Setting up a NAS for Camera Events

[3dogpottery]

Yes, I'm still putzing with my Dahua IPC-HFW4300S-V2. Since I returned the Dahua NVR4208 (I couldn't get it to record events), I am playing around with the NAS feature of the Dahua camera to record events. It seems simple enough in that there are only two fields to fill out. Specifically, the "Server Address" field and the "Remote Directory" field. I believe the server address is simply obtained by utilizing the "ipconfig" command at the computer that will serve as the NAS. The "Remote Directory" field is the one that has me stumped. I created a directory on the "C" drive of the intended NAS computer called "Events" I would think that the path is simply "C:\Events". However, the Dahua will not accept this. When I try entering this path, I get the following message:
"Storage path shall only contain numbers, letters, point, '_', '-', '/' or empty". Maybe this is a Chinese thing, and I'm supposed to enter it in backwards.

 

[alastairstevenson]

I created a directory on the "C" drive of the intended NAS computer called "Events"

And did you 'share' that directory? If you did, lets say it was called 'sharename'.
I'm not in any way familiar with a Dahua camera - but I'd imagine you should try various combinations such as ' /sharename ' ' //sharename ' ' sharename'

 

[3dogpottery]

Thanks for the reply alastairstevenson. No, I didn't set up sharing yet and didn't even think of it. Duh. However, the problem is that the camera will not accept characters such as ":" or "\", which are parts of a path. I don't have any other kind of camera, but I would think that most ip cameras have an option to send files to an NAS. Will your camera accept a path such as "C:\Events"?

 

[alastairstevenson]

Mine is a Hik camera of course:

HDD No. Type Server Address File Path
1 NAS 192.168.1.201/cctv1

But your sharename can be just an alphanumeric string. The uncertainty is the use of a preceding forward slash or not - and whether your camera requires NFS or CIFS/SMB file sharing protocol. A Windows share by default is SMB.

 

[3dogpottery]

Ok... I guess I've got some learning to do, as they say in the south.

 

[alastairstevenson]

Good luck! That's what we're all here for. Live and learn. Works all ways.

 

[nayr]

Its wanting a Unix NFS Share, not a Windows CIFS Share.. and each camera will need its own volume.. wont work out that well for you if you have multiple cameras and windows.

Would be easier to setup an ftp server in Windows, but you'd need something to clean up the files so you dont run out of space..

 

[3dogpottery]

[COLOR=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961)]Thanks for that information nayr. I finally gathered that the NAS setup was beyond my ken. I've been studying Lenox with a Raspberry Pie, but still know so little. I realized that an ftp server would work better and have already downloaded the FileZilla Server software. I don't plan on using this as a final solution for recording events, but find it fun to experiment with. I'm still debating between using Blue Iris or an NVR (or both?). However, my recent (and only) experience with setting up an NVR didn't go so well. I have another Dahua recorder on order and will try again. As it says under my user name, I'm getting the hang of it.[/COLOR]

 

[nayr]

I am running a FTP NVR, have been for a year now and it works well.. if you have a big USB HDD for storage you could probably set that RPI to be a temporary FTP NVR.. I am not using anything much more powerful than the new Pi for mine.. Ive got a 4TB Purple hooked to an eSata port on a CuBox-i4 running Debain Linux.

Check out this thread for a nice python script to clean up your FTP folder so you dont run out of space: http://www.ipcamtalk.com/showthread.php/1237-IPCam-FTP-Cleanup-(*nix)

 

[3dogpottery]

I had to Google the CuBox-i4 to see what that is. It looks like a Raspberry Pi on steroids! As I mentioned, I am pretty much a beginner with Linux, and setting up the CuBox as an FTP NVR is a little bit beyond my ability at this current moment. With the Raspberry Pi, I am using the Raspbein distribution, and there are dozens of tutorials on the web for doing just about everything. However, the RPI doesn't have an eSATA port. Anyway, you have given me plenty to chew on. Thanks for that helpful information.