Disadvantages to running as a service?

[sorka]

BI crashed last night while I was using the iOS app remotely. I was messing with the PTZ of one of the cameras when it stopped responding. I VNCed into my machine at home to discover the "close program" dialog from a crash:

Faulting application name: BlueIris.exe, version: 4.5.1.6, time stamp: 0x58bb05c6
Faulting module name: urlmon.dll, version: 11.0.9600.18538, time stamp: 0x58274f5c
Exception code: 0xc0000005
Fault offset: 0x000000000007e805
Faulting process id: 0xf14
Faulting application start time: 0x01d296e0761f88af
Faulting application path: C:\Program Files\Blue Iris 4\BlueIris.exe
Faulting module path: C:\Windows\system32\urlmon.dll
Report Id: 24010717-03a6-11e7-8599-e06995b7bcc4

Ken mentioned that if I run BI as a service that it will restart automatically if there is a crash.

I'm running Windows 7 (64), BI 4.0(latest) and have 12 cameras. CPU usage is around 16% despite the fact I have an old Sandy Bridge I5-2500s. CPU usage was much higher before I selected direct to disk and turned off all OSD processing.

Are there any disadvantages to running as a service? If there are, then I guess I could use another app to auto restart BI when it crashes. I'd also have to disable the windows crash reporting UI so that it doesn't get stuck on the "close program" box, but that's easy enough.

 

[Tuckerdude]

Hey there....

So I can't speak for everyone, but I currently run BI at two locations (Seattle and Arizona houses) and run both of them as a service. I have not had a single problem with BI running as a service and can vouch for it's robustness over long periods of time. Since I'm not in AZ that frequently, it's nice to always be able to see what's happening there, and BI hardly ever lets me down. If there's an issue, it's usually not BI but rather Windows doing something in the background (can you say auto-update).

Having said all this, I will admit that I've installed GotoMyPc in both locations just in case there's an issue. There have been times when Windows was stuck on a restart (and BI has not started), but GotoMyPc's server seems to always be available even before the PC is fully up and running again. I just do this for peace of mind...there have only been a couple of "No Go" scenarios in the past 2+ years where I've needed to use that.

I hope this helps you

 

[sorka]

My machine is currently a 5 year old i5-2500s. I do from time to time rebuild it from scratch as there's not a lot to install. It's dedicated to home automation and video surveillance. All of my apps and their keys are stored on the nas as are the windows configuration settings and backup databases for Homeseer, ISY, etc.

Auto updates are turned on but I do download and install them on probably a monthly basis or whenever I see that a new exploit has been discovered that has been patched.

The surveillance program I've been running for 15 is this:

Video surveillance software for IP-Cameras - Home english

Its been rock solid stable across multiple versions, machines, and windows. It has never ever crashed even once.

That said, it was pricey. The enterprise version was almost a $1000. It's not as feature rich as BI but it's a more commercialized product that has a scalable interface to support systems with dozens or more cameras. It also does distributed setups for systems that need to support hundreds of cameras.

But BI is far more feature rich and configurable and supports more of the cameras you can get here in the US. Logiware is a German company and they seem to have fallen off on the development and no longer add newer cameras which has lead me to have to find the cgi-bin urls for image streams in order to add newer cameras.

 

[looney2ns]

Hey there....

So I can't speak for everyone, but I currently run BI at two locations (Seattle and Arizona houses) and run both of them as a service. I have not had a single problem with BI running as a service and can vouch for it's robustness over long periods of time. Since I'm not in AZ that frequently, it's nice to always be able to see what's happening there, and BI hardly ever lets me down. If there's an issue, it's usually not BI but rather Windows doing something in the background (can you say auto-update).

Having said all this, I will admit that I've installed GotoMyPc in both locations just in case there's an issue. There have been times when Windows was stuck on a restart (and BI has not started), but GotoMyPc's server seems to always be available even before the PC is fully up and running again. I just do this for peace of mind...there have only been a couple of "No Go" scenarios in the past 2+ years where I've needed to use that.

I hope this helps you

Thus, that is why it's best practice to turn off Windows auto update as well as BI auto update.