If you look at most major brands, in practice they all use OEM supplies from the same Chinese manufacturers with almost the same software inside (Dahua and Hikivision).

What unites them all is an extremely inconvenient and "dusty" software interface in the 90s style. Nevertheless, the market for such systems is huge, and specialists-weaknesses are extremely unpretentious. If the system installer said that a white IP address and a dance around the router are needed for video surveillance, then nothing can be done without them. The result is well known - a large number of video recordings where nothing is visible except a dust-covered camera lens.

There are many heavy and expensive systems for corporate users in the market. The market for large company systems is characterized by the fact that each customer has their own specific requirements. To meet the demands of customers, these products are gradually turning into monsters, which require dedicated expensive servers and licenses, implementation, detailed documentation and training. Classic video surveillance systems assume the presence of permanent operators in front of the monitors, who monitor the cameras and their functionality. Large system users take everything as a given and gradually adapt to any inconvenience because they receive a salary for it. All of this makes the system heavy and inaccessible for SOHO users.

Modern software allows for the use of computer vision online. The emergence of video analytics has positively impacted the situation. However, it also has some drawbacks, including high maintenance costs, complicated settings, and the need for servers with GPU cards. Many companies now offer cloud video analytics. However, this approach has a significant drawback - high traffic and service costs. Software for video surveillance on the market can be divided into the following categories:

1. Small programs, open source and self-made tools;

2. Complex and expensive programs designed for corporate clients. They work effectively, but require large costs for maintenance and special infrastructure;

3. Morally outdated hardware solutions that are inherited, inconvenient to use and have limited capabilities. They operate based on old video encoding algorithms.

4. VSaaS (video surveillance as a service) - Cloud solutions for recording and storing video recordings with cloud servers and access from any device with internet access."

VSaaS significantly simplifies device connection, but in this case, you have to pay for services for each IP camera on a monthly basis. These services are not cheap and the cost largely depends on the desired storage duration of the video recordings on the server. If you want to use, for example, 10 cameras, the cost will be substantial, ranging from $1,000 to $30,000 per year, depending on the archive storage duration, excluding the cost of equipment. That is, each monthly payment can be more than the cost of the equipment itself. The cost of cloud cameras is usually significantly higher than market alternatives, despite the same "hardware" inside. The bottleneck of VSaaS is the data transmission channel bandwidth.

During a 24-hour video transmission at 1920x1080 (HD), each IP camera can consume up to 648 GB of internet traffic in one month. With a high load, the provider may lower your connection speed. One camera with high image clarity using advanced compression algorithms, such as H.264, generates a data stream at a speed of 2-10 Mbps. On the other hand, the average outgoing channel speed in the world is currently only 5 Mbps.

A simple motion detector reduces the flow. However, the detector may react to random changes in the picture. This problem is solved by the real-time intelligent video analytics technology that operates on the subscriber side.

Neural network technologies allow for object detection, people detection and face recognition, and vehicle number plate detection. In comparison to a traditional motion detector, video analytics can reduce the load on the communication channel and cloud storage by tens of times. It is clear that cloud infrastructure is not effective for primary raw video processing. The better the video analytics, the less load on the data transmission channels.

On the other hand, cloud infrastructure can be effectively used for the horizontal scaling of the video surveillance system - for storing video and video analytics data, for connecting new surveillance objects, for serving a large number of users. The local NVR storage allows for buffering data. It increases the fault tolerance of the video surveillance system. Event triggering activates recording. Data is transferred to the cloud storage depending on the channel load.

It is necessary to take into account the speed of transmission limitations, as well as the presence of complex topologies with address translation (NAT) and network firewalls. As a rule, most of the technologies used for this require assigning a camera or video recorder an expensive white IP address, a complicated configuration procedure using VPN, UPnPct, and DDNS services.

Internet service providers almost always provide internet connection services based on dynamically changing IP addresses from a specific array. Each time a user logs into the network, this address changes, requiring systematic reconfiguration of the video surveillance system cameras. The provider may provide an internal network IP address, which will differ from the external address. A white static IP address is provided by the provider on a paid basis, and this service is not cheap. As is well known, the total number of IPv4 addresses in the world is limited, and they have all been distributed many years ago. Many cameras still do not support IPv6 addresses. However, the main problem is the use of an external IP address for an IP camera, which is extremely unsafe. An IP camera is a simple and poorly protected microcomputer, which leads to a large number of hacking and information leaks.

VSaaS significantly simplifies device connection, but in this case, you have to pay for services for each IP camera on a monthly basis. These services are not cheap and the cost largely depends on the desired storage duration of the video recordings on the server. If you want to use, for example, 10 cameras, the cost will be substantial, ranging from $1,000 to $30,000 per year, depending on the archive storage duration, excluding the cost of equipment. That is, each monthly payment can be more than the cost of the equipment itself. The cost of cloud cameras is usually significantly higher than market alternatives, despite the same "hardware" inside. The bottleneck of VSaaS is the data transmission channel bandwidth.

During a 24-hour video transmission at 1920x1080 (HD), each IP camera can consume up to 648 GB of internet traffic in one month. With a high load, the provider may lower your connection speed. One camera with high image clarity using advanced compression algorithms, such as H.264, generates a data stream at a speed of 2-10 Mbps. On the other hand, the average outgoing channel speed in the world is currently only 5 Mbps.

Recently, thanks to new solutions and P2P ("peer to peer") technology, it is possible to set up and configure remote video surveillance independently and very easily. This technology is not new and is widely used by many popular messengers, for example. The technology is based on an algorithm according to which devices communicate with each other directly and decentralized without designated IP addresses. The P2P protocol differs from the conventional client-server architecture by the absence of a designated server, as each node simultaneously performs the functions of both a client and a server. The main part of the costs of maintaining cloud solutions services consists of expenses for paying traffic and maintaining servers for encoding and decoding video streams. P2P technology eliminates such expenses for the service provider. Signal servers are used for connection, which only connect cameras and remote devices to each other.

In conclusion, P2P differs from other methods in that it uses the channel bandwidth more efficiently. In this case, there is no need for additional cloud retransmission and video stream processing (encoding/decoding), and the user is not dependent on the limitations of the cloud provider. The server in this case acts only as an intermediary, breaking NAT, and connecting your IP camera and user device directly. The video stream is transmitted directly from one device to another, your computer or mobile device.

The simplicity of network equipment settings is the main advantage of P2P technology over other methods of signal transmission. The ability to work with static and dynamic IP addresses allows for video surveillance to be set up in places without access to wired internet. All that is required is to purchase a 3G/4G modem with Wi-Fi support and set up the software.

Some ip camera manufacturers now have their own cloud and P2P services. However, such services have a very specific interface, are unstable and slow, designed for extremely unpretentious Chinese users. As a rule, it is necessary to install ActiveX extensions and use certain versions of browsers and flash plugins, and servers may be located behind the great wall.

The principle of "Chabudo" means "well, nothing, it's okay, there's not much difference." It can manifest in that, for example, you will be told that the onvif protocol on an IP camera is not needed as it is already outdated, or you will be provided with an outlet of the wrong size, a toilet will be installed on the balcony, etc. Most technological disasters are somehow related to "Chabudo": constant compromises that in everyday life are simply a source of annoying inconvenience, in an industrial scale become fatal.