hikvision cameras and possibly NVR

i am getting ready to upgrade a business that is using an analog system and replace with IP cameras. the current system is geovision running on xp. the computer hardware is not strong enough to act as the NVR, which is why i will be buying or building a new PC.

here are the facts

- initially there will be 11 IP cameras, but i want to make sure i have the hardware to easily handle 16 cameras.

- i will be using 3MP 1080p hikvision cameras, i am not worried about storage, i can add drives to the PC or possibly record to a NAS device (in the future)

- cameras will be powered by a PoE switch. cameras are 10/100, but the switch is gigabit, which will help to send the camera feeds to the NVR (PC) for viewing and recording.

i want to go with an intel i7 CPU and at least 8GB of RAM, but not sure on what type of video card would be ideal for this setup. the cameras are 1080p, but there is a chance that i might lower the res to 720p. i want the system to be designed/purchased assuming that 1080p will be used that way i am safe if i decide to stay at 1080p.

questions/comments?

thanks.

I'm a PC nut, I've built them, blown them up, have had up to 11 of them running at once in the house back in the day...email servers, dedicated NAS (on BSD), dedicated FTP server, dedicated router, dedicated media-DVR-PC, security-camera-PC, even an Atari 800 was semi-connected to the network (no...ya can't play multi-PC Asteroids, but on-screen 4-player Asteroids...even the kids thought it was fun.

Now down to...um...4 PC's...not including the RasPi's, NAS's, tablets, smartphones, etc.

But figure an i7 for a sweet $1000+ PC, or simply get a Hikvision 16 channel NVR for $380 with 8 POE built in and put in one or two 4TB drives.

The PC's CPU is made to be a jack of all trades, but NVR-duties is very focused. As such, the NVR hardware can be a whole lot cheaper and still cover all your cameras in 3MP resolution.

* 11 cams

* 3 MP

* 15 fps

* H.264 codec

* Video quality on medium setting

* That's about 45-55 Mbps bandwidth (depending on the calculator used)

* High quality setting would set you to around 65-85 Mbps

* The Hikvision NVR (say the DS-7616NI-E2/8P) will handle a good 100 Mbps

For hard drive capacity, two 4TB drives will get you about 6 days of 24/7 recording. If you go with motion-only recording that extends that to perhaps 1-2 months depending on how much motion there is.

It's very rare that a business I work with does anything but motion-recording.

Or go with the $500 DS-7716NI-E4/16P with 16 POE ports and fit in four 4TB drives for 12 days of 24/7 recording or multi-months of motion recording...with 11 high-def 3MP cams.

For me, it makes performance and economic sense to simply get a dedicated DVR for the size system you're looking at.

I'm a PC nut, I've built them, blown them up, have had up to 11 of them running at once in the house back in the day...email servers, dedicated NAS (on BSD), dedicated FTP server, dedicated router, dedicated media-DVR-PC, security-camera-PC, even an Atari 800 was semi-connected to the network (no...ya can't play multi-PC Asteroids, but on-screen 4-player Asteroids...even the kids thought it was fun.

Now down to...um...4 PC's...not including the RasPi's, NAS's, tablets, smartphones, etc.

 

But figure an i7 for a sweet $1000+ PC, or simply get a Hikvision 16 channel NVR for $380 with 8 POE built in and put in one or two 4TB drives.

The PC's CPU is made to be a jack of all trades, but NVR-duties is very focused. As such, the NVR hardware can be a whole lot cheaper and still cover all your cameras in 3MP resolution.

* 11 cams

* 3 MP

* 15 fps

* H.264 codec

* Video quality on medium setting

* That's about 45-55 Mbps bandwidth (depending on the calculator used)

* High quality setting would set you to around 65-85 Mbps

* The Hikvision NVR (say the DS-7616NI-E2/8P) will handle a good 100 Mbps

 

For hard drive capacity, two 4TB drives will get you about 6 days of 24/7 recording. If you go with motion-only recording that extends that to perhaps 1-2 months depending on how much motion there is.

 

It's very rare that a business I work with does anything but motion-recording.

 

Or go with the $500 DS-7716NI-E4/16P with 16 POE ports and fit in four 4TB drives for 12 days of 24/7 recording or multi-months of motion recording...with 11 high-def 3MP cams.

 

For me, it makes performance and economic sense to simply get a dedicated DVR for the size system you're looking at.

i'd like to use a dedicated PC. while i don't plan on using the PC for anything other than the NVR software, i like being able to remote into the PC to pull footage off of the video storage drive(s) and save it to the c drive so it doesn't get overwritten until i have a chance to review it or save it for later w/o having to burn it to cd/dvd. also, it is nice having a PC on site to get drivers/firmware/etc. thank you for taking the time to type out your suggestions, but i am looking for answers for a dedicated PC.

thanks again.

