Seeking recommendations to replace water-damaged NVR

el_Pedr0

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Hi all,

I bought a HiWatch (by Hikviskon) kit a couple of years back but unfortuntely the NVR sufferred water damage and no longer turns on. I'd be grateful for some advice on what to replace it with.
I've got 8 cameras: All are Hikvision/HiWatch IPC-T140 4MP

I'd prefer the convenience of an NVR which includes PoE to power all 8 cameras.
I want to be able to access the streams of the cameras over the network as well as via the NVR interface.
I want to orient some of the cameras 90 degrees (i.e. recording in portrait rather than landscape) and for the recordings be shown in portrait as opposed to having to twist my head 90 degrees when viewing.
I want the cameras to record when there's motion.
Ideally I'd like to set the area for motion detection
Ideally I'd love for the recordings to be sent to google drive or similar.
Edit I'd also like to access the streams via an Android app when away from my property.

The NVR I had was an NVR-208M-A/8P. It was pretty limited, but with some jiggery pokery I could get the cameras on their own subnet which meant that I could access and stream their feeds from the network, rather than being limited to accessing it only through the NVR interface. Most of my other requirements were met by it as well. The one thing I couldn't do with the NVR/camera combo was to get the recordings automatically synced up to the web.

This is for my home, rather than some mission critical installation, so cost is a factor.

One other thing: I do run a server. But I'd be cautious about using that to replace my NVR because it's more at risk of going offline due to a crash or something.

Are there any other things I should look for in an NVR?
What NVR would you recommend.
 
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wodman

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Disagree with server statement. Been using old pc with omv for many years and it's been the most reliable electronics's I've ever owned.

I would stay away from using a raspberry pi as a server though for reliability reasons.
 

el_Pedr0

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It's more that my server is a homelab where I run a hypervisor with a number of different containers each with numerous bits of software - where I often test the edges of my understanding/capabilities. So it's not the hardware that might cause a crash, but my software configuration skills.

That said, if server is really the way to go, then I would consider it. It just suddenly makes uptime on the server much more important - nothing else on it matters if it goes down for a bit.
 

mat200

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Hi all,

I bought a HiWatch (by Hikviskon) kit a couple of years back but unfortuntely the NVR sufferred water damage and no longer turns on. I'd be grateful for some advice on what to replace it with.
I've got 8 cameras: All are Hikvision/HiWatch IPC-T140 4MP

I'd prefer the convenience of an NVR which includes PoE to power all 8 cameras.
I want to be able to access the streams of the cameras over the network as well as via the NVR interface.
I want to orient some of the cameras 90 degrees (i.e. recording in portrait rather than landscape) and for the recordings be shown in portrait as opposed to having to twist my head 90 degrees when viewing.
I want the cameras to record when there's motion.
Ideally I'd like to set the area for motion detection
Ideally I'd love for the recordings to be sent to google drive or similar.
Edit I'd also like to access the streams via an Android app when away from my property.

The NVR I had was an NVR-208M-A/8P. It was pretty limited, but with some jiggery pokery I could get the cameras on their own subnet which meant that I could access and stream their feeds from the network, rather than being limited to accessing it only through the NVR interface. Most of my other requirements were met by it as well. The one thing I couldn't do with the NVR/camera combo was to get the recordings automatically synced up to the web.

This is for my home, rather than some mission critical installation, so cost is a factor.

One other thing: I do run a server. But I'd be cautious about using that to replace my NVR because it's more at risk of going offline due to a crash or something.

Are there any other things I should look for in an NVR?
What NVR would you recommend.

Hi @el_Pedr0

Those look like they meet ONVIF specs so you have 2 options imho
1) Hikvision OEM NVR ( remember to match the tier of functions.. )
2) PC + VMS software + PoE switch. ( our members in general like Blue Iris for this on a used business class PC )

Often the NVRs sold by themselves are imho over priced, so at least in the USA we can find good deals on used business class PCs and find that a good cost effective route


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looney2ns

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It's more that my server is a homelab where I run a hypervisor with a number of different containers each with numerous bits of software - where I often test the edges of my understanding/capabilities. So it's not the hardware that might cause a crash, but my software configuration skills.

