BI on Windows server vs. Win 11

[ennywohn]

thanks to all the ipcamtalk members here that have responded to various questions & posts the last year or so on BI & property surveillance.

the BI system is installed on a dedicated Win 11 PC w/ 16 GB memory, an NVME & an SSD for capturing photos. so it has adequate capacity.

last month someone made a comment about running his system on a windows server. this caught my attention & so...

presently the system runs 24 x 7. when not home the monitor is turned off. would it be a good idea to morph this to a dedicated windows server setup? pros/cons?

the BI software was bought last december.

thanks.

 

[danweber1]

Unless you are having a resource utilization issue, switching to windows server isnt really going to gain you anything. Windows server generally uses less resources than windows 11 of the same generation. But for a small implementation the difference is negligible. Win 2025 desktop experience and win 11are pretty dang close. Some folks swear win 11 updates break stuff and you can't trust Microsoft or chose to stay on win 10 or even 7, but working in IT for 20+ years in enterprise environments I can say I've only ever seen 3 updates break things over those years and we've always stayed current.

 

[ennywohn]

Unless you are having a resource utilization issue, switching to windows server isnt really going to gain you anything. Windows server generally uses less resources than windows 11 of the same generation. But for a small implementation the difference is negligible. Win 2025 desktop experience and win 11are pretty dang close. Some folks swear win 11 updates break stuff and you can't trust Microsoft or chose to stay on win 10 or even 7, but working in IT for 20+ years in enterprise environments I can say I've only ever seen 3 updates break things over those years and we've always stayed current.

i'm familiar with the 'fun' MSFT customers experienced when win NT 4.0 was the 'standard of the day'.

this is not about resource utilization, it is about functionality. the win 11 computer is on all the time. if BI would run on linux server, it would already be on it.

BI is a 'stand alone' application, right? so if it runs on a win server, does it run as a stand alone or as an app that i can access from the win server?

 

[danweber1]

It runs on a stand alone app thst you can access on the network or on the server locally

 

[ennywohn]

It runs on a stand alone app thst you can access on the network or on the server locally

after a bit of 'investigation' it is now clear the 'best' way here is to use BI as a service on the win 11 desktop & log out while not using/needing the BI monitoring.

this is slick and will work fine. thx.

 

[Bruce_H]

after a bit of 'investigation' it is now clear the 'best' way here is to use BI as a service on the win 11 desktop & log out while not using/needing the BI monitoring.

this is slick and will work fine. thx.

Just to clarify, if BI is set to run as a service it will still be running even if you logout of the desktop on Win 11, if you truly don't want BI to run when you are not logged into the desktop then do not set it to run as a service, it will then only run while the application is open on the desktop!

 

[ennywohn]

Just to clarify, if BI is set to run as a service it will still be running even if you logout of the desktop on Win 11, if you truly don't want BI to run when you are not logged into the desktop then do not set it to run as a service, it will then only run while the application is open on the desktop!

right. this is the reason that the win server seemed the best route. i didn't realize it would run as a service, which makes it much more usable/valuable. it is best to 'log out' if a computer is running.

 

[Bruce_H]

right. this is the reason that the win server seemed the best route. i didn't realize it would run as a service, which makes it much more usable/valuable. it is best to 'log out' if a computer is running.

I guess that would depend on what you are trying to do, all of my three win 11 pro BI systems run 24/7 with the desktop not logged in, some people leave the desktop open to use the BI program to view the cameras

 

[ennywohn]

I guess that would depend on what you are trying to do, all of my three win 11 pro BI systems run 24/7 with the desktop not logged in, some people leave the desktop open to use the BI program to view the cameras

right. this removes the constraint of leaving the desktop open to view the cameras 24 x 7.

 

[IAmATeaf]

after a bit of 'investigation' it is now clear the 'best' way here is to use BI as a service on the win 11 desktop & log out while not using/needing the BI monitoring.

this is slick and will work fine. thx.

I think your statement "log out while not using/needing the BI monitoring." might be causing some confusion hence @Bruce_H reply to state that running BI as a Service does not stop monitoring when you logout

 

[ennywohn]

I think your statement "log out while not using/needing the BI monitoring." might be causing some confusion hence @Bruce_H reply to state that running BI as a Service does not stop monitoring when you logout

i am not confused about it. i don't want the computer desktop active while shopping, etc. or when sleeping at night. then it is logged out, it is inaccessible except to someone with the password.