Hardware Recommendation - 30 plus Camera Setup

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edwinz24

n3wb
Jan 27, 2016
5
0
Hi, N00B here, before anything, TIA for all the information this forum has provided me in the last weeks. I have been reading and putting a lot of post in my favorites regarding this area. Anyways, need help in dome questions about what to choose for hardware in a setup of 30 plus (36) cameras. I read and read but haven't seen anything clear on a setup like this.

All I know is that, Intel Core i7 is a must, WD Purple drives, SSD for OS. But, is there any advantage in using a Xeon processor? Like a Precision workstation with an NVidia Quadro, etc. Budget is not kind of a problem, but selecting the right hardware so the system runs in a stable condition giving all the right settings of D2D recording, FPS, etc.

I guess it all sums in, What you guys recommend in i7 vs Xeon, Optiplex vs Precision (as an example); could I use a Proliant server with Xeon and 16GB memory that I have extra from 2 years ago? Or should I mount my own system with the specifics of a really good gaming machine, 6th gen i7, 32GB, PCIe SSD with WD Purples in RAID, etc. ?????

My testing environment is an 6th gen i5 8GB mem. with 2 cameras. (Just to practice with software settings, camera settings, etc.) Using 1 Hikvision 3MP DS-2CD2132F-1 4mm Dome Camera and 1 Hikvision 3MP DS-2CD2232-I5 4mm EXIR Bullet Camera. Planning on use 14 of the EXIR Bullet and 22 domes.

Network is already in place with 10GB backbone fiber connecting 2 buildings and HP switches with POE+. I already tested my cameras in their VLAN and is all good.

Again, many Thanks!
 
Those prosumer types of computers will not benefit you. Stick with the i7. Yes you could use that server from 2 years ago however I reckon its going to hog quite a bit of wattage.
 
Your main issue will be disk bandwidth. Running 30 cameras at full resolution @4096kbps will require around 350-400Mbps. So you need to make sure your hardware can support that. 16-32GB RAM and i7 would be fine
 
If you plan on running 36 cameras at full 3mp at 15fps you will run into issues, particularly if you intend to display the video on the blue iris pc.
 
Thanks for all the responses! So it would be better to just use 2 BI installations in this case? Or could it be achieved with lower resolution cameras and settings?
 
I am also very curious about this as your project seems very similar to mine. Around 30-40 cameras and debating between a dual Xeon setup or a top of the line i7. I'd be interesting in hearing what you decide and how it works out for you.

Like you I haven't been able to find anybody saying "I have 30+ cameras with this setup and it works" so I want to hold off on pulling the trigger and dropping a few thousand on a server before I know it will work.
 
I am running 25 cameras at 3M and 15 fps with one Xeon e5 2620 v2 at 70-80% CPU on all 12 cores. Next week we are adding a second CPU for 24 cores total. I am also running it on 5 disk raid set for storage. We are planning on moving the new folder to a SSD and then moving it over to spinning disks after one day. I set all the cameras to direct to disk.
 
Thanks for the input bstag!!! I'm going to test the server really soon. But they (admin) want more cams so I think I'm going to divide the setup in 2 BI (1 for each building) because the count could hit the 40 cams. Good to know about a working environment of 20+ cameras.
 
The problem with using these server processors is that they dont have integrated graphics which blue iris can utilize for hardware acceleration. It would be better to choose a xeon that has intel HD with quicksync built in.
 
fenderman said:
The problem with using these server processors is that they dont have integrated graphics which blue iris can utilize for hardware acceleration. It would be better to choose a xeon that has intel HD with quicksync built in.
Click to expand...

fenderman, I see the option for "use intel HD hardware acceleration for H.264 decoding" do you recommend that? I have the elitedesk with the i5, what exactly does it do?
Thanks!
 
ipcamdude22 said:
fenderman, I see the option for "use intel HD hardware acceleration for H.264 decoding" do you recommend that? I have the elitedesk with the i5, what exactly does it do?
Thanks!
Click to expand...
yes, it will dramatically reduce cpu consumption.
 
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