Vicon Valerus VMS Guide

Valerus
Internet Access Guide
XX285-40-02
Vicon Industries Inc. does not warrant that the functions contained in this
equipment will meet your requirements or that the operation will be entirely error
free or perform precisely as described in the documentation. This system has not
been designed to be used in life-critical situations and must not be used for this
purpose.
Document Number: 8009-8285-40-02 Rev: 2/18
Product specifications subject to change without notice
Copyright © 2018 Vicon Industries Inc. All rights reserved.
Vicon Industries Inc.
Tel: 631-952-2288) Fax: 631-951-2288
Toll Free: 800-645-9116
24-Hour Technical Support: 800-34-VICON
(800-348-4266)
UK: 44/(0) 1489-566300
www.vicon-security.com
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Valerus Internet Access Guide
Table of Contents
General .................................................................................................................................................. 3
Valerus Topology ............................................................................................................................... 3
Connecting from the Internet ............................................................................................................. 4
Typical Network Layout ................................................................................................................... 4
Port Forwarding ............................................................................................................................... 4
Internet Gateway Installation ........................................................................................................... 5
Internet Gateway Configuration ....................................................................................................... 6
Router Configuration........................................................................................................................ 7
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General
Vicon® Valerus™ VMS is an advanced video management solution designed to operate on IP networks and uses
a standard web browser as its client.
Like any network-based system, the VMS offers an option to connect to it over the Internet, virtually from any
place that has access to the World Wide Web.
This document will explain some of the challenges involved in such access and the simple solutions integrated
into Valerus to resolve them.
Valerus Topology
The Valerus VMS is built from several modules:

Application and Web Server – The “brains” of the system holding global information and database
as well as running the web server used by the web clients.

Recording Servers (NVRs) – The recording servers handle live streaming of video and audio to
clients as well as recording and playback.

Client Application – Thin client using a web browser.
Depending on the specific system layout, the different modules can be deployed in various ways:

All-in-one – In this deployment, a single PC runs the application and web server, the recording
server and, if need be, the client. An example for such a system would typically be for smaller
installations where the minimum number of PCs is required.

Separate Application Server – Installing the application server on its own dedicated hardware is a
deployment method that can be used in the following cases:
o
Server is hosted in a different location on the network.
o
In a system that has more than 150 IP devices, Vicon recommends a separate application
server to allow all computer resources to be used by it.
o
System design calls for a dedicated server.
Separate Recording Server – Running only the recording server on a PC will be the most common
scenario, as multiple NVRs can be part of a system either to support all devices or because
different devices run on different parts of the network.
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Valerus Internet Access Guide
Connecting from the Internet
In order to connect to a Vicon Valerus system from the Internet, certain configurations to the router providing
the Internet connectivity will be needed. An explanation of the most common challenges and solutions follows.
Typical Network Layout
Most systems reside on a local network and connect to the Internet through a router. The typical Internet
service provides the router with a single “public IP” address that all devices on the network share in a method
called Network Address Translation or NAT for short.
This very efficient method allows a simple almost automatic configuration. When using NAT, the devices on the
local network have what is referred to as “private IP addresses,” which means they are not true internet IPs and
require the router, with its “public IP,” to access it.
Port Forwarding
In order to connect from outside the network (anywhere on the Internet) to the system, it is not enough to
connect to the public IP of the router. It is also required to tell the router where to “send” the connection
request; for example, if many cameras or many NVRs are on the network, it’s important to know which one we
are trying to connect with. This is similar to an office phone system, where you would always call the same
“public” number, but by using an extension number, the phone system will know to send the call to a certain
phone.
A technique called port forwarding allows this exact ability. Because there is only one public IP address, a
different port number will be assigned for each device; for example, let’s assume the public IP address is
47.21.27.216 and we have 2 servers:
Server one: IP 47.21.27.216 port 80
Server two: IP 47.21.27.216 port 81
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The router will then need to be configured to forward all the requests that come in for port 81 to the first
camera using its internal IP address and the requests coming in for port 80 to the second camera.
This solution presents the person configuring the system with a complex configuration scenario and a need to
know exactly which camera is set with which port in order to end up getting the correct video. To help and
reduce this complexity, Vicon Valerus uses a single Internet Gateway to connect to any of the Valerus devices
without having to configure the router to know each one.
Internet Gateway Installation
In order to add an Internet Gateway to a Valerus system, it is necessary to first install the Internet Gateway
module on the PC that will run it:

Identify the PC that will run the Internet Gateway module.

From the designated PC, open a browser and log into your Valerus system.

Enter the Valerus Configuration screen and navigate to System – Internet Gateway.

To download and install the Internet Gateway on this PC, click the link to the software download
page.

You can also browse directly to the download page http://xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx/DownloadInstall.html
(replace xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx with your Application Server IP address).
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Valerus Internet Access Guide

A list of the available installations is shown on the left; pick the latest Internet Gateway link and
click to download it to your PC.

When prompted by the browser, click Run to install the Gateway and follow the instructions on
the screen.
The Internet Gateway module is installed as a Windows® service and will automatically start when installed.
After an Internet Gateway is installed you can add it to Valerus to complete the configuration.
Internet Gateway Configuration
To add the Internet Gateway to your Valerus system follow the steps below:

On the same Internet Gateway Configuration screen, click the Add Internet Gateway button to
begin.

Enter the IP address of the PC you have installed the Internet Gateway module on.

Set the port to 9080. This is the port the Application Server will use to communicate with the
Internet Gateway module as well as port 9081 for streaming.

Click Apply to add the Gateway.

You can edit the Gateway details on the right side of the screen.

Make sure the Internet Gateway status is changed to online.
Note: The ports used to communicate with the Internet Gateway are set by default to 9080 and 9081. If for any
reason you need to change these to other ports, please contact Vicon technical support.
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Router Configuration
The final step will be to configure the router connecting the system to the Internet to forward the traffic to the
Internet Gateway (not to each device).
As previously described, you will only need to route browser-based traffic (http or https) to the PC running the
Internet Gateway module, which will communicate back and forth with the different devices of the Valerus VMS
system. There is no need for additional routing or forwarding.
The example below was documented using a D-Link DSL-6740U router and shows port forwarding set up. While
every manufacturer has a slightly different user interface, most offer a similar method to get to this
configuration.

In this router there is a menu under its firewall setting for adding a “virtual server.”

The basics, as discussed above, are to tell the router where requests coming from the Internet
through its public IP should be forwarded. In our case, these should be forwarded to our Internet
Gateway on IP address 192.168.20.55.
The standard port used for HTTP web browsing is port 80 (here showing port range 80:80).
Forward web requests coming on port 80 to port 9080 (here showing port range 9080:9080)
Forward streaming requests coming on port 9081 to port 9081 (here showing port range
9081:9081)
In case you want to connect to the Internet Gateway using HTTPS, you will need to route an
additional port. The standard port used for HTTPS web browsing is port 443.
Forward web requests coming on port 443 to port 9443. There is no need to route both HTTP and
HTTPS ports if only one is being used.
The internal IP of our Internet Gateway is set as the private one (here showing 192.168.20.55
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VICON INDUSTRIES INC.
For office locations, visit the website: www.vicon-security.com