Considering Intel NUC 5 i7 (RYH) for BI Server - feedback?

[jbeletti]

I'm considering building a BI server, starting with a bare bones Intel NUC, equipped with a 5th generation Intel® Core™ i7-5557U processor (NUC5i7RYH) - link.

Currently, I'm running 7 IP cams and may expand to 10 or 12 in total. All are IPCam-Central cameras, 1 to 2 megapixel. All are running 1280x720 @ 15 fps.

My plan for the NUC is to install:
- Hitachi 500 GB HDD (2.5" SATA 3.0Gb/S 5400Rpm 8Mb) for OS and BI
- Crucial Ballistix Sport RAM (16 GB kit - DDR3 1866 - PC3-14900)
- Seagate External Hard Drive (5 TB - USB 3.0) for video storage

I considered SSD for the OS/BI but I don't care about boot time as this box will be for BI exclusively and will run 24/7.

I'll run the NUC headless and VNC into it from a MacBook Pro.

Anyone have any thoughts on my plan? Should this box do the job well? What would you change?

I'm looking at $771 to NUC, the RAM and the HDDs.

 

[fenderman]

I'm considering building a BI server, starting with a bare bones Intel NUC, equipped with a 5th generation Intel® Core™ i7-5557U processor (NUC5i7RYH) - link.

Currently, I'm running 7 IP cams and may expand to 10 or 12 in total. All are IPCam-Central cameras, 1 to 2 megapixel. All are running 1280x720 @ 15 fps.

My plan for the NUC is to install:
- Hitachi 500 GB HDD (2.5" SATA 3.0Gb/S 5400Rpm 8Mb) for OS and BI
- Crucial Ballistix Sport RAM (16 GB kit - DDR3 1866 - PC3-14900)
- Seagate External Hard Drive (5 TB - USB 3.0) for video storage

I considered SSD for the OS/BI but I don't care about boot time as this box will be for BI exclusively and will run 24/7.

I'll run the NUC headless and VNC into it from a MacBook Pro.

Anyone have any thoughts on my plan? Should this box do the job well? What would you change?

I'm looking at $771 to NUC, the RAM and the HDDs.

Welcome to the forum...if you will run them all at 1mp, then that cpu should do (using direct to disk recording)...what specific camera are you getting from them, doesnt look like they carry anything of quality...and their prices are high...
I have two issues with this setup..
1) its VERY expensive for what it is...if you are looking for a small unit consider an hp elitedesk USDT (ultraslim desktop) with an i5-haswell processor...the ultra slims come with an S processor that is efficient and way more powerful than the NUC.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/HP-EliteDesk-800-G1-USDT-Core-i5-4570S-2-9GHz-4GB-320GB-W7-PRO-PC-Desktop-/141679796899?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item20fcc622a3
The above system is a steal at 300..
Another option is the dell optiplex micro..from the dell outlet..they are also about 300-350. Tough I believe they only come with T processors (still more powerful than the NUC)
2) usb drive - I am not a fan of using usb drives for NVR's sometimes they can be finiky...I know lots of folks use them here but personally I would buy a bigger system and put the drive inside...Note the systems above can only hold a single 2.5 drive..if you want to add 3.5 drive look at the elitedesk SFF or tower...same with dell..the small form factor is a nice compromise - size wise..

 

[jbeletti]

Fenderman - thanks for the feedback.

Also, researching this more, I see a bias towards the WD Purple drives for CCTV video storage.

 

[bp2008]

usb drive - I am not a fan of using usb drives for NVR's sometimes they can be finiky

They definitely are. My secondary BI box is a Gigabyte brix pro GB-BXi7-4770R and when my first 1TB WD Red drive failed inside it, I put the replacement into a USB enclosure and the damn thing disappears and comes back, interrupting recordings, several times a week. For anyone reading this, I absolutely do not recommend that specific system for any purpose. The CPU may be powerful but it has serious heat issues and gets louder than a typical desktop machine when the fan really gets going.

That said, that is the only external drive I've had be finiky. Most of them behave just fine.

 

[jbeletti]

bp2008 - thanks for the feedback. Pretty sure I'll be going with a WD Purple drive for my data and I've moved away from the NUC and similar form-factor boxes so that I can get 3.5" drives inside the PC enclosure. Been looking at the various Optiplex machines. Prefer to get an i7. Love to get something for around $500 where all I have to do is add the WD purple HDD and maybe increase the RAM.

