Connecting Hardware Devices

Automatic device discovery

Automatic device discovery is turned off by default in your system. Select the check box to enable this functionality.

If the discovered cameras must use another user name and password besides the camera's default user name and password, select the Use the camera's default user name and password as well as the following credentials check box and type the relevant credentials.

Not all devices support automatic device discovery. If your system does not detect your devices and add them to your system, you must manually add the device.

Synchronize time on connected hardware devices

To ensure that the time stamp on connected hardware devices and the system is the same, enable the use of time servers. If you hardware device do not link up against a time server that ensures that the time on the hardware devices and the system is synchronized, you risk that the system stops recording from the hardware devices all together.

Setting	Description
Use the recording server as a time server (Recommended)	The default system setting if you have upgraded from a previous installation of the system's software. Use the recording server to synchronize time between hardware devices and your system. Milestone recommends that you use this setting.
Use this Network Time Protocol (NTP) server	Use an NTP server for time-synchronization instead of using the recording server. You must type the exact address of the NTP server to be able to use it. Milestone recommends that you only use this setting if you are an experienced system administrator.
Do not synchronize time on connected hardware devices	The default setting if you have upgraded from a previous installation of the system' software. If you do not want any time synchronization to take place between hardware devices and the system, use this setting. Note that your hardware devices may stop recording if the system notices a constant time drift between the hardware devices and the system.

Setting

Description

Use the recording server as a time server (Recommended)

The default system setting if you have upgraded from a previous installation of the system's software.

Use the recording server to synchronize time between hardware devices and your system.

Milestone recommends that you use this setting.

Use this Network Time Protocol (NTP) server

Use an NTP server for time-synchronization instead of using the recording server.

You must type the exact address of the NTP server to be able to use it. Milestone recommends that you only use this setting if you are an experienced system administrator.

Do not synchronize time on connected hardware devices

The default setting if you have upgraded from a previous installation of the system' software.

If you do not want any time synchronization to take place between hardware devices and the system, use this setting.

Note that your hardware devices may stop recording if the system notices a constant time drift between the hardware devices and the system.

IP address assignment settings

The system includes three different settings for assigning IP addresses to your hardware devices when you connect them to the network. Each of the settings have their own advantages and disadvantages. Note that not all cameras support the use of DHCP servers.

Setting	Description	Advantage	Disadvantage
Use of a DHCP server to assign IP addresses to connected devices	Use a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server to automatically assign IP addresses to devices you connect to the system. If your system does not use a DHCP server, devices keep their pre-assigned IP addresses or use a self-configured IP address which might not work.	The DHCP servers keep track of available IP addresses and add them to the devices when they are added to your network. You can move devices from one network to another without having to reconfigure them. This is the default system setting if you have upgraded from a previous installation of the system's software.	Devices can change IP addresses so that the IP addresses in the configuration do not match anymore.
Do not assign an IP address when connecting a device	No IP addresses are assigned to devices connected to the system. The devices keep their current setup, for example having a static IP address or a DHCP-assigned IP address.	Control everything related to assigning IP addresses yourself. This is the default system setting if you have upgraded from a previous installation of the system's software.	You must keep track of available IP addresses yourself.
Assign a static IP address to connected devices from this range:	A static IP address from your indicated range is assigned to each individual device added to the system.	Assigned IP addresses never change.	You must reconfigure all devices to change network as devices must be reconfigured before you can move them to another network.

Setting

Description

Advantage

Disadvantage

Use of a DHCP server to assign IP addresses to connected devices

Use a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server to automatically assign IP addresses to devices you connect to the system.

If your system does not use a DHCP server, devices keep their pre-assigned IP addresses or use a self-configured IP address which might not work.

The DHCP servers keep track of available IP addresses and add them to the devices when they are added to your network.

You can move devices from one network to another without having to reconfigure them.

This is the default system setting if you have upgraded from a previous installation of the system's software.

Devices can change IP addresses so that the IP addresses in the configuration do not match anymore.

Do not assign an IP address when connecting a device

No IP addresses are assigned to devices connected to the system. The devices keep their current setup, for example having a static IP address or a DHCP-assigned IP address.

Control everything related to assigning IP addresses yourself.

This is the default system setting if you have upgraded from a previous installation of the system's software.

You must keep track of available IP addresses yourself.

Assign a static IP address to connected devices from this range:

A static IP address from your indicated range is assigned to each individual device added to the system.

Assigned IP addresses never change.

You must reconfigure all devices to change network as devices must be reconfigured before you can move them to another network.

A Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server is a standardized network protocol used on IP networks for dynamically distributing network configuration parameters. With DHCP, devices request IP addresses and networking parameters automatically from the DHCP server. The use of a DHCP server reduces the need for a network administrator or a user to configure such settings manually.