Time to move from PC to NVR?

[Noctilum]

I currently run 30 Foscam cameras (480p) and a couple Dhaua cameras (720p) and have had issues with cameras dropping their signal in Blue Iris. I am finding it difficult to narrow down the cause. I used to have multiple computers, each running Blue Iris to spread the cameras out (6 on each box), because they were older computers. Then I decided to build a very powerful computer and am finding I need to run 25 to not worry about them dropping a signal on me.

Specs
- Intel Core i7 4790 4 GHz
- 8 GB RAM
- 512 GB SSD main drive
- 32 TB storage
- Windows 10 Pro

I have seen theories (cheap Foscam cameras, bandwidth, disk drive write bandwidth, Blue Iris, etc) but it's very hard to troubleshoot the cause.

So my question is, if I invest in a NVR, like a Dhaua with 32 channels, will I need to be concerned about this happening?

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1264383-REG/dahua_technology_dhi_nvr6a08_32_4ks2_32_channel_nvr_8sata.html

I am looking at 24/7 recording, around 7-10 FPS at 720p max.

Also, will the Dhaua recognize other camera brands such as the Foscam until I can get those replaced with more Dhaua's?

My other option is to just build a second computer like the one above and offload cameras to it like I was doing in the past.

 

[fenderman]

A dvr will not magically solve bad camera and network issues. You will also have a hard time finding a dvr that supports those old foscam cameras, if at all.

 

[nayr]

the problem is your cameras, 30x 480p MJPEG cameras are going to use >110Mbps of bandwidth and thats alot of data to process.. the same resolution using h264 uses a mere 21Mbps of data.

you need to replace the foscams with something modern to alleviate strain on the network, storage mediums, and NVR.. even 30 cameras recording 1080p @ h264 will use less bandwidth than 30 480p cameras on MJPEG

also using BluIris for a system so large will require very careful consideration to the build and tuning to get any where close to what you need

 

[Noctilum]

The only thing that I can confirm is the network bandwidth is not an issue. We have a great infrastructure built from the ground up just for this camera network. I have never seen utilization go higher than 3% usage at any one time and it's usually at least than 1%. So my guess has always been it was due to the camerasthe server or both.

So I guess what I need to know, is it even possible to pull what I want off with a single system? Even if I were to replace every single Foscam with a Dhaua? Or maybe I should just stop expecting so much from it all and rethink our camera usage.

I did look at some quotes from security professionals, and to replace all the cameras with theirs and their NVR they wanted $40,000-55,000 + installation + monthly maintenance fees.

 

[fenderman]

The only thing that I can confirm is the network bandwidth is not an issue. We have a great infrastructure built from the ground up just for this camera network. I have never seen utilization go higher than 3% usage at any one time and it's usually at least than 1%. So my guess has always been it was due to the camerasthe server or both.

So I guess what I need to know, is it even possible to pull what I want off with a single system? Even if I were to replace every single Foscam with a Dhaua? Or maybe I should just stop expecting so much from it all and rethink our camera usage.

I did look at some quotes from security professionals, and to replace all the cameras with theirs and their NVR they wanted $40,000-55,000 + installation + monthly maintenance fees.

Are you using wifi? if you already have everything wired (with good cable, not CCA crap) then all you need to do is replace the cameras.
You can buy good quality dahua cameras for under 100 dollars. You wont be able to run 30 at 4mp but you can buy 1080p cameras and run most at 1080p and some at 720p...

 

[nayr]

network bandwidth is not the only consideration, you have disk throughput/storage requirements, video processing, and hardware acceleration features.. 100Mbit of video is alot of data to churn through constantly, the slightest hiccup will cause a cascading failure when your dealing with loads like this.. for example, lets say you go to copy a file on a write burdened drive, now its choking and frames are being dropped.

your only as fast as your weakest point, with a GigE network I doubt thats the bottleneck.

even with hardware NVR's I would get 2 16ch's and cluster them together instead of trying to get a single system that can handle 32 just as well..

 

[Noctilum]

Are you using wifi? if you already have everything wired (with good cable, not CCA crap) then all you need to do is replace the cameras.
You can buy good quality dahua cameras for under 100 dollars. You wont be able to run 30 at 4mp but you can buy 1080p cameras and run most at 1080p and some at 720p...

Cameras are hard wired using pure copper CAT5e to Cisco Catalyst 2960-X switches. Each switch is using OM3 10GB fiber uplinks to each other. Even the server itself has a 10GB SFP+ module connection to the switch. The only thing really holding us back is the cameras Ethernet itself is 100Mbps.

 

[nayr]

foscams are cheap consumer grade cameras, stability issues with camera drop outs are common and I am doubtfull simply replacing the NVR will fix your underlying issue.

 

[fenderman]

Cameras are hard wired using pure copper CAT5e to Cisco Catalyst 2960-X switches. Each switch is using OM3 10GB fiber uplinks to each other. Even the server itself has a 10GB SFP+ module connection to the switch. The only thing really holding us back is the cameras Ethernet itself is 100Mbps.

Replace the cams...you have all this quality gear with garbage cameras.

 

[bp2008]

Are the Dahua cameras dropping out too? I too run a heavy camera load in Blue Iris, on an i7-3770K CPU. In the status window it reports 15800 kB/s (~126 Mbps), 580 megapixels per second. All are streaming h.264 and none are Foscam. Of the 21 cams I currently have active, there are 12 Hikvision, 6 Dahua, 2 ACTI, 1 Ubiquiti. All are very reliable. And this is with most of the video jumping through the PoE switch and 3 other gigabit unmanaged switches before reaching the Blue Iris server.