BIG PROJECT - Advice Needed

[Stranger220]

This forum has been a great piece of advice for my current camera build, but I need your help yet again guys. I'm currently running 4 cameras on Blue Iris. They are the Hikvision DS-2CD2032-I 3MP, Dahua IPC-HDBW3300 3MP, Dahua IPC-HFW2300R-Z 3MP and ESIP-PTZMINI12X-1080p 2MP Mini PTZ 12x. All of these cameras together with Blue Iris are keeping my CPU running at 90%. Now onto the project.

I have another property that I want to monitor. For that purpose I want to purchase additional cameras. One will be the ESIP-PTZMINI12X-1080p 2MP Mini PTZ 12x, and the rest will be 4 or 5 Hikvision DS-2CD2132-I Outdoor HD 3MP cameras. Here is the catch. I want to run all of my 10 cameras from two different properties on a single Blue Iris server. I understand that an ideal solution would be to purchase an NVR for the second property, but I want to avoid doing that, because I never used an NVR before and really want to keep all of my cameras on one server. I'm tech-savvy enough to forward all the necessary ports from my second property, so accessing the cameras is not a problem.

The problem is that my current "server" will not be able to handle all of these cameras on Blue Iris. As such, I want to build another computer that will do nothing more, but run Blue Iris on it and record 24/7. For that I need your advice guys in regard to what CPU I have to purchase, and how much RAM would this require. I also want to have some free room CPU-wise in case I decide to add more cameras in the future.

Thanks in advance for all the help.
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[fenderman]

What are the specs on your current machine? Are you running the cameras using direct to disc?
Keep in mind that streaming your cameras to a remote location can use tons of bandwidth...you may have a limit...
You will not need more than 4gb of memory..as far as cpu i would recommend an i7-4770 or 4790...
Dont build a machine yourself..buy from the dell outlet...you can get the latest processors on well built machines with 3 year next business day onsite warranties.
They often have sales like this one...expect to pay 500-550 for an i7-4XXX, dont get the models ending with T....S is fine though....dont get machines with dedicated graphics you want integrated intel graphics...
http://www.dell.com/learn/us/en/28/campaigns/gdo_commercial_weekly_sale_dfb?c=us&l=en&s=dfb&dgc=SM&cid=63952&lid=5475555

 

[Stranger220]

I'm currently running an AMD FD8320FRHKBOX FX-8320 FX-Series 8-Core Black Edition with 8 GB of RAM. This computer was mainly designed for gaming and everyday use, with the cameras being added at a later time, hence the specs. I'm not sure about the the direct to disc option, but if its set by default then I'm probably running it. As for the bandwidth it's all unlimited so that won't be a problem. To be honest, I've done all my previous PC builds myself, to save money, but if Dell had a good deal on it, I would be willing to purchase it from them.

 

[fenderman]

I'm currently running an AMD FD8320FRHKBOX FX-8320 FX-Series 8-Core Black Edition with 8 GB of RAM. This computer was mainly designed for gaming and everyday use, with the cameras being added at a later time, hence the specs. I'm not sure about the the direct to disc option, but if its set by default then I'm probably running it. As for the bandwidth it's all unlimited so that won't be a problem. To be honest, I've done all my previous PC builds myself, to save money, but if Dell had a good deal on it, I would be willing to purchase it from them.

Direct to disc is not on by default..in each camera got to the record tab >file format and compression..this will reduce your cpu load significantly...should be enough to run all your cams...The intel processors are only slightly more powerful. You are running 12mp, using direct to disc i record 12mp at about 30 percent on a weaker i5-3570s....


Now, power consumption is a separate issue...the amd is a power hog and you need a separate graphics card that is chewing power (use a killawatt meter to check)...
Buying from dell will be cheaper than building as the processor alone is 300...they have sales all the time, some better than others..the business machines are built exceptionally well, also the next business day warranty is very valuable (though ive never had to use it) because if you have a failure you can be up and running the next day instead of waiting to rma a part...

 

[bp2008]

I know you say your bandwidth is all unlimited, but if it is typical internet service there may still be two problems.

1. The speed might not be high enough for good image quality.
2. The ISP may still complain, since this amount of usage would make you an extremely heavy residential internet user.

If your server was local to the cameras, I would recommend you set your bit rates to least 6 Mbps for each camera for best image quality. Assuming 5 cameras, that would be 30 Mbps which is more than a lot of people's available download speeds, and definitely more than most people's available upload speeds. Do you really have that much upload available at the remote location? Do you even have that much download speed available at the location with the BI server? Also, if you multiply 30 Mbps times 30 days, you get 9.72 terabytes of data transferred, which is going to make any ISP raise an eyebrow if they don't just outright cancel your service (in both locations). ISPs are used to charging a premium for usage like that.

Even if you were to cut the bit rates on each camera to just 1 Mbps, which is lower than you'd probably be happy with, you are still looking at 5 Mbps constant. This is much more feasible with a typical internet connection but even so, it is 1.62 terabytes per month. Depending on the ISP you may get away with this, but you also encourage them to implement data caps as so many other ISPs have done in that situation.

 

[harrijs]

I don't think this is going to work out as well as you think. The bandwidth is going to be the killer here. Unless you are capable of running a wireless shot between the two properties this will not end well for you.

I would suggest that you spend your time and effort on researching and selecting a dedicated NVR for the second location. It will possibly be cheaper than building and or buying a machine for BI and will most definitely be less to operate where power consumption is concerned.

You should then be able to access the NVR remotely for management and reviewing purposes without raising any eyebrows with the ISP for your bandwidth usage.

 

[Lebeter]

heh the OP needs to understand the concept of unlimited with regards to his internet service. Unlimited means unlimited in the sense that your are not capped as to how much you can download over a given amount of time, but quite honestly that is horsecrap among the carriers in the fine print anyway. The real problem is obtaining the throughput capable of supporting the uncompressed stream from the cameras over a WAN either on your carriers backbone, or the wide open internet. Yeah sorry no home DSL/Cable internet is going to support that uncompressed stream from multiple 2-3mp cameras. You would completely saturate most residential broadband offerings in the U.S. You will have to run two BI installations, one at each site, or go the multiple NVR route. Even with the compressed streams at one site, multiple cameras can saturate the upload throughput of most residential broadband connections. What is being suggested in not practical with current broadband offerings unless you think you are going to park an oc3 in your basement.

 

[Stranger220]

Thanks for the advice so far guys. So, assuming I go with an NVR for the second location, what would you guys recommend? I'm mainly looking for either Amazon or Nelly's Security as the vendor, but I'm also open to other options. I never used an NVR before, but my understanding is that it's basically a server dedicated solely to running IP cameras. I would also need to be able to access it not just from a web browser, but from an android mobile app as well.