Rate My Build and How to Improve it

krone6

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[Solved]Rate My Build and How to Improve it

EDIT: It seems I am best off just buying some cameras and going from there. I didn't get the main question I wanted answered fully so I'll see how things go once I start putting cameras up.

Background Info:

With recent break-ins to my parents' vehicles I want to install up to 12 IP cameras around the house and garage. I don't need anything too fancy, however it needs to be enough detail to at least show the person's skin color and possibly their face.

The path the cameras will take will be from my rack's poe injector to a 12 port patch panel near the rack, over to another 12 port patch panel over a vent where some will go down a PVC tube into the basement into another 12 port patch panel. From here the cables split off to whatever camera it needs to go to with at least 4 going through a PVC pipe underground into the garage and into 2 dual surface mount boxes and finally the 4 cameras. I am interested to read comments regarding this setup as I could technically go from the vertical patch panel over the vent straight to a horizontal patch panel on my rack though if I ever change racks (plan to buy a 36U monoprice one down the road as 42U is too big for me) I'll have to punch down 96 wires again with the possibility of it becoming 192 instead of just terminating 12 cables later.

I'm also linking to a shared google folder with relevant pictures that will give a better idea what I am working with. This house is nearly 100 years old, so any modding to it won't look that wonderful as some rooms don't even use plywood (uses sheaths of wood+rocks). There'll also be a Visio birdseye view with and without measurements showing the property, sidewalk, and telephone pole.

I want to tackle the driveway camera first as that's where the break-ins have happened. We've never had an intruder (yet). From there I want to put a porch and backdoor camera up for a potential intrusion and then branch into the garage, backyard, and inside the house.

Thank you for helping me and please let me know if you need more information. I tried to research as much as I could on my own and provide as much detail as I could before coming here.

Summary Questions:

1: What is your opinion on the patch panels and my rack? Which idea sounds better and more efficient?
2: I assumed this, though can I even run 100-150 feet worth of cat6 through multiple panels to a camera without significant loss? The cables shouldn't be exposed to the elements which is why they'll be UTP.
3: Would a dome or bullet be best for outside cameras? I like dome due to not being seen as easily however that requires accessories to mount it to a side wall.
4: The main camera will have a blind spot right near the main garage door; how can I overcome this? I was thinking either a dom camera facing the garage door or pinhole camera so it's even harder to see.
5: Hikvision or Dahua for indoor? I saw what HLC does and is needed due to the way cars drive up my driveway. The lights will hit the camera and blind it until the lights move. I was leaning towards hikvision for their smart IR (I forgot the name) cameras with a lens and IR side-by-side
6: Any way to know what lens I'll need for each situation? I don't have tons of money to burn on $400+ variofocal cameras compared to a $80 similar one from Dahua. I am assuming 2.8 or 3.6mm will be enough for a general camera that faces the rear door and driveway.
7: Would it be better to dedicate the camera going on the garage as a dedicated driveway camera with a 6mm+ lens and use another camera to cover its blind spot?
8: If not is it smart to use another camera half way up the driveway to get more detail on the beginning portion where people drive up?
9: Are there any additional comments regarding my build that you'd like to know about or comment on?

Misc Info:

1: All cameras will be on another vlan
2: All cameras will eventually be on its own dedicated managed switch to save ports on the main one
3: Cameras will go into ports 13-24 on the switch
4: Current cameras were from a test CCTV system years ago that is currently offline.
5: Ignore how messy the server room is. I have to get around to organizing again.
6: All video will record to Blue Iris
7: Until I build a beefy central virtualization server that'll also run Blue Iris I must use the file server installed (Norco-4224 on the rack) and run a Windows server with Blue Iris. The cpu should easily handle a single camera and everything in that server's meant for data-integrity (ECC ram, non-consumer board etc).

