Today, majority organizations and government agencies are adopting CCTV camera surveillance and thus there is a need to ensure high quality network equipment is employed so that security can be provided in a seamless and unhindered manner. There are numerous network peripheral devices in the market, which raise the question: how do we choose the best network peripherals to ensure optimum performance of the surveillance system and efficiency, the most important being a network switch.

A network switch, also known as a switching hub, is a computer networking device that performs the task of connecting various network segments. It plays an essential role in the modern Ethernet local area networks (LANs), wherein a network may have more than one switch. A switch is responsible for sending data only to the receiver who is supposed to have access to the given information so that the network is not overloaded when data is sent and integrity of data is maintained by the higher security levels. 

We need to consider the following points when investing in a Switch.

• How many CCTV cameras will be connected?
• Will the system run continuously or is it motion/event triggered?
• Are certain CCTV cameras inactive for any periods?
• Does the switch allow for system expansions and upgrades?
• Are we going to multicast the surveillance video?
• Is PoE (Power over Ethernet) required?
• What peripheral devices are going to be used?

It is best to test the switch performance when deciding. Non-blocking and wired-speed, both refer to the performance of an Ethernet switch. The switch performance can be determined by categorizing the speed based on the volume of data passed through the switch. Note Non-blocking is vital when a switch is connected to another switch or to a server that uses network based storage or transfers.