Finding a NVR

I just installed my first camera from Andy the Dahua IPC-HDW5231R-ZE. Thanks to you guys and the wiki's I am very happy. I have now ordered 3 more cameras. At first I was considering using my NAS as my NVR, but after reading a bit here, that has been ruled out. Then I moved onto possibly using BI. The granularity of BI and customization is very intriguing to me, as I am a bit of a techie (probably not as much as some of the power users here), but the complexity of finding a standalone system and getting it all setup is a bit daunting.

I believe I am leaning towards getting a Dahua NVR. I already have a POE switch that will be used for all the cameras. I think I will max out around 6 or so cameras, which will probably all be IPC-HDW5231R-ZE. I have read that I should get a non-POE DVR. Is this DVR the go to DVR for my type of setup?:

Original dahua English version 4K NVR NVR5208-4KS2 NVR5216-4KS2 NVR5232-4KS2 8/16/32

When setting up the non-POE DVR I have to assume that I am not directly connecting the DVR to the cameras via ethernet cables. However, these DVR's are all predicated on how many channels they are, does that mean they have that amount of ports as well? Also it looks like these NVR's do not come with drives. If that is the case where would I find drives for these NVR's?

Thanks for the help guys!

I am familiar with Hikvision not Dahua so I cannot speak directly about this NVR. But it appears this NVR will suit your might want to get the 16 channel version if you are not absolutely sure of the number of cameras you will install. I started out at 8 and I am up to 20 now.

You will connect your cameras to a POE switch and the uplink port on the switch will connect to the RJ45 port on the NVR. The second RJ45 port on the NVR you connect to your router.

You will want to use Western Digital PURPLE drives in you NVR. I believe this NVR can accept 2 HDDs and I recommend to put in the largest HDDs that the NVR will accept or the largest your budget will allow.

10/4, the 8 channel and 16 channel are only $16 apart. So I will go ahead and get the 16. So I need to connect the second NVR port to the router not the switch?

The way I currently have my setup is I have an Ubiquiti Edge Router connected to a non-POE Switch in my main living room. Then I have a single ethernet cable run to the garage to my POE Switch. This POE Switch will have all my cameras connected to it(only one connected at the moment). I probably plan on installing the NVR in the garage with the POE switch, unless it is quite. So the way you are saying I would need to pull another cable to connect my NVR to the router? That's fine if that is what needs to happen.

Where is the best place to purchase the NVR5216-4KS2?

I am looking at them on AliExpress for $240? Is there another outlet I should be looking?

Also how much are you guys paying for IPC-HDW5231R-ZE I am paying $168 per unit? Thanks for the help

I found this NVR on this site. It says without logo. Is this a scam?

wholesale NVR5216-4KS2 price - buy DAHUA NVR5216-4KS2, 16 Channel 1U DAHUA NVR5216-4KS2 Network Video Recorder Support 4K and H.265 review

Blue65 said:

I found this NVR on this site. It says without logo. Is this a scam?

wholesale NVR5216-4KS2 price - buy DAHUA NVR5216-4KS2, 16 Channel 1U DAHUA NVR5216-4KS2 Network Video Recorder Support 4K and H.265 review

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Did you notice ">Delivery time:25 work days".

Send a message to @EMPIRETECANDY for a quote on the nvr. He ships DHL and accepts paypal. The 5216-4ks2 has only one rj45 port that you hook to your switch. This model nvr (and it's "cousin" with built-in poe) is possibly the most widely used nvr amongst the forum members.

10/4 I did see the 25 days. I bought it for a bit more on AliExpress. Should be here on Thursday though. I bought all the cameras through Andy.

Router connection to NVR is for remote access and web GUI connection

In that case it sounds like I will have to pull another cable, unless the NVR is not noisy.

Hey Blue65 nice snapper. Where you fish out of? I fish out of Grand Isle. I have my NVR in a cabinet in my office. Not loud at all. Just see if yours is before running cable.

I fish mostly out of Galveston Bay Complex and get over to Sabine as much as possible. Grand Isle, I went to the fishing tournament there one year. That was a hell of a time. I cant wait to get back out there.

I have a cabinet I am going to try to stick it in, before I pull another cable.

Blue65 said:

Where is the best place to purchase the NVR5216-4KS2? I am looking at them on AliExpress for $240?

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Andy sold me NVR5216-4KS2 at that price. Postage to Russia took 10 days.

10/4, I should have just asked him to price match, but I just went with Ali. Had not gotten here yet.

Blue65 said:

10/4, I should have just asked him to price match, but I just went with Ali. Had not gotten here yet.

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Andy price matched a list of things I wanted to buy from Ali, totalling 1050$. Fast shipment and a good reputation make this the best choice. However, Andy did not match some other things I wanted to buy (two starlights I boughtherefor 139$ and lots of fixtures) totalling to 430$, so I went to buy them on Ali. Previously I've bought a lot of stuff on Aliexpress, but nowadays I start increasingly disliking it. Horrible customer service if something goes wrong, take ages to get refunds back, difficulties paying with a UK card for shipment to Russia, etc.

@crossStreet Thanks thats all good information, for the future!