Recommendations on my build

[Charlie007]

Hi All
Any help would be appreciated. I'm looking to add cameras to my home system and this is what I have so far.

Just bought BI (Unfortunately I didn't see that IPCAMTALK gets a discount before I purchased from website)

Lenovo ThinkCentre M900 (the tiny mini)
i7-6700T 2.80GHz
16GB RAM
256 GB Intel NVMe SSD

8port Netgear POE switch
4port TPLink POE switch

Saving files to 8TB Synology NAS.

I believe the specs are OK but uncertain if I should change to a tower? I wanted to mini so I can just mount it to my data board in my utilities room. Then just remote into the system as needed. What haven't I thought of or limitations when choosing the mini?

I have 3 HikVision Cameras (2x DS-2CD2185FWD-IS & 1X ECI-T24F2)
Looking to either upgrade or add to these.

Need 2 PTZ (1 indoor 1 outdoor), hoping to have total of eight cameras under $100 each. I'm trying to be very budget friendly with cameras cause I splurge (at least for me) on the NAS.

Would you recommend these or any other?

Misecu H.265 Wifi 1080P 5mp from Aliexpress?

22.47US $ 63% OFF|Misecu Ip Wifi 3mp 5mp Ptz Cctv Security Protection Outdoor Auto Tracking Two Way Audio Night Vision Video Surveillance Camera - Ip Camera - AliExpress

Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com

www.aliexpress.com

or
Amcrest 3MP wifi 2way audio

https://www.amazon.com/Amcrest-UltraHD-Security-3-Megapixel-IP3M-941B/dp/B07WYCFCK9/ref=sr_1_18?dchild=1&keywords=amcrest+ptz&qid=1632025673&s=electronics&sr=1-18

 

[mat200]

Hi All
Any help would be appreciated. I'm looking to add cameras to my home system and this is what I have so far.

Just bought BI (Unfortunately I didn't see that IPCAMTALK gets a discount before I purchased from website)

Lenovo ThinkCentre M900 (the tiny mini)
i7-6700T 2.80GHz
16GB RAM
256 GB Intel NVMe SSD
Saving files to 8TB Synology NAS.

I believe the specs are OK but uncertain if I should change to a tower? I wanted to mini so I can just mount it to my data board in my utilities room. Then just remote into the system as needed. What haven't I thought of when choosing the mini?

I have 3 HikVision Cameras (2x DS-2CD2185FWD-IS & 1X ECI-T24F2)
Looking to either upgrade or add to these.

Need 2 PTZ, hoping to have total of eight cameras under $100 each. I'm trying to be very budget friendly with cameras cause I splurge (at least for me) on the NAS.

Would you recommend these or any other?

Misecu H.265 Wifi 1080P 5mp from Aliexpress?

22.47US $ 63% OFF|Misecu Ip Wifi 3mp 5mp Ptz Cctv Security Protection Outdoor Auto Tracking Two Way Audio Night Vision Video Surveillance Camera - Ip Camera - AliExpress

Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com

www.aliexpress.com

or
Amcrest 3MP wifi 2way audio

https://www.amazon.com/Amcrest-UltraHD-Security-3-Megapixel-IP3M-941B/dp/B07WYCFCK9/ref=sr_1_18?dchild=1&keywords=amcrest+ptz&qid=1632025673&s=electronics&sr=1-18

Hi @Charlie007

In general the members have liked the Amcrest PT cameras, however few like the no name cheap Chinese PT cameras like the ones you are posting.

 

[Charlie007]

@mat200 thanks for the reply. I do like the 2way audio. The misecu was a recommendation from a youtuber and wasn't sure if anyone here has tried it? It does have alot of nice specs.

 

[wittaj]

That probably isn't an ideal computer for BI. The "T" means the intel processor is designed to use less power while also having less performance than the standard chips without any letters. What does this mean...it focuses on power efficiency over performance and will slow the CPU down to save power. So you may experience a lot of CPU maxing out and when that happens, you may miss a motion trigger. Then you throw a NAS on-top of that...

It probably would have been cheaper to buy a refurbished business class computer (like an i7-6XXXX series) and an 8TB HDD than the 8TB Synology NAS...