 

[bp2008]

That is definitely something you can accomplish if you catch them on sale.

Check https://twitter.com/delloutlet every day and look at the business outlet sales. There is a sale currently active and ending today but the best I have seen during this one is all-in-one machines for $600+. Twice earlier in May they have had sales where you could get i7 desktop machines for under $500, so I would expect to find them again within the next 2 to 4 weeks. Just click on the optiplex links from the deals page and filter by 4th generation i7.

As far as I know (and I could be wrong here) the ultra small form factor boxes do not have 3.5 inch HDD slots so you'll want to avoid those. The small form factor boxes evidently have one slot (already used by the included HDD), and the mini tower boxes have two (one already used). A month ago I helped a friend find a similar system and put in a WD purple drive. He got the Optiplex 9020 mini tower with an SSD and 8 GB RAM for $470. It did not come with an extra hard drive mounting bracket (caddy) or extra SATA cable, so those had to be obtained separately. You can find SATA cables on amazon, though we went to ebay for the caddy because the shipping speed estimates were much better.

 

[jbeletti]

Thanks bp - I'll follow the delloutlet Twitter feed and look for a sale on the Optiplex 9020.

 

[MartyO]

NUC is not way worse than the dell or hp. To improve performace I would get two SSD drives that will fit in NUC
1)small 64gig M.2 SSD for OS and BI
2)2.5 inch 128G SSD or 256G SSD for NEW
3) Large UB3 HDD for Storage
4) 4 Gig ram should be plenty

IMO the dell and hp suggestions are slowed down by HDD configuration



By speading out drives NUC should be nice

 

[OldStyle]

Have you considered a Dell OptiPlex USFF? They are very small, and can be bought for a fraction of what the NUC costs.

- - - Updated - - -

Or if you don't need something that's per se very small, a SFF, Desktop or Mini Tower would be a great idea also.

 

[fenderman]

NUC is not way worse than the dell or hp. To improve performace I would get two SSD drives that will fit in NUC
1)small 64gig M.2 SSD for OS and BI
2)2.5 inch 128G SSD or 256G SSD for NEW
3) Large UB3 HDD for Storage
4) 4 Gig ram should be plenty

IMO the dell and hp suggestions are slowed down by HDD configuration



By speading out drives NUC should be nice

How are the dell/hp's slowed down? The dell and hp suggestion can be modified with an ssd for the OS..apples to apples....There is no need for SSD for video storage...it will not improve BI performance but for some complex multi cam playback - maybe...
The NUC is WAY over priced...double the cost of the dell/hp's linked....

 

[bp2008]

And NUCs are, at best, 1/2 the speed. At worst, 1/4.

 

[MartyO]

How are the dell/hp's slowed down? The dell and hp suggestion can be modified with an ssd for the OS..apples to apples....There is no need for SSD for video storage...it will not improve BI performance but for some complex multi cam playback - maybe...
The NUC is WAY over priced...double the cost of the dell/hp's linked....

Dell/HP slowed down: Cause the use a single HDD for all disk operations (OS, BI, writes to NEW, ALERTS & STORED) its better to spread out on 3 drives,

Way overpriced: Links to EBay for the cheapest possible thing but not pricing suggested additions sounds like rotten apples to me. And not including electricity saving of NUC. And its quiet and its small and can be controlled with IR Remote. Again rotten apples.

Maybees: Complex multi playback, cut me a break, its a SIMPLE nice feature of BI, this isn't complex

 

[MartyO]

[url]http://cpuboss.com/cpus/Intel-Core-i7-5557U-vs-Intel-Core-i5-4570S




[/URL]

 

[MartyO]

the two processors are basically the same for BI

 

[fenderman]

Dell/HP slowed down: Cause the use a single HDD for all disk operations (OS, BI, writes to NEW, ALERTS & STORED) its better to spread out on 3 drives,

Way overpriced: Links to EBay for the cheapest possible thing but not pricing suggested additions sounds like rotten apples to me. And not including electricity saving of NUC. And its quiet and its small and can be controlled with IR Remote. Again rotten apples.

