Digital Signage - Getting ready #1: Equipment

This article is the first in a series on choosing the network architecture for your digital signage system, If you're unfamiliar with the concept of digital signage, or the various models involvedthen start with this article: Digital Signage: Get ready.

Without hardware, there's no digital signage system. Screens, network peripherals, players and/or servers - a minimum of equipment is required.

Whichever digital signage solution you choose, it's important to think carefully about the equipment you'll need for it to work properly.

Hosted model

In the case of on-premise and hybrid models (or architecture), the hardware and software belong to the customer. They must therefore be purchased by the customer. The company must ensure thatthe servers are hosted on the local network in optimum conditions (security, cooling, maintenance, 24/7 availability).

What's more, even under these conditions, equipment doesn't have an eternal lifespan, and it's important to anticipate, in long-term plans, the replacement of equipment, as well as the transfer of existing data to the new equipment. Even if these interventions are very rare, they are rarely included in the initial invoices and can contribute to the abandonment of the display project if these additional expenses are miscalculated upstream.

De plus, s'il est possible d'installer des solutions de redondance afin de garantir une grande disponibilité du service, éviter les écrans noirs et les pertes de données, elles sont complexes à mettre en oeuvre et impliquent des coûts d’achats nettement plus importants (le matériel doit être prévu, au moins, en double). Ces solutions nécessitent par ailleurs que les équipes techniques de l'entreprise cliente soit en mesure de les mettre en place.

SaaS model

In the case of SaaS architecture, players can also be sold to the customer. In the case of complete solutions (software and players supplied by the same service provider), however, players are often leased or made available for the duration of the contract, and therefore represent a lower initial investment.

Player obsolescence and wear and tear can then be less of a problem, and some providers offer standard exchanges after a defined period of use. The provider's servers are often hosted in datacenters in the best possible conditions.

Des services de redondance et de réplication sont en principe aussi en place, ce qui assure une continuité du service maximal et l'assurance de ne pas perdre de données. L'entreprise cliente n'a alors pas à se préoccuper de ces implémentations techniques complexes, souvent incluses dans l'abonnement proposé et peut se consacrer à son activité.

Ainsi, choisir une solution SaaS implique l'acquisition de moins de matériel, parfois aucun. L'installation est donc réduite au minimum possible, et la maintenance ne nécessite pas d'équipe technique en interne, puisqu'elle est effectuée par le prestataire, qui opère ses propres serveurs.

Depending on the company's objectives and structure, its data storage policy, the desire for scalability, the services to be implemented, the skills of the technical teams and the company's capacity to host servers, a preference for one of the architectures will emerge. However, there are many other parameters to consider.

Continue reading :

• Getting ready #2: Set-up time and effort
• Getting ready #3: Support technical and maintenance
• Getting ready #4: Training and familiarization time
• Getting ready #5: Connectivity and bandwidth
• Getting ready #6: Safety
• Getting ready #7: Usability and scalability
• Getting ready #8: Pricing
• Summary: Getting ready for digital signage

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