Planning 3-4 Camera system for house... Dedicated Blue Iris PC seems like overkill

legend1011 · Sep 26, 2016

Hello, I've been a longtime lurker looking for some advice specific to my situation...

I am currently planning a surveillance camera system 3-4 cameras max for the house. 2-3 outdoor cameras will be Hikvision (either DS-2CD2032F-I 4mm or DS-2CD2042WD-I 4mm) and 1 undecided indoor camera to supervise the dog. My research in the forum recommends accomplishing this with a dedicated 5th/6th gen Haswell/Skylake based computer (Dell Optiplex or HP Elitedesk recommended) for Blue Iris. Our home isn't too large (less than 1000 sq feet) to justify more cameras, so I am conflicted with the idea of purchasing a dedicated computer for this because it appears to be overkill for our needs (I have seen mentions that an i7 Skylake processor being able to support over 20 cameras!). Now, would it be completely inappropriate/unadvised for us to have our Blue Iris Server double-up as a Home Theater PC for our living room? My thoughts are it would have 100% usage for the security cameras when we are not home and will work as a Media Player (DVD Movies, NetFlix/Hulu/Pandora Streaming, playing movie files, etc...). Please help sell the idea of going Blue Iris as opposed to going the NVR route. I'm just looking to be efficient with our computer purchases as possible.

Thank you for any help

fenderman · Sep 27, 2016

Re: Planning 3-4 Camera system for house... Dedicated Blue Iris PC seems like overkil

legend1011 said:
Hello, I've been a longtime lurker looking for some advice specific to my situation...

I am currently planning a surveillance camera system 3-4 cameras max for the house. 2-3 outdoor cameras will be Hikvision (either DS-2CD2032F-I 4mm or DS-2CD2042WD-I 4mm) and 1 undecided indoor camera to supervise the dog. My research in the forum recommends accomplishing this with a dedicated 5th/6th gen Haswell/Skylake based computer (Dell Optiplex or HP Elitedesk recommended) for Blue Iris. Our home isn't too large (less than 1000 sq feet) to justify more cameras, so I am conflicted with the idea of purchasing a dedicated computer for this because it appears to be overkill for our needs (I have seen mentions that an i7 Skylake processor being able to support over 20 cameras!). Now, would it be completely inappropriate/unadvised for us to have our Blue Iris Server double-up as a Home Theater PC for our living room? My thoughts are it would have 100% usage for the security cameras when we are not home and will work as a Media Player (DVD Movies, NetFlix/Hulu/Pandora Streaming, playing movie files, etc...). Please help sell the idea of going Blue Iris as opposed to going the NVR route. I'm just looking to be efficient with our computer purchases as possible.

Thank you for any help

Dont use your VMS computer for other purposes, you are asking for conflicts...if you want a stable system, dedicate it to BI.
You dont need an i7....buy an i5 haswell/skylake (though an i3 will suffice)...if you go haswell they can be had for 200 or so.
Also note that milestone essentials will be free starting october 10 for up to 8 cams. Any vms will be much more flexible than a standalone nvr...
Side note, dont get the bullet cams...get the turret style.

Brad_C · Sep 27, 2016

Re: Planning 3-4 Camera system for house... Dedicated Blue Iris PC seems like overkil

If you are using Hik cameras, why not look at the 4200 PCNVR software. Most NVR software just takes packets from the cameras and chucks them to disk. Blue Iris does other stuff that seems to require decoding the h264 streams and either needs massive CPU or dedicated hardware decoding (neither of which will play nice with watching movies or streaming). Other NVR software that just stashes packets will sit quietly in the background and not get in your way while you use your PC, and PCNVR is free. It's not fantastic, but it seems to work ok and the price is right.

Milestone might be another worth looking at. If you are not using the viewing client there'll be no decoding going on, just network and disk.