Maybees: Complex multi playback, cut me a break, its a SIMPLE nice feature of BI, this isn't complex

You need to compare apples to apples. You can add an ssd to the dell the same way you are adding it to the NUC.
I buy these machines on ebay all day. I also buy from the dell outlet - they have sales monthly. Its not "the cheapest possible thing"..they are exceptionally well build and come with a three year next business day warranty..nothing rotten about it - lets see how long it takes to get a replacement part if you have a failure in your NUC. What is rotten is suggesting a 700 dollar machine when a 300 dollar dell/hp outperforms it.
You will never make your money back on the electricity savings if you are paying 400 more for the system. Alternatively the dell optiplex micro pc's have T processors with 35w tdp and performance on par with the NUC..
What i meant by complex, is that it stresses the hard disk and cpu...try playing back 30 cameras at once in sync.
regardless I have over 20 machines with BI only a few have ssd's for the OS, none for data, they are not slow...spreading you data over 3 drives particularly in the OP's case of 12 1mp cameras is complete nonsense..
Using a NUC is fine but its a COMPLETE waste of money and not recommended.
For the record the two processors are not the same for bi..the S possessor has a 28 percent higher passmark score.
These optiplex/elitedesk are just as quiet as a NUC..IR remote? HUH? even if you wanted to control your pc via remote, its 2015, there are much better ways to do this without needing line of sight to the pc.
Not really sure what the rotten apples accusation is about....

 

[MartyO]

You need to compare apples to apples. You can add an ssd to the dell the same way you are adding it to the NUC.
I buy these machines on ebay all day. I also buy from the dell outlet - they have sales monthly. Its not "the cheapest possible thing"..they are exceptionally well build and come with a three year next business day warranty..nothing rotten about it - lets see how long it takes to get a replacement part if you have a failure in your NUC. What is rotten is suggesting a 700 dollar machine when a 300 dollar dell/hp outperforms it.
You will never make your money back on the electricity savings if you are paying 400 more for the system. Alternatively the dell optiplex micro pc's have T processors with 35w tdp and performance on par with the NUC..
What i meant by complex, is that it stresses the hard disk and cpu...try playing back 30 cameras at once in sync.
regardless I have over 20 machines with BI only a few have ssd's for the OS, none for data, they are not slow...spreading you data over 3 drives particularly in the OP's case of 12 1mp cameras is complete nonsense..
Using a NUC is fine but its a COMPLETE waste of money and not recommended.
For the record the two processors are not the same for bi..the S possessor has a 28 percent higher passmark score.
These optiplex/elitedesk are just as quiet as a NUC..IR remote? HUH? even if you wanted to control your pc via remote, its 2015, there are much better ways to do this without needing line of sight to the pc.
Not really sure what the rotten apples accusation is about....

I stand by my opinion that with respect to BI the processors are about the same. Do you agree or disagree, remember with respect to BI

 

[MartyO]

I think this thread is about someone starting with 7 cameras and possible going 12, not 30. again rotten apples on your comparisions.

 

[fenderman]

I think this thread is about someone starting with 7 cameras and possible going 12, not 30. again rotten apples on your comparisions.

Wow you are missing the point...
I mentioned 30 cameras to point out that that extreme scenario may a user benefit from storing video on SSD.
In this case recommending a 700 system + 2 ssd=900 for 12 1mp is overkill..your suggestion is one complete rotten apple..I know its sometimes hard to hear, most likely because your setup includes the same components, but it is what it is.
I completely disagree that the processors are the same with respect to BI. Why would you say that they are the same if they score differently with respect to cpu power?

 

[MartyO]

only someone not familiar with benchmarking would equate Passmark tests with BI performance

 

[MartyO]

Item	Qty	Price
1129118 REG		Seagate STEB5000100 5TB Expansion Desktop Drive	1	$129.99
REG		Crucial 4GB 204-Pin SO-DIMM DDR3 PC3-12800 Memory for Notebooks	1	$29.99
1141547 REG		Transcend 128GB 2.5" SATA III SSD370S Internal SSD	1	$57.99
1083305 REG		Transcend 64GB MTS800 SATA III M.2 Internal SSD	1	$44.99
1150182 REG		Intel NUC5I7RYH Mini PC NUC Kit	1	$476.99

SubTotal: $739.95


Federman, why did you say this costs $900. again rotten apples