TheWigglerSpot

Wow - Linux for Geovision? I had not heard of it.

All their NVR's run embedded linux, which is what I have but havent installed in my home yet...

My question was, does the new VMS software run on Linux or if anyone had any experience with it.

Do they have a linux version? I just bought a GEOVISION NVR that runs linux - haven't even installed yet and hopefully I can install or it automatically grabs the latest version.

Thanks

Can anyone give a recommendation on which brand to prefer?

 

I need to have a good nvr-playback-system that enables me to quickly scan footage. Without ordering the hardware I find it really hard to judge the quality of the NVRs as there are NO online-demos and NO good youtube-videos showing how playback works.

 

ZModo http://surveillance.zmodo.com/zmodo-8-channel-720p-nvr-system-with-8-hd-ip-cameras-2tb-hdd.html

ANNKE http://www.annke.com/

VIVOTEK http://www.vivotek.com/nd8322p/#views:view=jplist-grid-view

HIKVISION http://www.amazon.com/HIKVISION-DS-7608NI-E2-8P-Network-Recorder/dp/B00VMNRZS4/?tag=c24m-20

The software on all of these suck, collectively.

Synology has had frequent updates to their VMS (up to 7.2 I think) and for 549.99 for the 9 camera license + 100 for 2TB HD you are going to have a pretty good NVR set up. Main drawback is the no rackmount for Synology unless you get a true NAS, then spend about 450 for the same licenses.

Brutal anyway you slice it if you want good rackmounted NVR

What is the driving reason why you're looking at Synology? Is it because you want a "turn-key" solution that includes the hardware and software pre-configured to run out of the box (minus the setup of your cameras)? If so, I wouldn't go with Synology - they are not a surveillance or IP camera company. But they do make excellent NAS devices. To get a true turn-key solution, look at Avigilon, Axis, etc. They make both the hardware (server/storage and cameras) plus the VMS. Otherwise, you're in the right place to research how to put together a good system on your own!

 

So, pick the cameras that work best for you. Then a compatible VMS system that meets your needs; the hardware to run it will be dictated by the VMS system requirements. And if you want to use a NAS for storage, Synology makes a good one

Sorry to bump a really old thread, a "civilian" can actually buy the Synology NVR product.

You cannot buy the products you mentioned unless you go through a dealer and pay a lot of $$$

You definitely want POE and you can use a SWITCH to add as many POE devices as your switch can handle. All POE switches need a power outlet (not sure if you are asking). From my POE switches to the furthest camera is a lot farther than 300 feet and everything works great with CAT6.

You want to segregate the Cameras from the rest of the network (WAPS, whatever) obviously and don't expect much from the software that comes with these NVR's. (NVR is a DVR but on the network) You will hear stories of better VMS (this is the software that drives the NVR) but no one will tell you how much because unless they do the entire install, etc and sell you a 3k NVR...

It's tricky if you hire an installer. My house I originally had pre-wired and the guy left the country after it was done. The installers all pissed me off so bad with their nonsense I just decided to do ti all myself - cameras, whole home audio, automation, you name it.

Luckily I had a week or 2 to spend learning what to do.

Get your checkbook out and prepare to be pissed off if you use an installer. Maybe cheaper in the long run, bit it sucks in the beginning. You are gonna pay about 3 to 4x as much for them to do it and $80 an hour per person to come out and fix anything that breaks.

If you are a DIYer there probably isn't much that is gonna break that you aren't gonna know how to fix.

GL and I hope I helped address some of what you are concerned about.

Depending on the cameras, this is doable for 15k. The devil is in the details with any proposal you get.

I've tried every NVR program I have been able to find for Windows. If I could find a quality tool in a paid version, even if it cost a thousand dollars - perhaps even a little more than that - I would buy it but, in my opinion, they're all crap.

 

Of all the programs I have tried, Blue Iris, by very far, had the worst performance. On my older PC that ran every other program I tried fairly well, Blue Iris would use 100% CPU. I built a new i7 quad core box and Blue Iris would run on it but would use 30% CPU utilization with just 2 cameras at 3MP. I stopped testing at about 47% utilization with 4 cameras. There were several apps I tried that run 13 cameras under 20% and one even under 10% CPU utilization so Blue Iris went completely off my list. Now I'm using a dual-xeon, 8 cores per CPU (plus hyperthreading for a total of 32 threads) with 128GB RAM but I'm not even going to try Blue Iris on it.

 

I tried Avigilon and found it's UI to be very unusual. It's not like it's unworkable; it's just not what you'd expect. The way it boxes various cameras on the screen seemed pretty unintuitive based on my experience but it did work. Perhaps, over time, I would get used to the UI and even understand the value in why they built the UI the way they did. The problem I had was that it still used more CPU than the best of what I tried but it took everything I threw at it in the way of cameras and demand on those cameras without missing a beat. I was impressed enough that I was about to buy it but I had just a couple questions before I made the commitment. Since I was using the trial version, neither Avigilon nor the dealers would help to answer my question. That proved to me that I would continue to get poor service. As a home user, once I bought the app once they have no expectation to ever get any more money from me so why would they care to support me? I took them off my list.