That said, if server is really the way to go, then I would consider it. It just suddenly makes uptime on the server much more important - nothing else on it matters if it goes down for a bit.
If you use a computer for Blue Iris or the like, that is the only thing that should run on it. Period. Don't use it for email, web surfing, containers, nothing else.
It should be on a good Backup UPS, as should any NVR.
Choosing Hardware for Blue Iris | IP Cam Talk
 

el_Pedr0

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If you use a computer for Blue Iris or the like, that is the only thing that should run on it. Period.
That's the issue. I've not got a spare machine lying around so would have to buy one (as well as a PoE switch). I assume both the outlay and the running energy costs would outstrip an NVR.
Running it in a container on my existing server would be a lower outlay (PoE switch + blue iris) and would have negligible additional running costs, but would make server uptime infinitely more mission critical than it is now.
 

looney2ns

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That's the issue. I've not got a spare machine lying around so would have to buy one (as well as a PoE switch). I assume both the outlay and the running energy costs would outstrip an NVR.
Running it in a container on my existing server would be a lower outlay (PoE switch + blue iris) and would have negligible additional running costs, but would make server uptime infinitely more mission critical than it is now.
Properly chosen, it wouldn't cost anymore to own or to operate than a good capable NVR.
 

wittaj

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A NVR is an underpowered computer and with the Blue Iris computer you turn off Windows updates and the uptime will be comparable to a NVR.

If you are concerned about power consumption, according to my kill-o-watt meter, my computer for BI uses less than my NVR does. In fact, for the true test, I actually still have an old NVR going just for kicks and backup until it dies. We had a power outage recently and the BI computer lasted the entire outage on backup power and the NVR did not - two separate backup units but the exact same model purchased at same time. You run the computer without the monitor on and BI runs as a service and you don't run anything else on it and the power isn't really as much as you think.
 

el_Pedr0

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OK, so reading between the lines, it seems like a VMS solution might be the way to go, rather than NVR. I guess I could test it out first on my server to see if it works for me before sinking some cheddar into new hardware.

I'd need an 8-port PoE switch though. Are there any particular features I'd need on a PoE switch?
 

wittaj

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Biggest thing on the POE switch is make sure it has enough power to power a camera on every port. Too many people come here where they add a 7th or 8th camera and think it is defective and it turns out that the total capacity of the POE switch they were using was already used up and that was the problem, not the camera.

I always recommend getting a POE+ switch - usually has a higher wattage capacity and if you ever add a PTZ, you are set.
 

DanDenver

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I ran a NVR for 5 years (LaView) but had friends that ran Blue Iris. I said to myself I did not want to 'get involved at that level'. But I switched to BI about 5 months ago and could not be happier. The NVR fan was so loud it was insane. Reliability and setup effort (for me) was no better or worse with either system. But at the end of the day the NVR was for the lowest common denominator user and was very limited in its capabilities. Mind you it cost me 600 bucks so was not their entry level system.

If you have cameras for 'fun' then go with any NVR as I think they are all just wal-mart level crap. But if you want to actually capture useful images and have extremely low number of false positives, then you should consider BI. False positives are very frustrating.
For example, After I setup my NVR 6 years ago (which ran HIKVision cameras) I got so many false positives my wife opted out after it became clear that I could not reduce their frequency. I would spend more time reviewing mundane useless footage every morning as there is no alternative to determining what may have occurred overnight. With BI, when I get an alert, something is happening. I jumped into BI shortly after it had integrated with DeepStack, and man is that the way to go!

So I guess it depends on what you are trying to accomplish. But it seems odd you would spend X amount of money on a system that 'sort of works' versus spending a little more (Big maybe on this point in my opinion by the way) and getting something that 'dang near always works'.

Please bear in mind that you do not need a new computer. Used computers are just fine, just make sure it is a dedicated computer with the needed basic specs. They are listed on this forum and are very helpful.
 

el_Pedr0

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Thanks for your guidance everyone. Looking at second hand switches. I'm wondering if it will be sufficient for the PoE ports to be 10/100 if there's another unpowered gigabit port for connection to the rest of the network?
 

wittaj

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The smallest capacity device, in the case a 10/100 POE switch, is the bottleneck limiting factor, so even if a gigabit exists upstream, it is only going to be fed 100.

Each camera could take 10Mbps or more depending on setting configurations. So do the math and is enough free board left over as you don't want to be pushing it at full capacity.
 

el_Pedr0

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Update: Got a great deal on a PoE+ gigabit switch (Netgear Smart GS724TPv2). 24 ports - way more than I'd need but there weren't many with more than 8 but less than 24.

In the next few weeks, I'll get round to installing BI on a virtual machine on my server first to test it out. And then maybe I'll have to consider getting a dedicated pc at a later date.

Thanks for your help so far.
 

CCTVCam

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A NVR is an underpowered computer and with the Blue Iris computer you turn off Windows updates and the uptime will be comparable to a NVR.
Just wondering how you are turning off updates on Win 10 as it only allows a delay. Hacking the registry? It's more for informational use than anything as I have utility that does it, albeit it's one I can't share.
 

iwanttosee

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Just wondering how you are turning off updates on Win 10 as it only allows a delay. Hacking the registry? It's more for informational use than anything as I have utility that does it, albeit it's one I can't share.
You need to turn off the windows update service and windows update medic service in service.msc. You can access service.msc if you type it in the search windows and you'll need to access the regedit.exe to be able to turn off windows update medic service. Do a search, you'll see.
 
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