Realistically how many cameras could I run on this computer with Blue Iris?

[GaretJax]

If I told you I wanted to run 10 cameras - probably 5 outside and 5 inside. The 5 inside might all be top-201. No idea what the outside ones would be yet. Would that scare you? Just trying to get a ball park.

Not sure what I would do for data storage yet. I might write it to my NAS or I might drop it into a cloud storage solution.

Thanks a lot in advance for your opinion.

 

[Larebear]

I'm monitoring 18 local cameras in BI along with another 10 remote cameras. All are set for motion recordings and record to a 2TB HD. Haven't had any problems with BI handling this many cameras. BI is fantastic! CPU usage peaks at about 60% with BI open on the desktop. This is my main PC and is not dedicated to BI.

Processor: i7-3770
RAM: 24GB (about 9GB in use with multiple programs open including BI)
O.S: Windows 7 64-bit
Boot drive: (2) 180GB SSD's in RAID 0 (360GB)
Storage drive: Toshiba 2TB HD

I'm not that familiar with the AMD processors but I would think that yours would probably be able to handle 10 cameras. Will this be a dedicated BI machine?

 

[MartyO]

frame rate = ?, compression factor or bit rate? Camera MPixel type? This would help us understand.

thanks

 

[GaretJax]

frame rate = ?, compression factor or bit rate? Camera MPixel type? This would help us understand.

thanks

Is it bad that I am already stumped? :redface-new:

I really don't know the answers. I am trying to piece together the puzzle learning as I go.

 

[MartyO]

Chicken or egg?

 

[GaretJax]

frame rate = ?, compression factor or bit rate? Camera MPixel type? This would help us understand.

thanks

Is it bad that I am already stumped? :redface-new:

I really don't know the answers. I am trying to piece together the puzzle learning as I go. Here is what I think:

Frame rate = As low as I can use to still get something usable. I expect it would be in the 10-20 fps range.
Compression = I have not played with compression as part of video storage. If that slowed it down too much, then I would compress it after the fact.
Bit Rate = I honestly don't know what this is nor what affect it has on the recording.
I expect all the cameras would be 2 or 3 MP. I might invest in 1 better camera to capture more of my long driveway.

 

[ruppmeister]

In looking up your processor, it scores a 3731 CPU Mark. I run a late 2012 Mac Mini that scores 3782 CPU Mark. I can tell you, running under 7 MP for 5 cameras, direct-to-disk, and what I can tell are all other suggested settings, I run about 40-55% CPU while the system is not triggering cams. I personally will be looking to get another machine dedicated to BI in the next couple of months as I have no room to expand past my current setup.

 

[MartyO]

2-3 MP at 20 fps, sounds veryaggressive based on what ruppmeister reported.

 

[GaretJax]

OK - I recently freed this machine up from other duty and expect it would be 100% dedicated to BI. One of the things I like about running BI and POE is that it largely allows me to offset the investment until I actually install the camera. So I can start with 1 or 2 and keep adding another 1 or 2 until I get to where I want to be or until my machine becomes saturated. I can do this over weeks or months or even longer depending on need and other factors.

I gather that my machine might not be the place where I want to end up, but it might be a great place to start.

Thanks a lot for the advice guys.