 

I wanted to try IPCENT. Their package looked pretty good but you have to buy it through the Windows Store for Windows 8 and above - it doesn't work with Windows 7. I don't buy from the Windows Store because I refuse to give Microsoft my personally identifiable information so I can purchase products from places that are not Microsoft. And I hate the metro app look and feel.

 

I tried the Hikvision software - free with Hikvision cameras but many Hikvision compatibles are available and they ship the software as well. It works pretty well. I don't like the way it treats every camera as a possible multi-camera recorder or server so every camera has to go in a folder. Adding the cameras is pretty spotty; sometimes it will only add the first camera and won't remember any future cameras. I've had to upgrade the software a few times to get to a reliable place but it seems ok now. Now that it is working, it's been rock solid, as have been the cameras. The problem with Hikvision is that it is the second highest CPU utilization - but still less than half of Blue Iris. There are two processes. The process that is labeled Hikvision uses only a percent or two but there's a server process running that the Hikvision process is dependent on that, with my 13 cameras, uses up to 30% CPU. That's not terrible and if I didn't know there were many apps that do so much better I would have been very happy with the Hikvision software.

 

The very best performing software is free UC software that comes with several brands of Chinese imports based on the TI-365/368 chipset. I'v run all 6 of my compatible cameras - and as many as 9 when I had others on the bench, testing for a different location, and most at 3MP, full record, with under 10% CPU utilization. The problem with UC is that it doesn't work with anyone else's cameras. Hikvision has this problem but I'm not averse to going all Hikvision or Hikvision compatible. So if you buy the cameras UC works with, it may be the best performing but it's a struggle to get email and ftp working. Otherwise, and other than the ugly green borders, this is a great app. But I didn't want to be tied to one brand no matter what the brand. No one maker has all the camera types I want at any price. So I'm working on replacing my UC compatible cameras as they fail (3 years old before the first one did) or when I just feel like replacing one with a HUISUN PTZ.

 

There were a few other high-end apps I used that I tossed out, the names of which escape me for now.

 

The best, overall, of the free apps that came with the various camera brands is one simply named CMS published by JuFeng. I got it with a Sunba speed dome. CMS takes any ONVIF camera I have thrown at it. It has a limitation that it can only display 1080p max resolution but for monitoring that's fine. That means, though, that I need to use my other recorders and I don't use CMS for recording. What I haven't tried is displaying 1080p or less but trying to record at full resolution. I haven't tried because I have several other recorders already. It might work in which case this would be even better. My opinion, though, is that I don't record where I watch because a criminal may see where I watch. If he steals the PC running my monitoring software then he's stolen the recording. Viewing and recording are always separate tasks for me though you could use the viewing station as tertiary or other recording. This is what I use at about half of my monitoring stations.

 

I've also used Synology Surveillance Station. If you turn the NAS on to record cameras and leave it alone, it mostly works. A neighbor asked me once if I had caught anything on my camera after their car had been broken into and when I checked I found my Synology had dropped the connection to all three cameras at that location without notification. I didn't even realize I had no recording there. I quit buying the silly per-camera licenses and have quit using Surveillance station on all 4 of my Synology devices. I use them for NAS storage only and let PCs record to them as tertiary recording - never primary or secondary. The ActiveX based web client for Synology runs at about 80% CPU utilization with just 8 cameras. I quit using it for monitoring before testing beyond that. I don't recommend Synology almost as much as I don't recommend Blue Iris.

 

There is a very big surprise, to me at least, in the NVR space - both recording and monitoring. There's a mini-nvr thread, or threads, here about some under-100 dollar mini NVRs. I think I paid about 65 dollars each for the several I have. I've tested the 16-channel version with up to only 13 cameras - which is all I have needed them for. They record great to the 2TB internal 2.5" drive (sold extra) and I have read where people use them with eSata or USB drives; I haven't tried it. The IE app works with or without ActiveX. I've had it running over a month at a time without any hickups. The only thing that makes it stop is me stopping it to do something on one of the PCs. I use them for secondary and tertiary recording in multiple locations. Honestly, either with a direct connect computer monitor, keyboard, and mouse, or as a remote connection by PC with IE for viewing, this is a great and inexpensive option for viewing and recording your cameras.

 

I hope this helps some readers in choosing a suitable solution for them.

This is one of the best pieces of info I've ever seen on NVR software.

I will say that a lot of the app criticism you see ("spinning", "blank / black view") is due to the nature of the network the app is on.

I've spent a lot of time researching NVR software as I only want to do this once and I want to do it right, and it all seems to suck pretty bad, at least the SOHO/Home stuff, and maybe the commercial stuff as well.

What version of Surveillance Station were you running? It shouldn't require constant monitoring and if the NVR loses the lease or whatever with one of the cameras, it should have multiple streams to inform the license holder, user.

I have little first hand experience, but I am sure from what I have read and your experiences, that NVR and remote viewing software collectively sucks really bad.