Am I wasting my time with this attempt ?

K

Kentg

Young grasshopper
Sep 29, 2015
59
2
I am a homeowner in process of upgrading and adding to my single camera analog system. I just received a new Hikvis 4mp bullet cam. With the plan of adding at least one more possibly two.
I plan on using my PC a 3 year old dell running a i5 3.3 processor with 6G of ram with blue iris.
Here is where my plan deviates. I currently use a 3T seagate external via usb 3.0 for backup and a few files.
I have ordered and am waiting on a usb 3.0 pci card to upgrade my Dell to true usb 3.0 ports. I seem to get the impression that for a limited number of cams this might be ok.
Can I use this drive to record and store my video from a max of 3 cameras?
I want to store the hard drive in a large heavy gunsafe next to my desk like I did with the old systems dvr. I feel like it doesn't do much good to have recorded data if someone breaks in my home and steals the computer. A average burgler isn't likely to be able to open a 700 pound safe. And I'm not wanting to do cloud storage.

I am aware that I need an active usb 3.0 extension with power. I already have a small 4" fan and power in the safe so heat isn't a problem. It stays pretty cool and any heat actually helps control humidity in the safe.
If this won't work I suppose I will buy one of their 4 chanel NVR units and a purple WD drive.

Sorry for the long post.
 
In terms on will the external HDD provide sufficient speed for this, it should be plenty even on USB 2.0 (in theory) especially for only 3 cameras. Make sure you use good quality USB 3.0 cables and etc.

However, I don't have any personal experience with Blue Iris.

If you can't do that rig up an eSATA type setup.
 
@Kentg What is the exact model of the i5 you have? How many 4mp cameras will you be installing...
I would not use usb as your primary recording medium..What you can do is have blue iris write locally to the machine AND the usb drive at the same time. (by cloning cameras). Note that many usb drives spin down when not writing data so if you are only using motion detection it may be an issue...usb connections sometimes "disconnect" for no apparent reason.
You can also write to a hidden nas drive which might be more secure than a safe..as no burglar is going around your house looking for a nas to take...
 
Another good thing about a NAS is that you can set it up for redundancy in case a drive dies. It is a higher initial cost, but it may save you down the line. You can also use it for other things too.

Another way to get that redundancy is using the eSATA idea with 2 drives in the safe, and set up raid 1 on the machine BI is on.

Many ways to skin a cat.
 
Thanks for the replies. I had read some about USB dropping out sometimes.
My goal here is to make use of what I have without buying anymore hardware unless this does not work. I didnt think eSATA was able to be longer than 6 feet which is a pretty close to bing my minimum distance and it may be to short anyway. 10 feet would work but thats more than rated I thought.
Sadly at the moment my PC hard drive ( im not in front of it at the moment so I dont know exactly what I5 it is) is going bad with page faults. My new WD green HD showed up from frys today and Im going to attempt to clone it tonight/tomorrow and if it does not work I will settle for an image and to a clean windows 7 install and restore the image. I hope.
That being said if my external HD via USB 3 wont suffice I will probably just go with a Hikvision NVR and a blue 1 or 2 T WD purple drive. I dont need the kind of storage of a NAS or that kind of money. Plus space in the safe is a consideration. Id consider a NAS but it would have to be small and inexpensive. Same price range as a NVR.
 
Kentg said:
Thanks for the replies. I had read some about USB dropping out sometimes.
My goal here is to make use of what I have without buying anymore hardware unless this does not work. I didnt think eSATA was able to be longer than 6 feet which is a pretty close to bing my minimum distance and it may be to short anyway. 10 feet would work but thats more than rated I thought.
Sadly at the moment my PC hard drive ( im not in front of it at the moment so I dont know exactly what I5 it is) is going bad with page faults. My new WD green HD showed up from frys today and Im going to attempt to clone it tonight/tomorrow and if it does not work I will settle for an image and to a clean windows 7 install and restore the image. I hope.
That being said if my external HD via USB 3 wont suffice I will probably just go with a Hikvision NVR and a blue 1 or 2 T WD purple drive. I dont need the kind of storage of a NAS or that kind of money. Plus space in the safe is a consideration. Id consider a NAS but it would have to be small and inexpensive. Same price range as a NVR.
Click to expand...
I would not use a green drive in a pc to be used as an NVR...even if you are not storing to it..
 
Is that green drive going to be the main drive?

If yes, I don't think that's a good idea. In my experience it was just very slow for main system use. As storage drives they're awsome.
 
Hmm,,, I thought green was what was recomended for a standard pc HD. Would the purple be OK as a main drive in the system? Always running would be OK?
Its not to late to change to a purple. I will be driving near a frys on Thursday and coupld probably swap if they have one in stock.
 
