Server Build for Blue Iris + AI — Sanity Check

M

manocormen

n3wb
Jul 30, 2023
8
2
x
Hi,

I'd like to build a powerful rackmount server exclusively for running Blue Iris with AI-detection. I've been following the guide available on the wiki. Below is the parts list I have so far.

My goal is to manage a dozen 4K cameras to begin with, but have plenty of room to grow. For instance, I may add a GPU further down the road for fancier AI-detection. So some of the components are deliberately a bit overkill for futureproofing. I'm ok spending about 1000 $/€ on the server itself.

I've built general-purpose computers before, but this is my first Blue Iris build, so I'd appreciate a sanity check.

Are there any glaring issues, or things you'd recommend changing or adding in the parts list below?

Thank you.

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PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: Intel Core i5-13500 2.5 GHz 14-Core Processor (€272.95 @ Megekko)
CPU Cooler: be quiet! Pure Rock 2 Black CPU Cooler (€46.85 @ Megekko)
Motherboard: Gigabyte B760 GAMING X DDR4 ATX LGA1700 Motherboard (€163.85 @ Megekko)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 64 GB (2 x 32 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory (€125.85 @ Megekko)
Storage: Samsung 980 Pro 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive (€84.90 @ Tones.be)
Storage: Western Digital Purple 2 TB 3.5" 5400 RPM Internal Hard Drive (€60.99 @ Paradigit)
Power Supply: NZXT C650 (2022) 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply (€83.85 @ Megekko)
Custom: INTER-TECH IPC 4U-4088-S 48,26cm 19Zoll 4HE IPC-Gehaeuse 3x 5,25Zoll 13,34 cm ext. 8x 3,5Zoll 13,34cm int. 5x 2,5Zoll 6,35cm int. (€80.00)
Custom: Xilence XPF80.R.PWM 80mm PWM Gehäuselüfter, 4PIN, rot/schwarz
Custom: Xilence XPF80.R.PWM 80mm PWM Gehäuselüfter, 4PIN, rot/schwarz
Custom: Xilence XPF120.R.PWM 120mm PWM Ventilateur de boîtier, 4PIN, rouge/noir
Total: €919.24
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2023-07-30 22:30 CEST+0200
 
Is this for a house or business? If for personal use at home I wouldnt build a rack mount server for BI. I was going to do that but after months of research the size server rack I'd need was not going to work for me or the smaller size server chassis was not going to work so I gave up on that idea and just kept it a smaller 6U network rack for my switches, pfsense, fiber modem, and UPS. Then I went with a SFF HP Elitedesk with an i7 8700, maxed out the memory, and added a Nvidia p400. This also made it easier to give my BI machine a dedicated UPS. If your going to have multiple smaller racks in your house you can just get a rack shelf to put the SFF PC on making it rack mounted.
 
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run a much larger Terabyte drive, heres what my 8 TB is holding right now. With a cam count of 11.

1690751722646.png
 
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@whoami ™ It's for home. I'd like all my builds to be rackmountable moving forward.

@JDreaming & @Flintstone61 : I was thinking of following this video's advice, and recording events in 4K only when AI detects a person, which for most cameras should be rare, since most will point at my backyard. Otherwise, 24/7 recordings would be in low-res and delete as the HDD becomes full. Given that, do you still think 2TB wouldn't be enough to begin with?
 
Personally, Id go with a "newish" Blacked out HP Elitedesk 800 G6 with the i5 and a M.2 SSD for the OS, give it 64gb of RAM and a Nvidia Quadro T600 or a RTX A2000. WD Purple 14-18GB for BI video and a 1tb for Images for AI since the HP holds two 3.5" drives. Then I'd get two rack shelfs, one to put the SFF PC on and one for a APC Gaming Back-UPS BGM1500B.

JFYI AI is more memory intensive than core which is the only reason I recommend those cards, a lil P400 will work too but you'll be capped on memory after a couple instances.
 
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manocormen said:
@whoami ™ It's for home. I'd like all my builds to be rackmountable moving forward.

