BENCHMARK

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6TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION & SMART SOLUTIONS

Tested: Dantech SecurePoETested: Benchmark’s Best BuysAccess Control: Browser-based OptionsNetwork Zone: Selecting a Switch

Tested: 4K UHD Cameras Technology: Smart Intruder Alarms

Thermal ImagingDoes it offer value for money?

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Smarter power solutions?Dantech – SecurePoE

Dantech – SecurePoEwww.benchmarkmagazine.com

When looking at any security-specificpower supply equipment, there willinevitably be someone who asks

whether dedicated PSUs are really necessary.After all, they will tell you, a power supply is apower supply. The only real differencebetween a generic unit and a security one is aneed for tamper. As long as the output iscorrect there’s nothing more to worry about,they will suggest. It’s a debate that did onceinstigate a test by Benchmark to see whetherhigh quality power supplies were vital or not.

The team at Benchmark has been active intesting security equipment since 1992, and tobe honest in the early the days the only issuesever encountered with power supplies wereeither inappropriate or faulty units. In general,if the output was correct (or as near as itcould be) the devices would work.

As technology became more complex andadvanced ICs and more intensive processingcame to the fore, we noticed many deviceswere more ‘sniffy’ about the power suppliesbeing used. Even many correctly rated PSUswould not power up the devices consistently.Because most of the Benchmark test PSUs arequality items, wenoticed this morewhen out in the field,especially whenusing PSUs alreadyin situ or belongingto other people.

The result was atest with a numberof cutting-edgedevices. Thesewere tested withsecurity-centricbranded PSUs,PSUs from trade-basedmanufacturersand low costunbranded orunknown PSUssourced from‘catalogue’suppliers andauctionwebsites.

The resultsshowed more

variance in performance than expected. Thesecurity-based PSUs saw all the devicesoperating as expected. Only 40 per cent of thegeneric trade PSUs saw consistentperformance from devices, and that figure fellto just over 10 per cent with regard to low costPSUs.

As security systems become increasinglymore complex, the first rule is to ensure PSUsare designed and manufactured for securityapplications by companies committed toquality. There are other considerations too,such as consistent delivery, status monitoringand back-up protection, but qualitymanufacturing is pivotal to the right level ofperformance.

For many years, power supplies weren’t a significantconsideration for those designing and installing securitysystems. Devices were basic and power needs were largelyformulaic. PSUs were generally inefficient and often thedeciding factor when selecting one was price. Today things aredifferent. End users demand greener power solutions, newertechnologies are more sensitive to power requirements andmany modern systems can be seriously affected by randompower outages. Dantech believes it offers a smart solution in

the form of its SecurePoE offering.

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Dantech offers power suppliesdesigned and built for security applications,and the company’s SecurePoE range isdesigned for ‘always-on’ systems.

SpecificationSecurePoE is, as its name suggests, a PoEpower solution range aimed very much as thesecurity systems sector. The PSUs areavailable in Midspan and Multispanvariations. The Midspan units are designed for

use with legacy or externalswitches, while theMultispan models includeintegral Cisco switches. ThePSUs are available in arange of configurations forinternal or external use andare available with 1, 2 or 4ports. There are also 8 portvariants in rack-mountedformat.

Our specific unit was theDA1110-IN-4-G. This is anindoor 4 channel Multispanunit with UPS functionality,deploying a 10Ah VRLAbattery back-up.

The unit’s injectorsprovide up to 30W perchannel, simultaneouslyacross all four outputs.Mounted in a secure andtamper-protected metalenclosure, the connectionsinclude status monitoring.Transfer throughputmanages Gigabit and10/100Mbps bit-rates. The

PSU is suitable for IEEE 802.3:2012(IEEE 802.3at & 802.3af ) devices.

The PSU offers a variety ofmonitoring options. Each port

indicates if a PoE device isattached and if it is

drawing power, and thePSU’s PCB also

indicates that thePSU is powered; anyloss can be signalledto another system.

The UPS variants(including our test

unit) includemonitoring of mains

power status and lowbattery voltage. In the

case of a prolongedpower outage, the batterypack connections are

broken once voltage levelsare excessively low to prevent damage. Analarm condition is created if and when thishappens. The battery pack is automaticallyreconnected when power supply is resumed.