Kentg said:
Hmm,,, I thought green was what was recomended for a standard pc HD. Would the purple be OK as a main drive in the system? Always running would be OK?
Its not to late to change to a purple. I will be driving near a frys on Thursday and coupld probably swap if they have one in stock.
Click to expand...
If its your primary drive get a 7200 rpm drive...Or even better, grab a 250gb ssd for 90 bux. Your system will fly and be smooth as butter. Way better than it was when new. http://www.amazon.com/Crucial-MX200...?ie=UTF8&qid=1443581050&sr=8-1&keywords=mx200
 
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It technically is, but for storage use ie secondary drive to a faster main drive i.e. an SSD or a 7200rpm drive. They spin at reduced speed to combat heat buildup.

Doesn't mean you can't use it in a desktop. It'd just be slower than usual.
 
Crap. My mistake on the HD pick. I will be near a frys in Indianapolis in two days and will grab a black 2T. I thought the green was the everyday 7200 and they don't even offer the blue in a 2T. Its a bit more but since its my main drive in my PC and I plan on keeping this for the near term I will bite down.
 
Kentg said:
Crap. My mistake on the HD pick. I will be near a frys in Indianapolis in two days and will grab a black 2T. I thought the green was the everyday 7200 and they don't even offer the blue in a 2T. Its a bit more but since its my main drive in my PC and I plan on keeping this for the near term I will bite down.
Click to expand...
If you are using this as your primary pc for day to day tasks, Consider the ssd.. It will make a world of difference.. It's night and day...

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The prices for them have dropped dramatically in the last few years. I have a feeling maybe not too long from now they will have better $:GB ratio.

I put one in my 7 year old notebook and it was like a new machine again.
 
I'm due for a new notebook, lightning killed the built in ethernet port which helps me work wonders on devices and network stuff.

It was running Vista (I know its bloated like a whale, but works for me), and I just cloned the drive and filled up the small 128gb ssd pretty fast. So back out it came haha.
 
HAA!! It lives. I woke up Wednesday and all I had was a blinking curser on my machine. I followed thru and got a WD Black 1T HD and figured if it didn't work might as well go with a SSD for C if I have t do it the hard way. Folks I had already downloaded the http://www.macrium.com/reflectfree.aspx free home version and created the USB boot before my OEM C died a few days ago. It took me while to get my PC to boot from changing the boot order to the DVD windows disc and get win to run. I held my breath and followed the clone steps and it FREAKIN WORKED! Now Im running on my new WD Black and I also got a new SSD Samsung 850 EVO 250 G while at frys. I figured if I had to do a total clean install might as well do it right. Now I will work on getting that done and THEN I can download Blue Iris and press on with my original plan. If it doesn't work I will use a HIKVision NVR.
 
fenderman said:
@Kentg What is the exact model of the i5 you have? How many 4mp cameras will you be installing...
I would not use usb as your primary recording medium..What you can do is have blue iris write locally to the machine AND the usb drive at the same time. (by cloning cameras). Note that many usb drives spin down when not writing data so if you are only using motion detection it may be an issue...usb connections sometimes "disconnect" for no apparent reason.
You can also write to a hidden nas drive which might be more secure than a safe..as no burglar is going around your house looking for a nas to take...
Click to expand...

For the record I have an i5 2320 3g. I followed the advice here and from others and now have my 250G samsung SSD running with a WD 1T black and a 2 T green and cozy in the case. I just today had time to get BI and attach the first cam Hikvision 4m bullet cam. Dont have the modle # in front of me. If I get this one set up and Im happy with it I will add another just like it or similar for the backyard.

I like the idea of writing to both drives. I know the BLACK WD isnt the ideal choice but Im not going to buy a purple if I dont need it. Going to try and do continuous with motion as well. Saw a post refrencing the proper way and also use direct record. I have read a lot of posts here and have much more to figure out but Im sure with the resources here it will be fine. I dont see me using more than 4 cams max if that. After the first 2 Id like to add one of the hikvision indoor wifi freestanding cams for when we are away or just to keep up on what the dogs doing. I wont have it on all the time when we are at home. Hate to make a home porn by mistake :shame:
 
For the record this method of storage is working fine. The remote external USB 3.0 Seagate backup drive is working fine. My CPU usage averages in the mid teens to about 30% depending. I have 3 cams online at the moment. 2 hardwired and one cube and one more 4MP Hik outdoor hardwired is on the way. Its been an interesting learning experience and NO WAY could I have don't this without the help, advice and pointers from this board and few people in particular.
Im direct recording and the outdoor 4 and 3MP are on a frame rate of 15 and the cube is at 20.

I know that everyone says ram isn't really a big factor but my 6gig of ram is always at 70% per my usage meter. I plan on doing some more reading on the subjects.


 
Good job. I was planning on doing something similar before everything got wiped out from lighting. The plan was an nvr with an synology nas inside of a gun safe as a backup. Liberty has a kit with Ethernet, sub and power pass through as you might have already seen.
 
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