Atoning for past sins, greetings from Manchester UK.

[Wilberforce]

Hi folks, please be gentle with me for I've started to regret past camera purchases and I want to get a decent setup going around my home.

I started with a couple of D-link 942 cameras just to keep an eye on my dogs during the period when both me and my partner were out of the house. Then I decided it would be useful to be able to talk to the dogs as well, in case they got disturbed while we were out, so I got one of the 2132 jobs with two-way audio.
This was followed by acquiring Blue Iris and setting up an old PC to record the camera outputs, all good so far.
Where it all went wrong is deciding I wanted "better" cameras, getting carried away with shiny stuff syndrome, and buying a couple of newer wide-angle D-link internal cameras and an outdoor model. Of course, they don't want to play nice with BI, and while they can record to an SD card, or be configured to send motion alerts and the like, it's not ideal.

So where I'm at now is that I've decided to retire the whole lot as far a security goes, and do it better. I might keep the newer D-link jobs just to go in my attic space and cellar, just so if my partner needs to go into either space I can direct her to where something is (I'm not really worried about being able to record those areas for security)

The old PC has now been replaced with an HPE Gen8 microserver with Server 2016 and BI is up and running as a service on that, so that's a start.
I've been lurking a little while now, so I've got a couple of ideas, sure I'll be asking some questions though.

Cheers for reading, Jim

 

[crw030]

Welcome, the wiki will take you a long way, but the group here can answer challenging install questions and provide help if you get stuck.

You already have the microserver, but a quick google leads me to believe it’s probably running a xeon processor (go to computer properties, jot down the cpu, and check over on ARK whether the cpu has Quicksync because as you add more cameras that could become more important). Also the server OS is overkill, but if you already have the machine it’s money already sunk.

I don’t know the mic/mic less cameras by heart — so just double check any questions with forums or @EMPIRETECANDY (one of the trusted camera vendors here for Dahua) before buying the wrong cameras for each scenario.

Beyond that good luck, you won’t regret dumping the D-Link cameras.

 

[Wilberforce]

I'm with you on the server OS being a bit overkill, but as it came along with the server I didn't see the point in complaining. Like you say, it's money already sunk but the Microserver was a good price, currently powered by the Pentium G2020 chip; that can be swapped cheaply for a core i5 or Xeon chip that does have Quicksync if problems begin to crop up.

I've seen Andy's name pop up a lot, so I'm sure I'll be in touch with him at some point.
Anyhow, thanks for replying, I'll get back to my homework now

 

[EMPIRETECANDY]

Hi folks, please be gentle with me for I've started to regret past camera purchases and I want to get a decent setup going around my home.

I started with a couple of D-link 942 cameras just to keep an eye on my dogs during the period when both me and my partner were out of the house. Then I decided it would be useful to be able to talk to the dogs as well, in case they got disturbed while we were out, so I got one of the 2132 jobs with two-way audio.
This was followed by acquiring Blue Iris and setting up an old PC to record the camera outputs, all good so far.
Where it all went wrong is deciding I wanted "better" cameras, getting carried away with shiny stuff syndrome, and buying a couple of newer wide-angle D-link internal cameras and an outdoor model. Of course, they don't want to play nice with BI, and while they can record to an SD card, or be configured to send motion alerts and the like, it's not ideal.

So where I'm at now is that I've decided to retire the whole lot as far a security goes, and do it better. I might keep the newer D-link jobs just to go in my attic space and cellar, just so if my partner needs to go into either space I can direct her to where something is (I'm not really worried about being able to record those areas for security)

The old PC has now been replaced with an HPE Gen8 microserver with Server 2016 and BI is up and running as a service on that, so that's a start.
I've been lurking a little while now, so I've got a couple of ideas, sure I'll be asking some questions though.

Cheers for reading, Jim

The 2 way audio one can refer to the IPC-HFW1831C-PIR. This one is working great.
Review-Dahua IPC-HFW1831C-PIR 4k Mini Bullet