’d probably want a single, easy-to-use system: to manage the video received from many cameras; control pan tilt and zoom; select a variety of detections using analytics; manage storage; set up alerts on certain activities and detected behaviors; and create reports about those alerts.  Simply put, you’d want a system that manages surveillance.

 

For the full Review Summary:Download DreamerGear Aimetis Symphony

 

Related Product Reviews

Milestone XProtect Corporate and XProtect Analytics

Verint Nextiva 6.0

Video: How I Evaluated Three Video Analytics Management Platforms

DreamerGear Review of Milestone's Video Management plus Video Analytics

Milestone XProtect Analytics and XProtect Corporate

What We Loved:  Integration & Support for many different cameras

What We Didn't:  Poor reporting and incident management tools

Price:  Starts at $7990 plus purchase of 3rd party analytics

Overall Score:  3.5 out of possible 5

 

Overview

Milestone Systems is the video management company with the fastest growing brand recognition.  I rarely hear an integrator or end user talk about surveillance video management without Milestone being mentioned. The company’s XProtect Analytics is enjoying the same buzz largely because of the effective marketing and press exposure to the system. For me, it was Milestone that put the concept of video management merged with analytics management on the map.  So of course I had high expectations when I evaluated the product.

 

For the full Review Summary:  Download DreamerGear Milestone XProtect

 

Related Product Reviews

Aimetis Symphony Enterprise Edition 6.2

Verint Nextiva 6.0

Video: How I Evaluated Three Video Analytics Management Platforms

DreamerGear Review of Verint's Video Management plus Video Analytics

Verint Nextiva 6.0 Video and Analytics management

What We Loved:  Powerful and professional look and feel

What We Didn’t:  Too many separate products to get full functionality

Price:  Starts at $24,900

Overall Score:  3.5 out of possible 5 

Overview

In general, our entire experience using and testing Verint Nextiva to manage both video and video analytics was positive.  Nextiva has the power and capability to handle video management and analytics deployments from moderate sizes to the very largest.  It is obvious that Verint put a lot of thought into every aspect of the product architecture and design with, among other benefits, a very usable graphical interface and excellent product support.

 

For the full Review Summary: Download DreamerGear Verint Nextiva 

 

Related Product Reviews

Aimetis Symphony Enterprise Edition 6.2

Milestone XProtect Corporate and XProtect Analytics

Video: How I Evaluated Three Video Analytics Management Platforms

 

 

Working on my SecurityDreamer Travel Guide to the ISC show floor

At each big trade show, I distribute my SecurityDreamer Travel Guide to the show floor.  After all, these show floors are just too big, and all the exhibits start looking the same after awhile.  How are you supposed to find the good stuff and avoid the tedium in the limited time you have on the floor.

My Travel Guide is like a Lonely Planet guide to Barcelona or San Diego.  In it you'll find insights and recommendations to help you get the most out of the show floor.  I'll tell you which exhibits are really worth your time, and which really aren't.  I sometimes suggest things you can look for in a particular exhibit or questions you can ask when you are there.

People seem to like it.  It's free (so far) and no vendors get any say in what goes in it.  It's just me.  Although last year I allowed a few vendors to put ads in, and may do the same this year.  That helps defray the cost.  But I keep it to a minimum because I like my freedom to be able to rag on any vendor I please.

Hmmm, that reminds me.  I haven't put anyone in the DogHouse for awhile.  OK.  I will.  I'll be walking the show floor looking for marketing messages that really miss the point, or crappy boothmanship (if that's a word) or other signs that the vendor is clueless or just doesn't care about their customer or message.  Those vendors will go in the Dog House here on my blog right after the show.

Want one?  You'll have to come meet me at Margaritaville.  Want an invitation?  email me at steve@securitydreamer.com.  Sorry, not for vendors. 

/sh

Waterfall Solutions WF ISE+

Exact Name and Version of the Product: Waterfall IP Surveillance Enabler Plus - WF ISE+

Manufacturer and Website: Waterfall Solutions www.waterfall-solutions.com

Type of Product: Video Camera Security

Uses: Protect IP camera infrastructure from hackers and malware

What We Loved: Easy setup and no-nonsense architecture.

What We Didn’t: The price

Price: Prices are not available for public distribution.

Overall Rating: 4 out of possible 5

Overview

Lior and Avner took the redeye to Chicago, so when they walked in I immediately started the coffee pot. One cup to set up the equipment, another to describe the overall architecture and functionality. By the third cup of coffee, I completely understood the Waterfall technology. A single pot of coffee is the entire investment I made to qualify as a systems engineer of this elegant and useful product.

