Local USB backup of feeds in hidden location

[Neil Sidhu]

Hello; after suggestions, i am looking to install a external USB drive in a hidden spot at home and have a constant 12 hour worth of feeds saved onto the usb drive and then constant over written. What is the best way to do this as far as sync software. I still want the main recordings to go to the drives on my BI server - and then i want to sync that BI sever data folder for lets say 12 hours worth into my USB drive.

Thank you!

 

[SouthernYankee]

Use BI clone cameras to record to the remote USB. How is the remote USB going to be connected to the BI PC or the network ?

 

[Neil Sidhu]

Thing with clone is it increases the CPU. By 3 to 4 %. So if I make a clone for all 9 cams. It will increases it alot. Not sure how to use BI with almost to no difference. I am going to use a usb drive

 

[crw030]

@SouthernYankee gave you the best solution. I know you are thinking to synchronize the fires, but that will add delay plus another program that has to be running. He’s given you the best way to use that USB drive. If something happens that takes out the primary computer, and the synch hasn’t had a chance to move the latest files & images, you won’t have the backup you were expecting on the USB drive.

The other, more expensive, option is you could have another smaller machine that pulls it’s own streams (basically another Blue Iris computer, NVR or such). But that is more commitment than just hooking up the USB drive.

 

[fenderman]

Thing with clone is it increases the CPU. By 3 to 4 %. So if I make a clone for all 9 cams. It will increases it alot. Not sure how to use BI with almost to no difference. I am going to use a usb drive

the clone will not increase your cpu usage that much, it will be negligible as only one stream is pulled. You need to hide the camera from the live view. USB is not a reliable solution and syncing will take time and not occur mid write of a file.
If you want redundancy, hide an NVR or another small BI machine (on this second machine, you can set it to constant recording and use limit decoding allowing you to use a much less powerful, cheaper unit).

 

[Neil Sidhu]

the clone will not increase your cpu usage that much, it will be negligible as only one stream is pulled. You need to hide the camera from the live view. USB is not a reliable solution and syncing will take time and not occur mid write of a file.
If you want redundancy, hide an NVR or another small BI machine (on this second machine, you can set it to constant recording and use limit decoding allowing you to use a much less powerful, cheaper unit).

Thanks guys! I like the BI clone idea as well bit after I created 9 clones and hide them my CPU went up 18% constant. I have confirmed they are clones and checked that they are not pulling a 2nd stream. Does anyone have any product model numbers for a single drive NVR adaptor? Something where I can plug in a 4tb HDD via lam and power it. I can then just hide that somewhere and have BI just write to that drive only outside of the server.

 

[fenderman]

Thanks guys! I like the BI clone idea as well bit after I created 9 clones and hide them my CPU went up 18% constant. I have confirmed they are clones and checked that they are not pulling a 2nd stream. Does anyone have any product model numbers for a single drive NVR adaptor? Something where I can plug in a 4tb HDD via lam and power it. I can then just hide that somewhere and have BI just write to that drive only outside of the server.

did you hide the duplicate cameras so they dont render on the display? did you set them to limit decoding if recording constantly? You are doing something wrong if you are getting an 18 percent increase.
using your bi server does not give you any redundancy. Its really pointless, just put the drive in the system. They are not going to steal your pc.

 

[Neil Sidhu]

did you hide the duplicate cameras so they dont render on the display? did you set them to limit decoding if recording constantly? You are doing something wrong if you are getting an 18 percent increase.
using your bi server does not give you any redundancy. Its really pointless, just put the drive in the system. They are not going to steal your pc.

I did not hide them as I don't leave the console open. It stays closed all the time. How would I limit the decode on the clones? I currently have it set to BI format and direct to disk. Sorry and thanks for your help.

 

[fenderman]

I did not hide them as I don't leave the console open. It stays closed all the time. How would I limit the decode on the clones? I currently have it set to BI format and direct to disk. Sorry and thanks for your help.

hide them anyway.
limit decoding is in the video tab, but note, it will screw with motion detection, so use it with constant recording.

 

[Neil Sidhu]

hide them anyway.
limit decoding is in the video tab, but note, it will screw with motion detection, so use it with constant recording.

Thanks I will try these. On the clones, I have turned off motion alerts, detection and just left constant recording on. I'm letting my non dup continue to do all the work. I will try to adjust this all and see how it goes. Also now that I have a new Aux set for the hidden drive location, can I have it only record and keep 6 hours and then loop?

 

[fenderman]

Also now that I have a new Aux set for the hidden drive location, can I have it only record and keep 6 hours and then loop?

dont limit by hours, limit by available space. Make sure you dont allocate more space than the drive has.

 

[bp2008]

If you get a USB disk the same size as your normal disk, you can use Storage Spaces (built in to Windows) to mirror two drives in realtime.

 

[Neil Sidhu]

dont limit by hours, limit by available space. Make sure you dont allocate more space than the drive has.

Last question.. What's the best practice for clip length? I have it set for 1 hr per clip currently.

 

[Neil Sidhu]

If you get a USB disk the same size as your normal disk, you can use Storage Spaces (built in to Windows) to mirror two drives in realtime.

If a clip is mid way recording and system is powered off is that clip on the backup still viewable?

 

[bp2008]

If a clip is mid way recording and system is powered off is that clip on the backup still viewable?

If it is BVR, probably. If it is MP4, then no.

 

[SouthernYankee]

Neil

I use 9 clone cameras. The total for 13 cameras an 9 clones is 23% on a i7-4790.

When setting up a clone, do a copy of the original camera, then on the clone go turn off everything, no alerts, no motion.

 

[Neil Sidhu]

Neil

I use 9 clone cameras. The total for 13 cameras an 9 clones is 23% on a i7-4790.

When setting up a clone, do a copy of the original camera, then on the clone go turn off everything, no alerts, no motion.

Thanks guys! And for the clip length. How long do you set? Really appreciate all your support!

 

[SouthernYankee]

I use a clip length for you cameras, set to 1 hour and less than 3 GB. A 15FPS at 1920x1080 camera will be about 2.4 GB. If you are trying to copy a large file (more than 0.5 GB) to a USB reliably and constancy. Use small files.

On the clone camera, Provide a screen shot of BI Status camera tab, this will list all your cameras. It will also indicate if the Clones are set up correcly.

 

[Neil Sidhu]

i did wjhat was suggested and my CPU is up atleast10 to 15% more. Screenshot just shows 1 dup cam names TEST

 

[fenderman]

i did wjhat was suggested and my CPU is up atleast10 to 15% more. Screenshot just shows 1 dup cam names TEST

did you hide the camera from the display?
You can reduce your overall cpu consumption significantly by dropping your cams to 15fps. 30 and 60fps are simply wasting resources.