ZMODO died, time for a serious upgrade...

[rtfclb8]

Hi Guys,

As the title states, my trusty little ZMODO analog system died, and as such, must be replaced. Time for a serious upgrade.
A few questions:
- I have BI running on a dedicated server, so I'm thinking I don't need an NVR true/false?
- Can someone recommend a decent 8 port gigabit PoE router? (The TP-LINK TL-SF1008P has only 4 PoE)
- This will be for a small single family home with an attached garage, so I'll probably start with 5 cameras.
- 3 outdoor bullets (deck, garage side door, & driveway)
- 1 outdoor pan & tilt (front entryway)
- 1 indoor (garage)
Any camera recommendations based the info above? I guess I'm partial to HIKVISION, but can be swayed.
Also what is the best megapixel size? 2, 3, 5?

I'm pretty comfortable with networking, and such, so no worries there.

Great site, I'm glad I found it while doing research.

Thanks much,

RTFCLB8

 

[bp2008]

What CPU is in your dedicated server? A lot of old servers are way too slow for Blue Iris. For 5 modern cameras you probably want an i5 quad core desktop CPU, at least 3rd generation (i5-3xxx, i5-4xxx, or newer). Or an equivalent speed Xeon. Check cpubenchmark.net for comparisons. Look for a CPU with a score of at least 5000 is my advice.

For a switch, how about http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00H58P8RU or http://www.amazon.com/dp/B010QXCIRS
Neither is gigabit speed, but you can use the uplink port to link to any gigabit switch and then it doesn't matter. You just won't hook up your Blue Iris machine directly to this switch.

Right now, 4 megapixel is available from both Hikvision and Dahua and is much more cost-effective than 5 megapixel. You can get the older 3MP cams still, but you won't save much money that way. With 2 MP cams you might save some cash, and they are still good quality. It is all up to you. I think 4 MP is the sweet spot today.

 

[reeves1985]

Hi Guys,

As the title states, my trusty little ZMODO analog system died, and as such, must be replaced. Time for a serious upgrade.
A few questions:
- I have BI running on a dedicated server, so I'm thinking I don't need an NVR true/false?
- Can someone recommend a decent 8 port gigabit PoE router? (The TP-LINK TL-SF1008P has only 4 PoE)
- This will be for a small single family home with an attached garage, so I'll probably start with 5 cameras.
- 3 outdoor bullets (deck, garage side door, & driveway)
- 1 outdoor pan & tilt (front entryway)
- 1 indoor (garage)
Any camera recommendations based the info above? I guess I'm partial to HIKVISION, but can be swayed.
Also what is the best megapixel size? 2, 3, 5?

I'm pretty comfortable with networking, and such, so no worries there.

Great site, I'm glad I found it while doing research.

Thanks much,

RTFCLB8

The Huisun cameras are good and use hikvision protocols so work seamless with a hikvision nvr and they are cheap!

I don't use BI so I can't comment on that part

 

[rtfclb8]

Thanks for your feedback. For now I'll be using a quad core AMD 9950 (CPU score 3053). I amazon'd 4mp cameras, and they're a bit pricey, so I'll probably stick with 3mp cameras. Do you prefer Hikvision, or Dahua?

Thanks again, I appreciate it.