needn't be confined to video residing on-site. If there are a number of locations running one or two cameras or perhaps a large corporation looking for secure off-site archiving to satisfy internal policies or compliance issues, there is another option: using a service provider to move video storage to the . As with other cloud-based services, by shifting surveillance to a virtualized solution, you can minimize the number of servers dedicated to local video archiving, saving on space as well as electricity and cooling costs.

Though the video data resides in the cloud, the physical security and/or IT departments can still control access to live and archived video through a secure viewing portal to the host provider. The cloud protects against possible theft or damage to onsite recordings. And, if the WAN happens to go down, the system can be augmented with low-cost local (NAS) for high-resolution, high-frame rate video recording.

With more companies hopping on the IP surveillance bandwagon, the worlds of physical security and information technology are quickly merging into a single domain. Once surveillance seeps into IT's world -- and that day is coming soon if it hasn't arrived already -- it's up to IT to establish a balance that protects the business and its people without compromising other mission-critical operations that share the network.

Nilsson is author of the book "Intelligent Network Video." He is a regular expert contributor on topics of networked video surveillance systems and cameras.

in Network World's Wide Area Network section.