The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Annex NYC is an experiential, technologically advanced exhibition that focuses on the greatest moments in rock history. As an adjunct location to the Cleveland-based Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, the New York venue offers the New York City area access to memorabilia from music revolutionaries, including John Lennon, the Beatles, Madonna, Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen and Elvis Presley. About half the artifacts on display are on loan from the Cleveland museum while others have been contributed by private collectors worldwide.

Opened in November 2008, the 25,000-square foot facility showcases defining moments in rock music history. The designers of the facility have infused life into the artifacts and rely on leading-edge technology to enhance the visitors' journey through the various galleries. Patrons wear headphones as they peruse the different galleries while motion detection systems cue music, multiple projectors and special lighting to simulate a rock concert experience. According to David Waggett, general manager of Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Annex NYC, an overriding priority from the onset was protecting the facility and the priceless artifacts contained within its galleries and exhibitions. "We took the concerns of our donors and colleagues from the Cleveland museum very seriously and decided to take an extra measure of precaution," he explains. "It was clear from the beginning that we needed an advanced, expandable video surveillance system that could monitor and archive all activity with a high degree of detail."

Overland SnapServer 620 alongside Mobotix IP cameras were used in installation

The Challenge

Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Annex NYC quickly learned that traditional closed-circuit TV technology would be inadequate for capturing the level of detail required. Moreover, the design of the exhibitions, many of which include pulsing or low-light conditions, created significant challenges. Additionally, the team sought a video surveillance solution that could be monitored remotely and modified easily to accommodate changing exhibition layouts. Annex executives also wanted to retain data-intensive video footage for up to a month eventually, which posed a storage capacity issue.

Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Annex NYC had to overcome a series of other obstacles to ensure the successful completion of the crucial video surveillance project. First, the team was faced with serious time and budget constraints in readying both the facility and exhibits for its grand opening. Second, the size and scope of the project required an enormous amount of coordination with multiple technology vendors, construction crews, set designers and outside contractors.

Fortunately, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Annex NYC relied heavily on the expertise of security firm ADT and All Covered, a Redwood City, Calif.-based technology services partner, to assist in the evaluation and deployment of an expandable, full-featured video surveillance system and storage platform.

The Solution

The collective group quickly decided that high-megapixel IP network cameras would be necessary to provide the required image clarity and remote management capabilities. So they evaluated offerings from Mobotix Vision Systems, the market leader in such cameras. Mobotix offers one of the most efficient recording formats (MxPEG) for recording high-resolution video directly to network storage, which eliminates the need for expensive network video recorders. However, high-resolution images require pairing with a storage solution that delivers additional capacity as well as performance, flexibility and scalability with solid reliability.

high-megapixel IP cameras from Mobotix provided high-resolution video directly to network storage

Ideally suited for this particular application, the Snap Server's small footprint combined with outstanding scalability and ease of use to deliver exceptional storage capacity. The Snap Server 620 takes full advantage of a dual-core AMD Opteron processor to easily handle capturing each camera's video independently to its network archive. The dual-core processor can be configured with four enterprise-class SATA II drives for an initial capacity of one, two, three or four terabytes as well as optional scalability of up to 88 TBs to increase storage capacity as well as retain video footage for longer periods of time.

Snap Server also comes embedded with GuardianOS 5.0 software, which includes heightened data protection, access security, improved heterogeneous file sharing and streamlined management. GuardianOS 5.0 also features both RAID 6 and 10 support to deliver the highest levels of data availability and resiliency. Other high-availability features include Ethernet teaming failover, hot-swappable drives, dual-power supplies and the ability to boot from any drive.

The Benefits

A straightforward installation involving 48 Mobotix IP digital cameras along with Overland's Snap Server 620 and expansion array configured with 16 TBs of storage was spearheaded by All Covered. In short order, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Annex NYC took advantage of its sophisticated video surveillance system to monitor activity throughout its exhibits, box office, store, offices and outside areas. Fine-tuning the cameras with variable exposure fields enabled the integration team to compensate for any challenge with the exhibition lighting, eliminating even the smallest distortions. Digital pan/tilt/zoom functions let staffers analyze every movement in post-processing.

Ease of installation and simple operation are two overarching advantages of the turnkey video surveillance solution. The IP camera installation was straightforward and moves, additions or modifications can be easily accommodated. "Anyone familiar with traditional CCTV installations will be pleasantly surprised to discover how easy it is to set up and operate the cameras," adds O'Brien. "Deploying the Snap Server was simple and it only took an hour to get up-to-speed on system administration." On an ongoing basis, O'Brien and the other IT consultants plan to leverage email alerts on the Snap Server to monitor drive status and storage thresholds while ensuring unparalleled support and site security."

Additionally, the integrated video surveillance system, which is based in Manhattan's SoHo district, can be monitored remotely by managers at Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Annex NYC's main offices in midtown. "It's a great advantage to be able to monitor the video surveillance system from my office or home," explains Waggett. "If I get a call from the security company about a motion detector that's been activated in the middle of the night, I can fire up my computer and immediately find the root of the problem without having to travel to the office. In that sense, the video surveillance system acts like another pair of eyes and ears, observing and capturing whatever is going on."

The ease of use and advanced capabilities of the combined Mobotix-Overland solution have been embraced wholeheartedly by staff and managers at Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Annex NYC, many of whom keep a window open on their desktops to monitor coverage at all times. "People are very passionate about their music heroes, so we need to guard all the artifacts without having an army of security people disrupting the overall experience," concludes Waggett. "With our turnkey Mobotix IP-based cameras and Overland storage solution, it's possible to remain very unobtrusive while still seeing and recording what's happening at all times, so we can have peace of mind in knowing that irreplaceable pieces of rock history are safe and sound."