Hello. I am new to security/surveillance, and I have recently found this forum. There seems like a lot of useful information here.
I am the IT manager for my company and I have been asked to look into our options for adding a system to cover our property. We recently have had some instances of theft and possible unauthorized access by current or former employees. I am currently just evaluating my options so that I can make informed recommendations, especially if I recommend that we deploy our own solution. I am not sure yet what my exact requirements will be as far as number of cameras or size of system. If this project goes forward, it could be anywhere from 2 to 50 cameras spread across two locations (depending on if we decide to pursue cameras inside for insurance/liability reasons). The first step I have taken so far is to buy two cameras.
I first purchased an UVC-G3 bullet from Ubiquiti. We use their AP's at work and I have seen these in the past and thought it would be a good starting point. I generally like the other unifi ecosystem products and thought this may be a good time to try their video products. I then started reading a lot more, especially from this forum, and I have seen a lot of criticism for their video products, but most of it was directed at the older equipment. I do understand the nature of a closed system, and how it can be beneficial but also limiting. Now that I have read a lot more, I wonder if they are hurting themselves by only offering two models of camera.
Today I also ordered a Dahua HDW5231R-Z based on reviews and how it's been talked about on this forum and other places.
My plan is to set these up side by side and also compare the unifi NVR software against either BI or Dahua software. One of my big concerns is about data retention and the size and speed of available storage. Originally, I was tasked with finding something that could store 45-60 days worth of recordings. However, if we end up with a lot of cameras, I don't think that I would want to have the same settings on all cameras (something unifi seems to force you into), nor do I know yet if 60 days is too ambitions or actually a requirement vs wishful thinking. Most likely, I will be using the NVR software on a VM on one of our hosts, one per location. I don't think I want to saturate my 100Mbps ethernet circuit connecting the two locations by trying to run just a single NVR. I
What I don't know yet (I suspect that I will find out through my testing), is how much storage I actually need per camera, and if motion recording would be of use to us to help reduce this number. My initial estimates of storage indicated that I would basically need another SAN per location for full time recording of 25 cameras at 6,000Kbps bitrate, which was what my research said the UVC's would do at full settings. I have since started to realize that there is a lot more to this than just bitrate or frame rate, and it will require me to just see what works in our situation by actually doing it.
I also don't know if audio is something we want or need.
I am the IT manager for my company and I have been asked to look into our options for adding a system to cover our property. We recently have had some instances of theft and possible unauthorized access by current or former employees. I am currently just evaluating my options so that I can make informed recommendations, especially if I recommend that we deploy our own solution. I am not sure yet what my exact requirements will be as far as number of cameras or size of system. If this project goes forward, it could be anywhere from 2 to 50 cameras spread across two locations (depending on if we decide to pursue cameras inside for insurance/liability reasons). The first step I have taken so far is to buy two cameras.
I first purchased an UVC-G3 bullet from Ubiquiti. We use their AP's at work and I have seen these in the past and thought it would be a good starting point. I generally like the other unifi ecosystem products and thought this may be a good time to try their video products. I then started reading a lot more, especially from this forum, and I have seen a lot of criticism for their video products, but most of it was directed at the older equipment. I do understand the nature of a closed system, and how it can be beneficial but also limiting. Now that I have read a lot more, I wonder if they are hurting themselves by only offering two models of camera.
Today I also ordered a Dahua HDW5231R-Z based on reviews and how it's been talked about on this forum and other places.
My plan is to set these up side by side and also compare the unifi NVR software against either BI or Dahua software. One of my big concerns is about data retention and the size and speed of available storage. Originally, I was tasked with finding something that could store 45-60 days worth of recordings. However, if we end up with a lot of cameras, I don't think that I would want to have the same settings on all cameras (something unifi seems to force you into), nor do I know yet if 60 days is too ambitions or actually a requirement vs wishful thinking. Most likely, I will be using the NVR software on a VM on one of our hosts, one per location. I don't think I want to saturate my 100Mbps ethernet circuit connecting the two locations by trying to run just a single NVR. I
What I don't know yet (I suspect that I will find out through my testing), is how much storage I actually need per camera, and if motion recording would be of use to us to help reduce this number. My initial estimates of storage indicated that I would basically need another SAN per location for full time recording of 25 cameras at 6,000Kbps bitrate, which was what my research said the UVC's would do at full settings. I have since started to realize that there is a lot more to this than just bitrate or frame rate, and it will require me to just see what works in our situation by actually doing it.
I also don't know if audio is something we want or need.