I agree with zr1, for what you're wanting to do, that is a total waste of money.

Get a 16 channel NVR, log in remotely via web browser, access the footage, save and back it up to thumb drive, e-sata drive, additional internal drive, etc. No need to burn anything.

When you return to the NVR location, simply remove the thumb drive/e-sata drive, connect and boom, done.

I'm a PC nut, I've built them, blown them up, have had up to 11 of them running at once in the house back in the day...email servers, dedicated NAS (on BSD), dedicated FTP server, dedicated router, dedicated media-DVR-PC, security-camera-PC, even an Atari 800 was semi-connected to the network (no...ya can't play multi-PC Asteroids, but on-screen 4-player Asteroids...even the kids thought it was fun.

Now down to...um...4 PC's...not including the RasPi's, NAS's, tablets, smartphones, etc.

 

But figure an i7 for a sweet $1000+ PC, or simply get a Hikvision 16 channel NVR for $380 with 8 POE built in and put in one or two 4TB drives.

The PC's CPU is made to be a jack of all trades, but NVR-duties is very focused. As such, the NVR hardware can be a whole lot cheaper and still cover all your cameras in 3MP resolution.

* 11 cams

* 3 MP

* 15 fps

* H.264 codec

* Video quality on medium setting

* That's about 45-55 Mbps bandwidth (depending on the calculator used)

* High quality setting would set you to around 65-85 Mbps

* The Hikvision NVR (say the DS-7616NI-E2/8P) will handle a good 100 Mbps

 

For hard drive capacity, two 4TB drives will get you about 6 days of 24/7 recording. If you go with motion-only recording that extends that to perhaps 1-2 months depending on how much motion there is.

 

It's very rare that a business I work with does anything but motion-recording.

 

Or go with the $500 DS-7716NI-E4/16P with 16 POE ports and fit in four 4TB drives for 12 days of 24/7 recording or multi-months of motion recording...with 11 high-def 3MP cams.

 

For me, it makes performance and economic sense to simply get a dedicated DVR for the size system you're looking at.

Not sure where you get the 1k for an i7pc...I get dell optiplex 7020 i7-4790 machines from the outlet for under 500 all the time. Last one was 439. With three year next business day warranties. Software VMS gives you way more options than a dedicated NVR...if the user wants basic recording functions and nothing more then a dedicated NVR is probably the way to go...

I agree with zr1, for what you're wanting to do, that is a total waste of money.

 

Get a 16 channel NVR, log in remotely via web browser, access the footage, save and back it up to thumb drive, e-sata drive, additional internal drive, etc. No need to burn anything.

 

When you return to the NVR location, simply remove the thumb drive/e-sata drive, connect and boom, done.

i listed one of the reasons i want a PC based NVR. thank you for your feedback, but i am not looking for a standalone NVR.

Sounds like an awesome setup!

For those playing along on the home-game and may have googled in...

...a dedicated DVR/NVR will do all of the things stated except for 1:

* The PC fulfills the user's desire in liking to use a PC

(which is pretty close to the reason I use the motor oil I use in my car...along with a host of other things)

$1000-1200 systems are quite average for click-and-buy systems. Of course if you have found some-cool-smokin'-refurb-on-FatWallet system, then all the better.

Good cpu, good gpu (if displaying lotsa live streams), extra memory, 7200hdd (or ssd). $500 for an i7-4790 is excellent considering they go for $900-1100 new (the cpu alone is $310).

Sounds like an awesome setup!

 

 

For those playing along on the home-game and may have googled in...

...a dedicated DVR/NVR will do all of the things stated except for 1:

* The PC fulfills the user's desire in liking to use a PC

(which is pretty close to the reason I use the motor oil I use in my car...along with a host of other things)

 

$1000-1200 systems are quite average for click-and-buy systems. Of course if you have found some-cool-smokin'-refurb-on-FatWallet system, then all the better.

Good cpu, good gpu (if displaying lotsa live streams), extra memory, 7200hdd (or ssd). $500 for an i7-4790 is excellent considering they go for $900-1100 new (the cpu alone is $310).

Its not hard to find these systems. Dell has an outlet sale monthly...

In the past year I have purchased over 20 of them. Just follow the outlet on twitter..

You can pay 600 if you need them asap

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-Optiplex-7020-Business-PC-MT-Intel-i7-3-6GHz-8GB-500GB-7020T11210722SA-/301699033788?hash=item463ea9eabc

http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Dell-Optiplex-7020-SFF-i7-4790-QUAD-8GB-500GB-3-Year-Wnty-/131564520707?hash=item1ea1db4503