Blue Iris Hardware Recommendations

[sathed]

So, I'm working towards building an IP camera system (all 1080p) with a total of 16 cameras. On the BI website, the requirements for "Many and/or HD Cameras" are fairly vague.

Intel core i7
8GB or more RAM
Microsoft Windows 8.1 or 10, 64 bit
nVIDIA graphics adaptor for hardware decoding
7200+ RPM drives and/or SSD drive

For example, Intel core i7 doesn't mean much without the specs (4 core, 6 core, frequency, L2/L3 Cache, etc.). The same goes for the graphics card - I can go buy a $60 or a $600 nVIDIA graphics adapter.

That being said, how well do AMD CPU's work? I'm thinking something like an FX 8350 or FX 8320. Also, I'm thinking 16 GB RAM, Windows 10 Pro, 2 TB 7200 RPM drive (WD Purple possible?), and a graphics card.

What graphics card would you recommend for my setup?

Also, any other input you could give me would be greatly appreciated. This is my first foray into the field of surveillance.

Thanks!

 

[fenderman]

So, I'm working towards building an IP camera system (all 1080p) with a total of 16 cameras. On the BI website, the requirements for "Many and/or HD Cameras" are fairly vague.



For example, Intel core i7 doesn't mean much without the specs (4 core, 6 core, frequency, L2/L3 Cache, etc.). The same goes for the graphics card - I can go buy a $60 or a $600 nVIDIA graphics adapter.

That being said, how well do AMD CPU's work? I'm thinking something like an FX 8350 or FX 8320. Also, I'm thinking 16 GB RAM, Windows 10 Pro, 2 TB 7200 RPM drive (WD Purple possible?), and a graphics card.

What graphics card would you recommend for my setup?

Also, any other input you could give me would be greatly appreciated. This is my first foray into the field of surveillance.

Thanks!

Welcome to the forum. Dont use AMD, they are inefficient and should never be used for a 24/7 NVR. Buy dell 7020/9020 i7 haswell optiplex for under 500 when they are on sale at the outlet. You dont need 16gb of ram. 8 is more than enough.
Hardware acceleration has not yet been implement so we dont know about the cards...it should be out soon.

 

[sathed]

Welcome to the forum. Dont use AMD, they are inefficient and should never be used for a 24/7 NVR. Buy dell 7020/9020 i7 haswell optiplex for under 500 when they are on sale at the outlet. You dont need 16gb of ram. 8 is more than enough.
Hardware acceleration has not yet been implement so we dont know about the cards...it should be out soon.

Thanks!

 

[sathed]

Welcome to the forum. Dont use AMD, they are inefficient and should never be used for a 24/7 NVR. Buy dell 7020/9020 i7 haswell optiplex for under 500 when they are on sale at the outlet. You dont need 16gb of ram. 8 is more than enough.
Hardware acceleration has not yet been implement so we dont know about the cards...it should be out soon.

What would you recommend for a hard drive? Is the WD Purple a good option?

 

[fenderman]

What would you recommend for a hard drive? Is the WD Purple a good option?

yes

 

[bp2008]

There is a 35% off all business systems coupon right now (today only) at the dell business outlet which brings i7 machines down to the $500-$600 range. It might be as good as it is going to get for a while. If you pick one of the tower models you should be able to put in a second full sized hard drive. http://www.dell.com/learn/us/en/28/campaigns/gdo_commercial_weekly_sale_dfb?c=us&l=en&s=dfb&dgc=IR&cid=287137&lid=5628249

Also, there are some on ebay for a slight markup, like this one: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-Optiplex-7020-MT-Quad-Core-i7-4790-8GB-500GB-Win-8-Pro-3-Year-Warranty-/151874503228?hash=item235c6d023c:g:4d4AAOSwhcJWOaTR

Fair warning, I don't think these things come with extra hard drive caddys so you have to buy those separately since as far as I know they are required for proper hard drive mounting. They are the little plastic strips that go on either side of the hard drive to let it dock into the case easily.

