I look at security kind of like a defensive coordinator would look at attacking the New England Patriots’ offense. It sounds a bit silly, but I actually learned the ideology from a good friend of mine that is a detective in a pretty bad city. If it works for him, it should be good enough for me – right?
Now, I had planned to detail all of my lines of security to you guys as well as show you install procedures for each… But then I used my head and realized how incredibly stupid that would have been for me to post all over the internet. Instead, I’m going to give you the basic premise of each line and let you use your imagination to fill in the gaps. The one exception being my third line of defense – video.
In any case, lets get on with it. Here are my three lines of defense:
1. The Defensive Line. This is the front line of my security system and like the big ole boys on the DL in the NFL, this is the foundation to my defense. It’s a simple and very reliable alarm system (wired or wireless) with sensors on every entrance to the building, motion sensors, glass break sensors, etc… There’s nothing magical here, but there are two important points to consider: One, your alarm system should be as reliable as possible. And two, your system should be monitored. 99.9% of the time, your front line will take care of any intruder.
2. The Linebackers. But what about that one professional that acts like he’s the star of Mission Impossible and somehow thwarts your security system? Linebackers in the NFL are typically really athletic – big and fast. They are also the one position on defense that is most exemplified by a nasty disposition. Come across the middle on a slant pattern and you are bound to get hurt – right? That’s my second line of defense… And that’s all I’m gonna say about those big ole boys.
3. The Defensive Backs. When the offense manages to pick up your blitz and neutralize your linebackers, they are most likely going deep on a fly pattern. That’s what safeties are for and that’s my third line of defense – a system of security cameras.
I did a lot of research on security cameras as I wanted a system that I could easily monitor from another computer or even my phone when I’m on the road. Google pointed to Sharx Security Cameras, so I ordered a couple and quickly got to installing them as soon as they arrived. The installation couldn’t be more simple.
The first thing you do is decide where you want to place the cameras. I used both indoors and placed one with a wide angle view of the entire building and another with a tighter shot of the most sensible break in point.
Next, you need to decide how you want to connect your cameras to the network. You can use a wifi connection or a wired connection. I used both – one camera hops on my wireless network while the other uses network cable routed directly to my router. I haven’t noticed a signal difference at all between the two. So, wifi is just fine thank you…
Once the cameras are located, you can power them up and use the pretty sensible directions to get them running on your network. It really is damned simple even for a guy that might not be too hip on networking specifics. And once done, so are you.
There are number of options for recording video. The cameras that I used each have onboard memory cards that they can record to. Once the card is filled up, it just starts recording over itself. I believe a 4 gig card is good for about 48 hours depending on the quality you set. If that’s not good enough for you, you can opt to put an external hard drive on your network and record directly to it.
All of that is great, but it’s the simple implementation of the “extra” features that makes the Sharx system really shine. Using my iPhone, I can log on to any of my cameras and get a real time view of my shop from anywhere that I have a cell connection. I can also have the cameras shoot an email to me if they detect motion. I can even set up a schedule to arm and disarm the cameras.
Sharx sells a number of different cameras with different capabilities. I chose the infrared job (SCNC2607) as it seemed to make sense being that my lights are off when I’m away. The images it is able to capture is really quite amazing. I shot a test video for you guys a few nights ago. Take in mind that it was pitch dark with the lights off. In fact, notice that when I turn off my torch I have to feel my way around the office. This thing manages to find light.
So there ya have it… That’s a 500 foot view of my security system and a look into my third line. If any of you are looking into securing your work spaces, I hope this little article helped in some way.
Up next? Well… It has taken me a little longer to get settled in than I had hoped, but as soon as I get everything spick and span, I will do an overview post of the all new Atomic Industry World HQ.
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