Seeking input for NVR/BI hardware/computer

B

bbdude513

n3wb
Aug 22, 2022
23
6
NY
Hi All - What a great forum! I read the wiki and cliff notes.

I am installing 2 to 3 EmpireTech IPC-Color4K-X (4K 8MP Ultra Low Light Full-Color AI IP Camera) as these seem to be highly rated for day and night. Also being installed is 2 Amcrest AD410 doorbell cameras. I'm doing this myself at my home and is just for general surveillance and deterrence.

After a lot of reading, many of your posts have directed me to Blue Iris (BI) instead of Synology. Really looking for something that just works without much fuss after the initial install.

For hardware, I'm having some issues / questions even after reading the Blue Iris guide. I found a Dell OptiPlex 7050 to run BI, but all of them seem to have just 1TB. If I want to run my cameras 24/7 and keep the footage for 2 weeks or more I need about 10TB (or more). How are most of you accomplishing this? Using a SSD on OptiPlex to run BI and then writing cam footage to an external storage device via USB3.0 port? Do you buy a Synology NAS or maybe just a Western Digital external enclosure?

Thanks in advance for any input or advice!
 
Using external storage for video is problematic at best, usually. Video never stops, never buffers and can easily overload a USB connected drive as well as exceed the buffer capabilities of many NAS configurations.

You are best served by using additional surveillance rated SATA drives in the BI machine. My current stable of cameras write almost non-stop at about 10MB/ps. That's with about 200MP of camera running.
 
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sebastiantombs said:
Using external storage for video is problematic at best, usually. Video never stops, never buffers and can easily overload a USB connected drive as well as exceed the buffer capabilities of many NAS configurations.

You are best served by using additional surveillance rated SATA drives in the BI machine. My current stable of cameras write almost non-stop at about 10MB/ps. That's with about 200MP of camera running.
Click to expand...

Thanks. This makes sense to me. Sounds like the OptiPlex won't work in this case. Any recommendation for a machine that's already built (new or refurbished) that could do? I'm guessing this route will still be cheaper than trying to build my own machine, considering the i7 6700k OptiPlex is nearly the same cost as just a new i7 6700k chip haha.
 
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Throughout the one terabyte that comes with it, then purchase a 256 GB SSD drive and a four or six terabyte purple Western digital drive.
Put Blue Iris and the Windows operating system on the SSD and the database for blue iris, video recordings goes to the Western digital purple drive, both of those will fit within the optiplex small form factor just fine.

Or you can purchase an elite desk 800 g4 that already has 16 GB of RAM and has a 256 or so gigabyte SSD drive for around $180 on eBay currently. That would have an i-5-8500 CPU in it.
 
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bbdude513 said:
Thanks. This makes sense to me. Sounds like the OptiPlex won't work in this case. Any recommendation for a machine that's already built (new or refurbished) that could do? I'm guessing this route will still be cheaper than trying to build my own machine, considering the i7 6700k OptiPlex is nearly the same cost as just a new i7 6700k chip haha.
Click to expand...

If it has an optical drive in it, you can disable it and put in another HDD.
 
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You will have to look up the motherboard for the one you get. Mine came with an SDD and HDD. I then unplugged the optical drive and plugged in the other HDD with a new cable.
 
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wittaj said:
You will have to look up the motherboard for the one you get. Mine came with an SDD and HDD. I then unplugged the optical drive and plugged in the other HDD with a new cable.
Click to expand...

I can't, for the life of me, find one with two hard drives. Do you have a Dell OptiPlex 7040 Intel i7-6700 or something else? Thanks for the help and input!
 
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bbdude513 said:
Thanks all.
So you’re saying if I bought an OptiPlex with a DVD player I could pull it out and use the SATA connection for a WD Purple 10TB?
Click to expand...
Well that used to be sound advice, but Dell has gone to the laptop DVD player in some "full size" towers. and the available power plug is miniaturized in that bay.
I'm not sure it even has the supported voltages to run a 3.5" HDD from the DVD bay.
Dell has moved away from 3.5" drive bays and most Optiplex support only one.
The elite desk g4-800 sff supports 2 3.5" drives. and can run the OS on an NVME m.2 ssd drive which mounts on the motherboard.
The 7040 supports an NVME m.2 Sssd on board, with 1 3.5" bay and 1 2.5" bay i beleive.
 
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The Dell precision tower 3630 supports up to 3 3.5" drives, and supports some of the newer graphics cards according to the .pdf manual on Dells support website.
looking at the 7040 owners manual .pdf they picture a full size DVD-rw drive. Now in that instance, YES that can be swapped out for a 3.5" HDD.
 
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