 

[woody]

bp2008,

My thanks for the post on the dell sale. Ordered a 9020 MT w/ I7-4790 a few minutes ago...$558 plus tax

 

[usmc]

I am a newbie here and just joined the forum. I have been reading great information written by fenderman for last couple of days. Thanks to his recommendations and thanks to this thread, I just bought a Dell Optiplex 9020 with i7 using coupon code FF0B?DK3GDZSFV for $315 off, which is better than 30% off coupon (35% off is no longer available).
Here is the link to coupons (note: link above from bp2008 is still good):
http://www.dell.com/learn/us/en/28/campaigns/dell-coupons-codes-us-outlet-new?dgc=IR&cid=288187&lid=5565960

I plan to buy Blue Iris software.
I plan to get around 8 Dahua 3MP & 4MP cameras, some for outdoor.

Question:
Do I need a PoE switch?

Thanks,
Tommy

 

[Q™]

...I plan to buy Blue Iris software.
I plan to get around 8 Dahua 3MP & 4MP cameras, some for outdoor.

Question:
Do I need a PoE switch?

If you're going to place cameras outdoors you're going to want (IMO) to use POE Tommy...and running POE means you need a POE switch or a non POE switch with individual POE injectors for each individual camera. It's unlikely that using individual power supplies will work out very well for outdoor cameras BTW. I'd recommend a POE switch because it's less equipment than individual POE injectors...so there's a lot less (equipment) which can go bad. If you're going to install POE cameras then you're going to have to run Cat5e or Cat6 cable to each camera...why not let that cable carry the power to each camera also. A POE switch is a no-brainier IMO Tommy.

 

[bp2008]

You can use any number of PoE switches. It is common to get one switch with enough PoE ports to connect all the cameras, plus at least one port to link the switch back to the rest of the network. But in some cases it can be more convenient to use multiple smaller PoE switches. One on each end of the house for example, so you can run shorter network cables out to the cameras.

 

[usmc]

Thanks Q2U and bp2008 for great advice. Is there a guideline/sample setup thread for BI?

 

[Q™]

Thanks Q2U and bp2008 for great advice. Is there a guideline/sample setup thread for BI?

Not that I'm aware of Tommy; such help is spread out all over the place. I'd suggest that you install Blue Iris and then try to connect a camera. Within Blue Iris pressing the F1 key will bring up the BI Help content (for the area or item which you are trying to configure). BI Help is a very good resource. In addition, you should learn to use ipcamtalk.com search function, because everything you need help with is probably already been posted and discussed...if you can find it. Also, you might start a new topic for your installation and ask for help as you get stuck. But please don't ask how to do everything without trying to do it yourself first; everyone here has suffered through the IP camera and/or Blue Iris learning curve, so you should try to do it yourself first and ask for help only after you get stuck or are ready to go postal, eh? Good luck and welcome to The Obsession!

 

[wcrowder]

If you're going to place cameras outdoors you're going to want (IMO) to use POE Tommy...and running POE means you need a POE switch or a non POE switch with individual POE injectors for each individual camera. It's unlikely that using individual power supplies will work out very well for outdoor cameras BTW. I'd recommend a POE switch because it's less equipment than individual POE injectors...so there's a lot less (equipment) which can go bad. If you're going to install POE cameras then you're going to have to run Cat5e or Cat6 cable to each camera...why not let that cable carry the power to each camera also. A POE switch is a no-brainier IMO Tommy.

You can by a used enterprise POE switch from EBAY that will work perfectly for less then $69.00. Here is the last one I bought.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/291595779339?_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

 

[dobiecomputers]

I can't recommend the Ubiquiti Toughswitch Pro enough. I've completed over 30 blue iris installs and the versatility of the ubiquiti toughswitch is awesome. It's a managed switch, allowing you to access it via web interface, you can remote reboot cameras via the switch or even setup automated reboots if it loses connection with the camera. There is no bulky power supply (it's built into the switch) and they have PLENTY of power. I had used TP-Link green switches in the past and had issues with not enough power loading them up with cameras. It is also a VLAN capable switch if you want to put your camera network on a different subnet. If you are going to purchase a PoE switch do yourself a huge favor and just start with the toughswitch.

 

[wcrowder]

I can't recommend the Ubiquiti Toughswitch Pro enough. I've completed over 30 blue iris installs and the versatility of the ubiquiti toughswitch is awesome. It's a managed switch, allowing you to access it via web interface, you can remote reboot cameras via the switch or even setup automated reboots if it loses connection with the camera. There is no bulky power supply (it's built into the switch) and they have PLENTY of power. I had used TP-Link green switches in the past and had issues with not enough power loading them up with cameras. It is also a VLAN capable switch if you want to put your camera network on a different subnet. If you are going to purchase a PoE switch do yourself a huge favor and just start with the toughswitch.