The PSU housing is also tamper-protected.The Multispan UPS models are supplied

with customised battery packs. This ensuresthat PoE delivery can be continued whenmains power is off. The battery packs useYuasa batteries. Stand-by times varyaccording to load, but by way of an example,Dantech quote the 10Ah pack as delivering100 hours for a 5W load, 20 hours for a 25Wload and 4 hours for a 100W load.

The Multispan units include Ciscounmanaged switches. Our unit included a five-way switch to allow connectivity of up to fourdevices. The switches do not require anyconfiguration and are supported by thebattery back-up in case of power outages. Theswitch is pre-mounted, with connections inplace. A single standard RJ45 connection isrequired to link to a network.

Build quality is good, and there are noreasons to suspect that there will be issueswith regard to longevity.

The SecurePoE unit is supplied with aselection of fixings and grommets, plus ablanking plate to cover unused knockouts.With regard to these, the housing has manyincluding some which are pre-prepared andcovered with simple-to-remove plates.

There is also an installation manual, ageneral guide to the SecurePoE range and amanual for the Cisco unmanaged switch. Intruth you don’t need the latter; it onlyprovides information on mounting options(which aren’t relevant as the unit is pre-

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mounted in the housing) plus a guide tooperating temperatures.

InstallationInstalling the SecurePoE unit is about asstraightforward as a PSU should be. Despitethe higher level of functionality and securemonitoring, any competent installer orintegrator will find the process simple andquick.

With the housing mounted, the connectionsfor status monitoring and power failurenotifications need to be made. These are viasimple screw terminals.

The network connections are made usingRJ45-terminated cables. The devices are simplyconnected to the PoE injector board, and asingle LAN connection is made to the spareoutput on the Cisco switch.

With the batteries connected via spadeconnectors, mains power connections aremade, and that’s pretty much it.

Connections such as those from the PoEinjector to the switch, and linking of batteriesare all complete when the product is delivered.The switch power is pre-wired and the unititself doesn’t require any software orconfiguration.

PerformanceOn initial power-up, everything works asexpected. Power delivery is consistent and asspecified, even with all channels delivering afull load. Over time this remained the case,

showing the stability and linear powerperformance that many of today’s morecomplex and power-sensitive systems require.

The SecurePoE set-up was tested with a widerange of cameras, all which performed as pertheir specifications. It was also tested with anumber of leading access control devices,along with some telephony and other non-security PoE-equipped peripherals. All behavedas expected and raised no cause for concern.

As the security industry increasingly deliverssmart solutions, so a degree of integration willrequire non-security elements to share systeminfrastructure. With this in mind, the Dantechsolution does what is expected.

There was little doubt that the switch wouldthrow up any concerns. Cisco devices are goodquality and some will argue that they’re oftenover-engineered. There are some (and amongthat number you can include a fair amount of ITmanagers and network professionals) whoaren’t keen on Cisco devices because at timesthey can be overly complex. However, as this isan unmanaged switch it is literally a plug-and-play item.

The monitoring and status signalling workswell, and the ability to include notification viaanother system, such as a VMS, does increasebenefits for both installers and end users. Allmonitoring and signalling behaved asspecified, and integration with out systems wasvery straightforward. When all is said and done,you’re dealing with basic relays.

The back-up performance is also good, andeven under heavier loads there is still sufficienttime to react to notifications. Whether thesolution is an alternative power source, a repairor reset, or the implementation of additionaltemporary security, the battery back-upensures a higher degree of protection.

The SecurePoE Multispan UPS delivers agood degree of performance, and deserves the‘Secure’ part of its name!

VerdictIncreasingly with modern security systems, aconsistent power delivery – and a degree ofresilience to keep systems running – isessential.

Increasingly Benchmark is meeting installersand integrators who are reporting that moreend users are not simply demanding a degree

of resilience from their systems, but are alsoseeking evidence that proper steps

are being taken. Theimplementation of secure andmonitored power serves that

purpose, and as such theSecurePoE Multispan UPS from

Dantech has to be recommended.

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