@JDreaming & @Flintstone61 : I was thinking of following this video's advice, and recording events in 4K only when AI detects a person, which for most cameras should be rare, since most will point at my backyard. Otherwise, 24/7 recordings would be in low-res and delete as the HDD becomes full. Given that, do you still think 2TB wouldn't be enough to begin with?
Click to expand...
You are spending a lot of money on this build. Not sure why you would go with such a small hard drive. I have 5 cameras and thought a 4 TB drive would be sufficient, but will be adding a second hard drive soon. With the 4 TB drive I am limited to 12-14 days worth of recordings.
 
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2TB is good for anything for starters. But why not get 1 drive 1 time and not have to upgrade.
Most people who get going with BI will find weird things happen that get missed with trigger only motion. Continous recording + trigger could yield some beneficial results.....but whatever...
 
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Thank you, all. Following your suggestions, I've double the storage.

I still prefer to do a custom build, and there will be room for extra hard drives and a GPU in the future, but this seems like a good starting point.

If you have any other suggestions, please let me know. Thanks!
 
since an 8tb datacenter nvme starts at 400$ (eg. Kingston DC1500M or Samsung PM9A3), i would not waste money on spinning rust. Put a u.2 pcie card for 20$ on the list and install everything on a single device.

viewing/fastforward is MUCH faster with nvme storage.
 
@spuls That didn't occur to me because the wiki still recommends going with the split:
  • SSD for OS + software + AI clips
  • HDD for full recordings
My understanding was that SSDs might degrade too fast. Has that become a non-issue? SSDs are indeed a lot less expensive than they used to be, so that would be a nice option.
 
manocormen said:
@spuls That didn't occur to me because the wiki still recommends going with the split:
  • SSD for OS + software + AI clips
  • HDD for full recordings
My understanding was that SSDs might degrade too fast. Has that become a non-issue? SSDs are indeed a lot less expensive than they used to be, so that would be a nice option.
Click to expand...

SSD's are a lot more reliable these days than they used to be, and many laptops only have SSD drives, so that's something to consider. But any hardware can be subject to failure over time and continuous heat exposure.
 
it´s an issue with cheap desktop ssd´s, but not with datacenter grade hardware.
 
Starglow said:
Well none of my work or home laptops have failed yet after many years of service and they all have "desktop" SSD drives.
Click to expand...

typical you don´t run datacenter/server tasks on your work laptops so the lower write endurance is no issue.
 
That CPU is extreme overkill for a BI server. AI also utilizes GPU power better than CPU power. Therefore you would be better server by spending less money on a lower end CPU, and adding a GPU to handle the AI. While I haven't used AI myself (I use the built in AI in my cameras which works great), I also find it hard to imaging that you really need 64GB ram. Again, spending less on RAM and more on a GPU is probably a wise use of your money.

As others have mentioned, you really need a much larger harddrive. I'd suggest one in the 8-12tb range.
 
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The CPU did feel a bit overkill to me too, but that's what the wiki suggests for custom builds: "If you want to buy or build a new machine, use the most recent CPU hardware generation from AMD or Intel."

That said, I'm fine with this, because I'd like this build to last pretty much forever and power consumption to be as low as possible. I'm ok tweaking storage, but I'd rather never have to change the CPU, no matter how many cameras I add over the years.

I think I'll scale down the memory, and expand storage even further, like others have suggested too. Then, I'll for sure add a GPU, but I'd rather do that in the next upgrade, once I have a clearer idea of how AI works and what it actually demands in terms of processing.

Thanks!
 
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Flintstone61 said:
run a much larger Terabyte drive, heres what my 8 TB is holding right now. With a cam count of 11.

View attachment 168933
Click to expand...
Sorry to dig this thread from the grave, but as somebody who is an IT person and software engineer who doesn't usually work with security cameras and am setting them up at my home... Is this with constant recording? Or is that only motion events/clips? I presume that is constantly recording with an 8TB drive, but just wanted to verify.

Thanks!
 
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constant recording
 
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