How to back up motion detection events to a cloud?

[mikey299]

Hi. I now have two overview cameras (reolink) and one 5442 to identify perps. As I'm new to this I decided to start my journey with recording 24/7 to SD cards (san disk high endurance). I read some threads here that some cameras might not like that? Also how many days of recordings can I get on a 256gb card?

Also since two of my cameras (one reolink and 5442) are mounted quite low I would like to back up their motion detection events to a cloud of some kind. I don't need lots of storage - just enough so if someone breaks my cameras down, I will still have the video of them doing that (and to see their faces). I know most people here recommend blue iris, but I'm not tech-savvy enough. I also don't want to buy an old pc and run it as a ftp server (i hope i'm saying it right).

What is then the easiest (for me), cheapest (around 10$ a month or so would be best) and most reliable way I can back up said recordings?

 

[wittaj]

You may get 30ish hours on a 256gb card recording continuous, but it will be based on your bitrate and resolution settings.

Sending to the cloud in your setup would be exposing the cameras to the internet, which is never recommended.

 

[mikey299]

You may get 30ish hours on a 256gb card recording continuous, but it will be based on your bitrate and resolution settings.

Sending to the cloud in your setup would be exposing the cameras to the internet, which is never recommended.

I know it's probably not optimal but these are all outdoor cameras - what are they gonna do (even if they hack the cameras) - watch me go to work

All other options (blue iris, ftp...) seem so complicated though. What would you suggest (as I said - even if its not a perfect solution)?

 

[wittaj]

You will find that running your cameras on your wifi internet router will open you up to being hacked. And they are not hacking to see your video feed - they could care less about that.

They use your internet for DDoS attacks and to get into your system to steal your bank account info. We have a couple of threads just last month where people are seeing connections or attempted connections due to this.

Further, you will start to notice things slowing down. Cameras connected to Wifi routers (whether wifi cameras or hard-wired) are problematic for surveillance cameras because they are always streaming and passing data. And the data demands go up with motion and then you lose signal. A lost packet and it has to resend. It can bring the whole network down if trying to send cameras through a wifi router. At the very least it can slow down your entire system.

Unlike Netflix and other streaming services that buffer a movie, these cameras do not buffer up part of the video, so drop outs are frequent. You would be amazed how much streaming services buffer - don't believe me, start watching something and unplug your router and watch how much longer you can watch NetFlix before it freezes - mine goes 45 seconds. Now do the same with a camera connected to a router and it is fairly instantaneous (within the latency of the stream itself)...

The same issue applies even with the hard-wired cameras trying to send all this non-buffer video stream through a router. Most consumer grade wifi routers are not designed to pass the constant video stream data of cameras, and since they do not buffer, you get these issues. The consumer routers are just not designed for this kind of traffic, even a GB speed router.

And depending on your ISP and amount you are uploading, it could cause you trouble. I added one of my cameras to my neighbors house and was sending the feed back to my house and their ISP called them out in less than a week for the additional demand - and their internet is unlimited.

Get an NVR or Blue Iris - they are only as complicated as you make them.

 

[mikey299]

You will find that running your cameras on your wifi internet router will open you up to being hacked. And they are not hacking to see your video feed - they could care less about that.

They use your internet for DDoS attacks and to get into your system to steal your bank account info. We have a couple of threads just last month where people are seeing connections or attempted connections due to this.

Further, you will start to notice things slowing down. Cameras connected to Wifi routers (whether wifi cameras or hard-wired) are problematic for surveillance cameras because they are always streaming and passing data. And the data demands go up with motion and then you lose signal. A lost packet and it has to resend. It can bring the whole network down if trying to send cameras through a wifi router. At the very least it can slow down your entire system.

Unlike Netflix and other streaming services that buffer a movie, these cameras do not buffer up part of the video, so drop outs are frequent. You would be amazed how much streaming services buffer - don't believe me, start watching something and unplug your router and watch how much longer you can watch NetFlix before it freezes - mine goes 45 seconds. Now do the same with a camera connected to a router and it is fairly instantaneous (within the latency of the stream itself)...

The same issue applies even with the hard-wired cameras trying to send all this non-buffer video stream through a router. Most consumer grade wifi routers are not designed to pass the constant video stream data of cameras, and since they do not buffer, you get these issues. The consumer routers are just not designed for this kind of traffic, even a GB speed router.

And depending on your ISP and amount you are uploading, it could cause you trouble. I added one of my cameras to my neighbors house and was sending the feed back to my house and their ISP called them out in less than a week for the additional demand - and their internet is unlimited.

Get an NVR or Blue Iris - they are only as complicated as you make them.

I understand. I wanted to buy either dahua or reolink NVR but from what I've heard they don't work with reolink (or dahua) cameras. The main thing I would want from NVR is storage though. Would this also present problems?

What about just saving recordings to my pc (or an external hard drive connected to my pc)? Wouldn't that be the easiest way (and I wouldn't have to worry about internet connection, getting hacked etc.)?

 

[wittaj]

That is all BI is - a software program on a PC to store video.

Without that then you would have to rely on the software/firmware built into each camera and run each of those on the computer and then hope that the software doesn't crash or timeout as it won't restart. It would be a very inefficient method but it could work.

But in the big scheme of things BI is cheap for the efficiency and ability.