Pictures:

https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B6Dp8Iwnf_JsdlZTR19Udmh3UjA&usp=sharing
 

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fenderman

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Welcome to the forum...
Dome cameras can be wall mounted with no additional hardware...if they are 3 axis...
Consider the hikvision 2332 turret which is superior to domes. Or the 4mp version..see hikvision 4mp thread. Its well worth the extra expense. I would get all hikvision 4mp cams - much better night vision.
Varifocal cameras are not 400..dahua and hikvision varifocals at 175-200...dahua motorized are 200.
Why are you doing all this punching down? Every time you punch down you attenuate signal. Either run a straight cable or simply run 1 cable from a switch in the basement to the closest network connection..
 

krone6

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Welcome to the forum...
Dome cameras can be wall mounted with no additional hardware...if they are 3 axis...
Consider the hikvision 2332 turret which is superior to domes. Or the 4mp version..see hikvision 4mp thread. Its well worth the extra expense. I would get all hikvision 4mp cams - much better night vision.
Varifocal cameras are not 400..dahua and hikvision varifocals at 175-200...dahua motorized are 200.
Why are you doing all this punching down? Every time you punch down you attenuate signal. Either run a straight cable or simply run 1 cable from a switch in the basement to the closest network connection..
Thanks for the fast reply. The punching down is more to keep things organized and easier to move around in the future. Would I see much of a different from a single run vs a max of 3 punches + 2 terminations?? (Switch to panel 1>panel 1 to panel 2>panel 2 to basement panel>basement panel to garage surface mount>garage surface mount to camera

Also due to cost I'd preferably like to stay at $200 or less per camera unless otherwise. I have looked at the Dahua IPC-HFW4300S and Hikvision DS-2CD2032-l and don't know if these would be best for a driveway camera. Another idea I had is to possibly have another camera halfway up the driveway cover the rest of it.

Out of curiosity, would it make it easier to see in the dark and/or spot faces with 4mp vs 3mp?
 

fenderman

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@krone6A better camera than the 2032 is the 2332 turret..particularity for spider web issues..as well as improved IR...there is a 4mp turret as well-that is what I would use (or the 2mp turret which is available from user milkisbad, which is also better at night than the 3mp). The MP rating is not what helps you see at night or low light..its the lux rating..the 4mp hikvision is much improved of the 3mp variants. See the thread on the subject. You can get these for well under 200.
As far as signal loss, I dont know, I have never punched a single run that many times..I do know that at the limits of ethernet near 300 feet, you will have issues with multiple punches. Why are you simply no using a switch in the basement and save all that effort, cable cost and work?
 

krone6

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@krone6A better camera than the 2032 is the 2332 turret..particularity for spider web issues..as well as improved IR...there is a 4mp turret as well-that is what I would use (or the 2mp turret which is available from user milkisbad, which is also better at night than the 3mp). The MP rating is not what helps you see at night or low light..its the lux rating..the 4mp hikvision is much improved of the 3mp variants. See the thread on the subject. You can get these for well under 200.
As far as signal loss, I dont know, I have never punched a single run that many times..I do know that at the limits of ethernet near 300 feet, you will have issues with multiple punches. Why are you simply no using a switch in the basement and save all that effort, cable cost and work?
I'll look into those cameras. I also don't want to put a switch in the basement as there'd only be about 7-8 cables going down there. I'd also need a managed switch to make sure things stay on their own VLAN which would cost a lot more than a patch panel. Also the total length should be under 150 feet. It's about 8 feet to the vent, 15-20 to the patch panel in the basement and the longest being about 75 feet to the back of the garage. Our property isn't that large.

Now as far as the other questions go do you have any good ideas how hot fix blind spots and how best to tackle the driveway camera? Do I get one main camera facing down the driveway and rear door and then another camera to get more detail farther up the driveway or a dedicated driveway camera with another camera facing the garage door to get around the blind spot?
 

fenderman

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krone6

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A managed poe switch that can power 7 cameras is 130
http://www.amazon.com/Fanless-Managed-Desktop-Switch-GS1900-8HP/dp/B00GU1KULM/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1438391485&sr=8-2&keywords=managed+poe+switch
I would not place a camera farther up the driveway unless you park your cars there. If the come to your home you will catch them...Dont over complicate things.
I dont know what blind spot your are referring too..keep in mind you dont need a 360 view of the house..

I'm not after a 360 degree view right away, just the main places such as doors and a driveway. Our driveway is 85 feet and my mom parks about 65 feet away from the garage where the first camera will go. I feel that's a long ways away for the camera to catch detail compared to another one closer towards that area. The blind spot I am referring to is underneath the main camera at the end of the driveway. The garage door's under the camera and another smaller one we walk through nearby it, so I feel it may be good to capture this area, however I am getting opinions about this before I buy cameras.

I also looked at your link and forgot to mention I'd like to stick to layer 3 for simplicity. I'm already going to have my core switch in L3 mode so I'd feel it'd be easier to troubleshooting routing later if I don't have some switches as L3 and others as L2.
 
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