$11

100% agree, but most people on here don't understand and have "cash flow" issues. for $11.50 plus shipping this will get them started and last forever. They'll still have to learn to terminate their own cables. That's why I posted it. HP has a lifetime guarantee to the original purchaser, buying it used looses that, but they don't fail if there kept dry... They have there limitations... It's a good deal for a home setup, plug in a camera and it will work, without power cords or injectors. The one I posted is not for home network use, they have 1 1gbit port and 8 100mbit ports. Cameras us at most 6kbits...

 

[fenderman]

You can by a used enterprise POE switch from EBAY that will work perfectly for less then $69.00. Here is the last one I bought.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/291595779339?_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

Have you tested the power draw of this unit? The specs indicate 190w power consumption...assuming 8x15.4 for the poe, about 70w are unaccounted for...if its drawing 70w on its own, a modern switch would pay for itself in a year...

 

[wcrowder]

Have you tested the power draw of this unit? The specs indicate 190w power consumption...assuming 8x15.4 for the poe, about 70w are unaccounted for...if its drawing 70w on its own, a modern switch would pay for itself in a year...

With two Dahua cameras, IPC-HDW4300C (max 4.5) and IPC-HDBW4300R-Z (Max 6.3W) along with an Axis 7014 on POE power; it draws 25 watts on boot and stabilizes at 12.9 watts. It's not very efficient, but it would take many years to burn $140.00 worth of electricity to make of the difference. Ubiquiti ToughSwitch is $173.99, I paid $28.00.

Cameras2# show power

Status and Counters - System Power Status

Maximum Power : 126 W Operational Status : On
Power In Use : 7 W +/- 6 W Usage Threshold (%) : 80

ProCurve J8762A Switch 2600-8-PWR
Software revision H.10.113

I believe the spec sheet shows what it would draw, maxed out at boot fully loaded with all 8 ports drawing 15 watts per port.

Measurements where taken using a APC AP7931 managed PDU by unplugging the switch and plugging it back up while watching the PDU's web interface. I believe it's very accurate, you can google the specs.

This is the best I had to test with. Does this seem right to you?

 

[fenderman]

With two Dahua cameras, IPC-HDW4300C (max 4.5) and IPC-HDBW4300R-Z (Max 6.3W) along with an Axis 7014 on POE power; it draws 25 watts on boot and stabilizes at 12.9 watts. It's not very efficient, but it would take many years to burn $140.00 worth of electricity to make of the difference. Ubiquiti ToughSwitch is $173.99, I paid $28.00.

Cameras2# show power

Status and Counters - System Power Status

Maximum Power : 126 W Operational Status : On
Power In Use : 7 W +/- 6 W Usage Threshold (%) : 80

ProCurve J8762A Switch 2600-8-PWR
Software revision H.10.113

Measurements where taken using a APC AP7931 managed PDU by unplugging the switch and plugging it back up while watching the PDU's web interface. I believe it's very accurate, you can google the specs.

This is the best I had to test with. Does this seem right to you?

If its only drawing 13w with those devices plugged in then its very efficient...my go to managed switch is the one..http://www.amazon.com/Fanless-Managed-Desktop-Switch-GS1900-8HP/dp/B00GU1KULM/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1447005685&sr=1-1&keywords=zyxel+poe
Fanless, no noise and solid.
That said for most folks, a managed switch will just add complexity...

 

[wcrowder]

That said for most folks, a managed switch will just add complexity...

I agree I think these switches cost close to $1,000.00 when they where new. HP networking is what I'm familiar with, so it's a no brainier to me. Somebody could really mess up their network playing with it. But at factory defaults, they're just dumb switches. Did the test again, had the same results.

 

[waketech]

All,

Can you please recommend a PC, I have looked at the optiplex's however I am wondering if I can get something cheaper for my systems. I am still at the stage where I am debating between an NVR or dedicated PC so cost is one of the factors.

4-5 HIKVISION Turrets

4 - 3 MP
or
4 - 4 MP (the new ones they just released)

Recording will be 24x7, remote access at time, etc

Thanks