I'm wanting to pitch a system for a local company. They have a lot of small building spread out throughout the county, all network accessable. The might need one camera (MAYBE two) per location. I thought it would be lest costly overall to put IP cameras in each building, with a centralized recorder. I'm thinking of close to 100 remote sights at least. Is there any recommendations for a solution like that? I'd rather avoid a single DVR in each building (they are unmanned) just to avoid the extra cost (and potential service nightmare) or all those DVR's. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

I think you have a good solution for them. The main thing is the bandwidth requirement at the NVR. The individual sites would not take much bandwidth. I would check the speed and bandwidth at the location the recorder would be installed to ensure the concept is feasible or have the customer expand the netowrk capability.

I have an Arecont megapixel IP camera connected to a DSL modem/router (no local computer) at a remote location, not for security but for a webcam. I get about 400 bps overall. Gives me nice pics but at a very low framerate.

Milestone NVR software as an example will not connect to a camera not on a LAN - it needs a local PC to run the camera server part of the software.

Same with the setup software provided with the camera - can't connect across the internet therefore can't change things using a GUI. However, I can issue text commands in a browser to change almost all parameters.

For security purposes you are likely to need to be able to capture some reasonably fast action at so either the camera will need a large buffer, or you need a local PC of some description.

Thanks for the quick reply. I am also having a hard time finding the equipment. Of all the makes I've seen (after a search on the internet of our normal vendors), I've only seen recorders that support 32 channels of anything, and those are only saying 4 IP cameras. Any recommendations?

Boy, this is one you need to spec right !

I am not experienced in large IP systems (scared of them!) but take a look a Verint. They have a Nextiva IP System for example that can cater for 100 camera inputs which will give 2CIF/15fps for 18 Days using 11TB for space.

You need to ask what does the Customer want the Cameras for ?
What footage do they want to record and for how long ?
Do they want alarm on motion detection at a central point?

I always feel nervous (fear of the unknown) with large IP. I would prefer to put a reliable 4 way DVR in each location as you can't loose any footage if the Network is down. Most good manufactures give a 3 year warranty on DVR's now and if you pay a little bit more for a known brand DVR you can make money on maintainace charges.

Talk to a Rep from a DVR company see what support they offer and any money off for bulk discounts

http://verint.com/video_solutions/overview.cfm?article_level1_category_id=407

Also take a look at IndigoVision......

http://www.indigovision.com/products.php

Good Luck!

how are the locations networked together? ADSL/HDSL with VPN, fractional T1....?