What Good is a Rugged NVR?

One could argue that the security and surveillance markets are in the midst of a technology paradigm shift. Closed circuits are opening their doors to the cloud and analog video streams are saying hello to their digital counterparts. On top of it all, we’re seeing a surge of new applications and projects, which are riding the wave of this market boon. As indicated by an Allied Market Research report, surveillance is expected to have a CAGR of 14.6% from 2020 to 2027.

Yet, amidst all of the hoopla and clamoring, folks have come to realize the benefits of modernizing their security systems arsenal. New and valuable software technologies like facial recognition and thermal image monitoring are paving the way for a drastically different, more secure world. There’s an expansive difference between the hardware needed to surveil a storefront and the security requirements common in a construction yard. Which brings us back to the title of this post – What good is a ‘rugged’ NVR?

How To Choose a Rugged NVR

We’ve been at this long enough to realize that no two security deployments are created equal. Each install carries with it a set of environmental parameters, goals and objectives. It’s because of these parameters that we pay careful attention to the specific surveillance hardware we recommend. Some elements that bare environmental consideration are:

• Temperature ranges
• Space constraints
• Power supply
• Vibration and shock variables
• Mobile vs. stationary
• Particulate debris in the air (dust, dirt, grease, etc.)
• Mounting
• Physical look & feel

No matter how good your VMS is, or how robust your management suite is, it all fails if the hardware fails. And one other thing that I’ll share with you from experience – if it’s going to fail, it always seems to fail when you need it the most. This is a hard truth that I’ve learned over the years, but a very valuable lesson to keep in mind.

Lessons From a Rugged NVR Professional

I’ve had the opportunity to put on a new hat recently. I’m now a teacher, but not in the traditional sense. I teach colleagues about the different factors that security and surveillance clients care the most about, and it’s a rewarding thing for me. Yet, as much as I may teach those folks, they teach me too. A funny thing about learning is that you don’t seem to remember as much when you do it right. It’s the mistakes (that we all make) where we find the most to take away. A friend once told me that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing the same way, but expecting a different result. There’s a lot of wisdom in that thinking, but we see it all the time. It takes one person who cautiously raises their hand after the 5th or 6th cycle to say “why don’t we try something else?”.

The problem with posing this question following a failure is that it comes far too late in the process. The real question from the start should have been, “How important is it that this thing works reliably?”.

I’ll sign off by saying that at OnLogic we claim no high stature or special status, we just take the time to find the components that work the best in the environment where they’ll be implemented. The result is a truly rugged NVR for your rugged deployment that you can count on to work when you need it the most. If you’re ready for someone to take the time to understand your needs and make recommendations, contact our technical sales team.

Note: This article was originally posted on September 14, 2014. It was updated for content on August 22, 2020.