Your Closed IPTV Questions Answered
Dedicated Micros President Mike Newton addresses some of the most frequently asked questions about Closed IPTV.
Q: With Closed IPTV does the proprietary nature of the discovery ‘lock you in’, and why not just spend a few days writing scripts to achieve the same thing?
A: Again the base layer of Closed IPTV utilizes zeroconf as one of the more universal discovery schemes, supported by many devices, and likely to be the most popular solution under PSIA and ONVIF. It is the further deterministic solution of Closed IPTV that easily delivers the security advantages as well, which it is likely that while such scripts may enhance discovery, they do little for enhancing security. The basis of all open standards is that the fundamental lower layers should be non-proprietary to achieve common ground and interoperability. It is however the enhancements at the higher layers that deliver the unique benefits and strengths of a solution, otherwise no one would be able to deliver an enhanced, bespoke solution. Closed IPTV completely fulfills those goals and delivers them with a few key strokes, rather than days or weeks of writing custom scripts, assuming this knowledge is held.
Q: Is ‘closing’ IP cameras an inefficient approach to gain simplicity?
Most certainly not. It is important not to confuse ‘Closed IPTV’ with restrictive proprietary protocols. The usage of Closed IPTV is highly efficient, as with little installer overhead the following is achieved:
- Deterministic allocation and configuration, combined or independent of the client’s wider DHCP or other addressing scheme.
- VLA
N level security protocols without the user even having to be aware that multiple and sophisticated VLANS have been implemented. - MAC level security ACL’s, again without the user even being aware of the MAC addresses of the devices used.
- Endpoint to Endpoint segregation, blocking access of any other IP camera from an unprotected endpoint.
- Full monitoring and protection against ‘Man in the Middle’ attacks, such as ARP (Address Resolution Protocol) storms, without any user configuration and intervention.
- Interoperability with other IP vendors, to the extent of the capabilities of that camera.
- “Trusted Endpoint” technology ensuring in an absolutely deterministic manner that the device connected physically to the port, and configured as a device to a specific channel is the device unaltered with no intermediate device.
- Both secure signature and optional encryption of the streams to a unique key generated when the system solution is secured, to both protect data from eavesdropping or interception and ensure that the validity and integrity of the data received can be assured.
This is all achieved by utilizing the Layer 3 Enhanced CCTV Switch, and selecting two or three options with the ‘Closed IPTV – Lock Down’ menu. This is certainly not inefficient, and achieves much improved secure scenarios than many alternative environments.
Mike Newton is President of Dedicated Micros Inc.
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