About to install 12-14 cameras. Recommendations from experienced people?

[Roye]

Hello!

As stated in the title I am about to install 12-14 cameras. I would be happy to receive recommendations for:

1. Type of cameras? (Think to choose DAHUA)
2. NVR or PC with BI? Which hardware specs?
3. Some cameras (3-4) will be 60 meters from the computer. Will the distance cause problems?
4. How much storage should I need? 1-2 cameras will record 24x7. Think to record 10FPS and quality not less than 3MP.
5. How to provide power to cameras? PoE switch seem expensive to me ...

I would love to hear recommendations and tips before I make purchases.

Sorry for the many questions. I would greatly appreciate any help.

Thank you!

 

[bp2008]

1) Dahua is a great choice.
2) I will always be a fan of the PC option, but then I'm really good with PCs. If you are not, or the primary users of this system are not, then an NVR is possibly a better choice. In particular, most NVRs are not limited by frame rates so you can run 25+ FPS on all cameras with no problem. In Blue Iris you often have to sacrifice frames to keep performance good.
3) 100 meters is the rated maximum length of a network cable, though some people even exceed this without problems. Even if you need longer length, you can do it with special adapters, or by linking switches together so you have a series of shorter cables. 60 meters is no problem at all.
4) Without knowing more about your needs, I would recommend a 6 TB Western Digital Purple hard drive. It should give you more than a month of video storage, assuming the cameras on motion detection aren't recording extremely often. Frame rate and resolution don't matter when calculating storage space. You just multiply bit rate and time together to find out how much space you need. E.g. "4 Mbps * 1 month". Type that into google and you get 1.31487192 terabytes. You have to really be careful with your units. The slightest typo will completely change the result. E.g. (4 MBps) * 1 month = 10.5189753 terabytes
5) You shouldn't have to pay more than about $300 for a PoE switch with 24 PoE ports and at least one gigabit uplink port. You can get them for a lot less money if you look on ebay at used switches. However large switches like this have fans and are noisy/loud. You might be happier with multiple smaller switches like this one

Amazon.com: BV-TECH 8 Port 120W 10/100Mbps Power over Ethernet Switch - Designed for IP Camera Use(Gray): Computers & Accessories

or this one

Amazon.com: BV-Tech 5 Port PoE Switch (4 PoE Ports | 1 Uplink Port) – 65W – 802.3af – POE-SW501: Computers & Accessories

linked together and linked to your NVR or router with a small gigabit non-poe switch like this

Amazon.com: TP-Link 5-Port Gigabit Ethernet Plastic Desktop Switch (TL-SG1005D): Electronics

 

[Roye]

Great info! thank you for your time!

Dahua is a great choice

Do you recommend any models better than that camera?

I will always be a fan of the PC option

I also prefer PC & BI but I thought the NVR is dedicated for that purpose and could work better. Can you offer PC specs? What processor and how much memory, and whether if other hardware components is required like Graphic card, Power supply ... etc ?

I would recommend a 6 TB Western Digital Purple hard drive

Is not it better to choose two 3TB hard drives to reduce the load on a single hard drive?

Thanks!

 

[looney2ns]

Choosing Hardware for Blue Iris | IP Cam Talk

Dahua Starlight Varifocal Turret (IPC-HDW5231R-Z)

 

[mat200]

..

Do you recommend any models better than that camera?
..
Thanks!

Hi Roye,

I have a similar one - and honestly I didn't like the form factor as much as the larger Dahua form factors such as the Varifocal Starlight Turrets or the Square faced Bullets. After using junction boxes in an exterior install I really found that I liked them a lot and the junction box for that form factor is smaller than I liked compared to the PFA121, PFA137, and PFB203W. There are other reasons with regards to performance of the camera which you should also take into account.

Your install, is this for a large building? home? business? What is more important - day or night time... what is more important quality of images or budget?

Good chance you may need different FOV / cameras for different views. ( thus why the varifocal starlight is well liked - as you can adjust the FOV to meet your needs better )

Do check out my post here for some good links on notes which a couple of us have made here:
Hello

Thank You