I’m a big believer in the value that IP video surveillance cameras give to large organizations. Easier video sharing, analysis and data gathering are just a few of the benefits. Unfortunately, IP cameras have a serious drawback. Not cost - prices are dropping and functionality is rising quickly enough that price doesn’t concern most buyers seeking flexibility and functionality. No, my concern is security. Security of the cameras and the network they share. Bad guys can turn a network camera into a network access point, shutting down or diverting video, or worse, connecting to internal systems and stealing corporate data. Think of the camera as a little, unprotected web server and you get the idea.

Network pros immediately think of standard IT security measures like firewalls, encryption, authentication, anti-malware software and the like. However, building that kind of infrastructure will take extensive involvement of IT professionals, and even then, the firewall may prove powerless against an internal Trojan horse.

Waterfall employs a networking concept called an air-gap to create a secure infrastructure for IP video surveillance. The IP connection from the camera is actually severed, then, reducing the payload to pure video stream in a non TCP/IP format, forwarded over a one-way optical connection to the receiver. The transmitter physically cannot receive, nor can the receiver send, so it is impossible to send any malware upstream or to divert video traffic. For those rare times when a PTZ command must be sent upstream, or when the camera needs a configuration change, the system opens a separate, firewalled, temporary connection that closes immediately after use.

This type of straightforward IT security, using standard technologies and best practices is just what the physical security industry needs to win the embrace of their IT brethren. We liked the easy setup and no-nonsense architecture. We didn’t like the price. We think the product should be priced about the same as an IT firewall protecting an equivalent number of ports. We recommend the Waterfall solution for any end user, distributor or integrator of large numbers of IP cameras.

Download This Review

Off to Israel

I'm heading off to Israel today, the home of some of the greatest innovations in security (I was going to say the "Mecca" of security, but somehow that didn't seem quite right), for a week of visiting security companies.  I'll keep you posted.

Hacking for fun and profit - or, how to make the world a better place by "picking the lock" of the iPhone

I first read about our gifted friend whose selfless act will forever free us from the shackles of tyranny on John Paczkowski's lovely blog Digital Daily.  So basically this cool kid, George Hotz, powered by dozens of Mountain Dews and Red Bulls, and equipped with determination and a soldering iron, found a way to unlock a new iPhone from the AT&T phone service.  Hotz described in detail on his blog how he opened the system to be able to use t-Mobile or international carriers.  God bless him.

DreamerGear: Yoggie Pico Rectifies Previous Peccadillos in a Tight Little Package

DreamerGear Evaluation: Yoggie Pico Pro v. 5.1.0

I have purchased six, count ‘em, 6, Bluetooth headsets. Why? I bust them or lose them. But I keep buying them because while I have one, it is so darned useful. Little, functional, très cool – I gotta have it. I feel the same way about my Yoggie Pico Pro™. I would have published this review the day the product was released… I had received one of the first ones that day and installed it before lunchtime. I even showed it off at a conference where I was speaking, and showed how so much security could fit so neatly in my jacket pocket when I packed up and headed to the airport. But by the time I got off the plane the little Yoggie was no where to be found.  Just 36 short hours of Yoggie enjoyment.  Ugh.

Name and Version of Product Yoggie Pico Pro™ 5.1.0

Manufacturer and Website Yoggie Security Systems http://www.yoggie.com/

Type of Product  Endpoint Security – Security Appliance

Uses  Protecting laptops and PCs

What We Loved Offloading security to a tiny USB appliance

What We Didn’t Frightfully easy to lose

Price $199.

Overall Rating 4.5 out of 5

Quick Replacement

So I got a new one. And love it. Functionally it is a lot like my first Yoggie, the Gatekeeper Pro™ which I evaluated earlier this year. It combines firewall, VPN, intrusion detection, intrusion prevention, anti-virus, anti-spam, a web and FTP proxy, and protections against other baddies like spyware, phishing and Trojan horses. All this packed in a device about the size of a standard thumb drive.

The Yoggie products are a step up from ZoneAlarm by Check Point or Norton Internet Security from Symantec in security, but a set down in convenience. ZoneAlarm and Norton are software based solutions running on the computer all the time. You can’t misplace software – but it also takes up resources on your computer and potentially drags down performance.

Fast & Secure

Network throughput with the Pico rivals the Gatekeeper with exceptional throughput and no detectable slowdown in network response times. In fact, with the Yoggie handling email and web scanning, Internet response times actually increased.

I complained in my review of the Gatekeeper Pro that it should be a PC card instead of a USB device. The Pico is a prodigious step toward the smaller and more “integrated” form factor, but it is still a bit too fat. I can’t fit another memory stick in the USB port next to it. A future version really ought to be a PC card that stays with the PC. I’d also like to see the price for consumers closer to $100.