Hello Everyone

[Ramos]

Obviously new to the site.
Looking into the Hikvision DS-2CD@&32F-I(S).
Came across this site and thought I should learn more about the whole IP camera do's and don'ts before I jump in with some money.

A couple of contractors have suggested 6 cameras but I want to take it one at a time.

Thinking about having someone run my cat5e through the eaves and attic and then I would take it from there to save some money.
Initially thinking about just getting an 8 POE switch with 1 or 2 cameras to see what there capabilities are before I decide where I will mount them.

Planning on using my computer with a dedicated Purple WD drive OR sending it to my DNS-323 NAS running Alt-F. I have an empty bay that I could put a drive.

Any words of advice regarding my thoughts before I start browsing around of your site.
Also heard about the Chinese versions out there that get bricked with US firmware. So I want to steer clear of headaches if I can.
Any suggestions about where to get the POE switch for the Hikvision IP cameras that will do the job.
Any recommendations on HardDrive.

Thanks

 

[Del Boy]

Welcome. Most people will recommend milkisbad for people in the US... you won't get a headache that way.

Unless you have a dedicated computer, then a NAS or NVR would be a sensible option. WD Purple is recommended for 24/7 surveillance but I'd rather have WD Green and save 30% (physically the same drive but different firmware). Like all these things there are pros and cons.

 

[Ramos]

Thanks for the advice -- Since I was just going to record on motion and not 24/7, good to hear that the Green will work.

I have a spare 2TB WD Green that I can pop into the NAS and give that a try. I assume if the NAS is busy or down, the video gets recorded locally on the SD card if one is in there? My NAS does weekly backups on the other bay drive and I was just wondering about throughput. It is a Linux type NAS Alt-F.

If the price difference between the POE and the NVR is not too much, maybe I can get the NVR and pop in my Green 2TB to start off and get some experience.
On the NVR, do I have to format it before I put it in the NVR or will the NVR ask me as one of the prompts?

 

[LittleBrother]

Thanks for the advice -- Since I was just going to record on motion and not 24/7, good to hear that the Green will work.

I have a spare 2TB WD Green that I can pop into the NAS and give that a try. I assume if the NAS is busy or down, the video gets recorded locally on the SD card if one is in there? My NAS does weekly backups on the other bay drive and I was just wondering about throughput. It is a Linux type NAS Alt-F.

If the price difference between the POE and the NVR is not too much, maybe I can get the NVR and pop in my Green 2TB to start off and get some experience.
On the NVR, do I have to format it before I put it in the NVR or will the NVR ask me as one of the prompts?

Too many people have been burned recording only on motion such that I feel comfortable predicting most here would agree the better course is to record 24/7. I am sure that is how most of us do it. You can still have motion events, but the risk of an event not successfully triggering and missing something crucial is too high to risk in many setups.

What you could do, though, is record 24/7 to an SD card--if your camera has that--and then record motion to an HD, depending on which setup you have.

As far as the longevity of SD cards there is some talk about their finite number of writes being an issue. Based on what I've read I think it is not worth considering. They do have a finite number of writes, but you won't hit the wall for a very, very long time.

 

[Del Boy]

Agree with LittleBrother that motion detection is more a gimmick now than an asset. I have more than one camera covering areas, so can have the main one on 24/7 and the other one (different angle) on motion.

Give the NAS and 2TB WD Green a go... half the fun in this stuff is learning anyway.