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4 Reasons to Update Your Surveillance Hardware
Published:
April 2024
Updating surveillance hardware isn’t an everyday problem or necessity. However, not doing it in time can result in significant risk. But when exactly is the right time?
Updating surveillance hardware isn’t an everyday problem or necessity. However, not doing it in time can result in significant risk. But when exactly is the right time? Here are four advantages of updating hardware that might help you decide.
1. Avoid supply chain issues and potential downtime
The older your hardware, the more prone it can become to faults. Couple this with the fact that older hardware may not support the latest software, be out of warranty, and non-repairable, and you have the perfect storm for unwanted (and costly) downtime.
Tip: Stay on top of your warranty periods and end-of-life notifications to plan hardware update reviews. Your surveillance software may have a built-in ‘asset register’ functionality to help you keep track of configuration, licensing and version information for both hardware and software components.
2. Reduce running costs with improved energy efficiency
Energy consumption is costly. The trouble is that the older your hardware is, the less energy-efficient it is likely to be, especially when it comes to storage. Older hardware does not benefit from the latest high-capacity HDDs, meaning you need more physical storage servers than modern equivalents. In addition to taking up more physical space, this increases energy costs for powering and cooling.
Tip: Ask your supplier for power comparisons. By using the latest-generation storage hardware, you could reduce your energy consumption or hardware footprint by up to 80%.
3. Benefit from the latest surveillance capabilities
Surveillance technologies are continuously evolving, especially as AI and sophisticated video analytics improve, so it’s important to have hardware that will support newer, more advanced capabilities. Ageing equipment on older operating systems may not be ready for these more advanced features or support the latest software updates and features.
Tip: Talk to your supplier about your security objectives and your roadmap for implementation. They will be able to advise on any hardware updates that will be required, or whether your needs can be met with software upgrades alone.
4. Stay on top of cyber risk
Your IT operating system and security solution provider will examine vulnerabilities based on emerging cyber risks and issue patches accordingly. Depending on how old your hardware is, you may no longer receive the patches you need (due to discontinued support for legacy tech), or your system may be incompatible with the required updates.
Tip: New hardware will be more cyber secure due to the reasons given above, but it’s essential to combine this with good cyber security practices, like changing default usernames and passwords. Newer surveillance software and hardware may assist you with this process.
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