Assess network use of current LAN: what are you or the company using it for?

• There are software and hardware tools available to measure the level of congestion on a LAN. Talk to your company's network administrator.

Assess network use of current WAN links

• You may also have WANs that span between office buildings. WANs are geographically dispersed networks. You can measure the level of network congestion.

Determine the pattern of congestion levels over a given period

Do you need to add new equipment to the network, e.g. switches, or use existing infrastructure and equipment?

Patch panel

• It may be that the network traffic drops off during nighttime and weekends.
• The usage pattern will help you to determine whether you can:
  a) simply use existing network infrastructure as for general purpose network needs (i.e. same cabling and outlets, same switches if there is sufficient capacity) to add network video surveillance equipment, 
  b) use a combination of existing general purpose network as well as new network for IP-Surveillance, or 
  c) a separate network altogether for IP-Surveillance purposes.
• If additional network capacity is needed after assessing your existing network(s), new cabling is normally not needed. You may simply need to add a switch or reconfigure the patch panel.

Do you need to subscribe to additional ISPs for redundancy?

• If there is mission critical data, you may want to have a backup Internet connection.

Is distributed storage needed?

• Storage of recorded video can be distributed at local and distant sites to conserve bandwidth, as well as for security purposes.