Have a play with the free stuff before looking at dedicated PC's.

fenderman · Sep 27, 2016

Re: Planning 3-4 Camera system for house... Dedicated Blue Iris PC seems like overkil

Brad_C said:
If you are using Hik cameras, why not look at the 4200 PCNVR software. Most NVR software just takes packets from the cameras and chucks them to disk. Blue Iris does other stuff that seems to require decoding the h264 streams and either needs massive CPU or dedicated hardware decoding (neither of which will play nice with watching movies or streaming). Other NVR software that just stashes packets will sit quietly in the background and not get in your way while you use your PC, and PCNVR is free. It's not fantastic, but it seems to work ok and the price is right.

Milestone might be another worth looking at. If you are not using the viewing client there'll be no decoding going on, just network and disk.

Have a play with the free stuff before looking at dedicated PC's.

BI has lots of features not available on ivms or essentials..

Brad_C · Sep 27, 2016

Re: Planning 3-4 Camera system for house... Dedicated Blue Iris PC seems like overkil

fenderman said:
BI has lots of features not available on ivms or essentials..

Yes it does, and real VMS software has lots of features not available on BI, but you get catty any time I bring up real CCTV hardware or software so I thought I'd limit the recommendation to trying stuff that does not cost money. The reality is BI is resource intensive and you pointed out yourself does not play nice with others. Why not test stuff that costs nothing to see if it's a good fit first?

fenderman · Sep 27, 2016

Re: Planning 3-4 Camera system for house... Dedicated Blue Iris PC seems like overkil

Brad_C said:
Yes it does, and real VMS software has lots of features not available on BI, but you get catty any time I bring up real CCTV hardware or software so I thought I'd limit the recommendation to trying stuff that does not cost money. The reality is BI is resource intensive and you pointed out yourself does not play nice with others. Why not test stuff that costs nothing to see if it's a good fit first?

Blue iris is just as real as ivms or milestone...I recommend milestone and exacq all the time...here op already chose BI , you asked why...I explained that there are functions in BI not available in other software. .. simple as that... milestone can be resource intensive as well... several posts here discussing that.... while essentials is free it lacks basic functionality like archiving to Nas... cameras need not cost 2k and software need not cost 100 per camera to be real...you can take your high brow snooty comments over to CCTV forum...BI plays just as nice with others as any other VMS...no VMS should run on a PC you also use for home use..a 200 dollar pc can easily handle his load...ivms is a joke ..

legend1011 · Sep 27, 2016

Re: Planning 3-4 Camera system for house... Dedicated Blue Iris PC seems like overkil

I appreciate the input. Is there a recommended Turret-style HIKVISION camera that is reliable? I'm looking online and keep seeing recommendations for the DS-2CD2342WD-I (4MP) model? Not sure if this a good fit, or the older 3MP model. My plans are to keep everything hard-wired (no wireless) including the indoor camera. Also, I'm not sure if Audio/Alarm features will be needed. I'm going to eventually setup a non-monitored alarm system that works with my phone. An older ADT unit is currently installed in the house, so I may be able to upgrade and use the existing wiring (or it should be easier to fish new cable).

side note, I noticed all the cameras come in white. Curious how easy it is to paint them/order them in a color that matches the house.

Thanks for the info.

nayr · Sep 27, 2016

Re: Planning 3-4 Camera system for house... Dedicated Blue Iris PC seems like overkil

legend1011 said:
side note, I noticed all the cameras come in white. Curious how easy it is to paint them/order them in a color that matches the house.

thats for a good reason, so they dont overheat.. I advise against painting cameras w/sun exposure.. if its not exposed to the sun, just mask em off and paint em.. the ones with metal housings will take spraypaint w/out fuss.. plastic cameras usually have to be plasti-dipped for a decent coating that will last.

legend1011 · Sep 27, 2016

Re: Planning 3-4 Camera system for house... Dedicated Blue Iris PC seems like overkil

Great advice... The trim on the house is white, so perhaps it's not the end of the world and would look great. I think the HIKVISION text is what I don't like... lol

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