Originally Posted By Xepho:

Hey Grayman I'm currently replacing a BNC system with IP cameras at my house.



Right now I have 4x hikvision 4mp DS-2CD2042 Cameras, 3 of which are installed and wired.



And would like to build a PC that will be able to act as an NVR for them, running the iVMS software that came with the cameras (maybe blue iris later), with the possibility of adding 4 more cameras (total of 8).  And would love to know your thoughts on MINIMUM specs to accomplish this.  I currently have a 4TB WD Purple drive, and am now wondering what CPU would need to handle this.  I am currently thinking of an AMD FX-4350 quad core and tossing two sticks of 4gb ddr3 1333 ram in it.  I assume that this would work just fine, but is it overboard?



I would like them to hook into my gigabit switch which does not have POE capabilities.  So obviously I would need an injector, would this suffice?



POE injector



Basically my goal is to just have a small PC in the basement to handle all the camera stuff, and then be able to tap into it from another computer elsewhere in the house to remotely view the recorded footage, and since the cameras will go through the currently installed switch, be able to access the live view from iVMS installed on whatever device I am using.

Originally Posted By QwikKotaTx:
I'm trying to avoid buying an actual NVR. Reading here it seems that I can do that by buying software such as Blue Iris and using a switch to route the cameras to the computer. The switch will route the network (internal and external) to and from the PC, correct? Router would be plugged in to the switch.

Gigabit components will cost me a few dollars more and with 4 cameras (3MP) it might not be required but better to avoid future upgrades. I would like to do motion only record on a dome camera and was not sure if the Hikvision model can do that?

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1137987-REG/hikvision_ds_2cd2132f_i_2_8_3mp_vandom_ir_2_8m_30c_ip66.html

Thank you for this thread.

Originally Posted By Xepho:


I ended up building a dedicated PC for blue irs and 4x cameras.

You need a decent CPU for it, as blue iris is pretty cpu intensive.  I originally tried with an AMD A10-7850k, and at 4mp 20fps it was using about 65% of the CPU, so I swapped it out for an i5-3570 and it ended up around 40% usage.

The software can indeed record however you want it to, it is a LOT more user friendly than the hikvision DVR (And I tried the hikvision PC software, but couldn't figure that out for the life of me), and the "alert" screenshots are nice if you have it recording 24/7, as a way to quickly find out what caused motion.

I have a 24 port switch connected to everything in the house, then a separate POE switch that the cameras are drawing power from, and that is connected to the 24 port switch.  the cameras each have their own IP, and blue iris is finding them without a problem, no special forwarding or anything like that.

Originally Posted By QwikKotaTx:


Great, thanks. I believe my PC is an i7 with a decent graphics card. It runs SolidWorks very well, both modeling and the FEA part which I have had struggles with on other well equipped machines. It just sits other than when I want to look up some reloading data so I might as well make good use of it. Probably upgrade it with a PCI-E network card and a 3 TB HDD.

The Blue Iris that is sold on Amazon is $10 cheaper than the direct website. I wonder if it's the same software though. Amazon says the publisher is Amcrest and the direct website says Perspective. Odd.

Originally Posted By QwikKotaTx:

Thanks for your inputs. I ended up with an ION NVR after Nellys talked me into it. It was only $100 but I am having issues forwarding the IP address and the inability to use motion record with the Hikvision camera I have in my driveway is quite annoying. The HDD fills up quickly. I am thinking of going back to the PC based system. I would need to pull the HDD out and use it as a slave in my PC but I've done that before. I am not sure if software such as Milestone or Blue Iris are picky about what cameras for motion record. I have an Eyesurv dome on the front porch and a Hik bullet on the side. I would like to add at least one more dome for the back entrance but would love to go WiFi there due to the wire routing. I am not sure how to integrate that but I guess it could just go through my wireless router.