Just because a YouTuber recommends a camera doesn't make it a good one. The Hookup pushes Reolinks for example... I assure you for that price, the misecu will be short on lots of actual features you need to get good video. With these types of cameras, you get what you pay for. Do you want a camera that can IDENTIFY a person with a clean image or do you want to be able to simply tell the police what time something happened...

There is a perp in this picture....can you find him????? I will give you a hint, he is in between the two columns....does this provide any useful information to you other than knowing what time you were robbed? The police certainly cannot do anything with this picture to identify the perp....this is the kinda quality one gets from cheap consumer grade or no name cameras...

 

[TVille]

It all depends on your expectations. If you want sub $100 outside PTZ, I never seen one recommended on here. Particularly night vision is going to create ghosts and blurring like @wittaj shows with his picture. If your area is well lit, there are cheaper cameras that will work, but if you are in a darker area, you really need larger sensors, which means more money. The typically recommended fixed camera on here, the Dahua 5442 series, runs about $155 USD or so. Night performance is very good on these cameras, and you would clearly see the guy running from the cops between the pillars.

Also, wifi cameras will, depending on how many you have, start to create problems on wifi, they do not buffer, and just won't work well. One, two or three may work, but at some point around there, you will start have drop outs and other issues.

I like the tower systems because they have lots of room to add hard drives. But, you can use small form factors, IF they can handle the heat. These machines will be running at 10%-40% CPU continuously, depending on lots of things. Most business desktops run at 2%, rarely peaking at 40%.

 

[Charlie007]

Thank you @wittaj & @TVille

Yea, I was very iffy on the Misecu. But after reading lots of your threads I've decided on the T5442T-ZE from @EMPIRETECANDY

As for CPU usage, I've had 6 cameras (my 3 HikVision and 3 cheap iCamera1000) running and BI shows 25-39%. I did see it spike to 65-75% on some occasions. I know that's a pretty generic stat but is it really that bad to spike to 75% occasionally? Will I have more issues later when adding better quality cameras like the 5442s?

Re-assessing my situation I could do with only 7 cams. I will probably get some T2431T-AS at a later time.

 

[wittaj]

I suspect you are not using the substreams or maybe not enough optimizations.

Do EVERY optimization in the wiki and you will see a major drop in the CPU. Substreams are a must, especially once you get over 4MP cameras.

A member here runs 50 cameras on a 4th generation CPU at 30%.

And by EVERY, I mean EVERY. Too many people come here complaining of high CPU usage and claim they have done every optimization in the wiki and once they post screenshots, we see they are not using the substreams and that is probably one of the biggest CPU savers. Do not skip one because you think it isn't important or won't make that big of a deal. Even dropping frame rate a few FPS can make a big difference. No reason to run more than 15FPS, and many us have cams running at 10 to 12 FPS.

If you do not understand what something does in BI, then ask. Too many people also change a setting not realizing what it does and actually makes their performance worse.

Please post a screenshot of your BI camera status page that shows FPS, MP/s, etc.

Optimizing Blue Iris's CPU Usage

Blue Iris uses a lot of CPU time. In most Blue Iris installations, your CPU is the limiting factor which determines how many cameras you can have. As such, it is extremely important to optimize your configuration to ensure you can get the most out of your system while consuming the least...

ipcamtalk.com

 

[looney2ns]

Thank you @wittaj & @TVille

Yea, I was very iffy on the Misecu. But after reading lots of your threads I've decided on the T5442T-ZE from @EMPIRETECANDY

As for CPU usage, I've had 6 cameras (my 3 HikVision and 3 cheap iCamera1000) running and BI shows 25-39%. I did see it spike to 65-75% on some occasions. I know that's a pretty generic stat but is it really that bad to spike to 75% occasionally? Will I have more issues later when adding better quality cameras like the 5442s?

Re-assessing my situation I could do with only 7 cams. I will probably get some T2431T-AS at a later time.

Yes, you will have issue's with that T processor.
Trying to cheap out on cameras will almost always set you up for failure as well.
Choosing Hardware for Blue Iris | IP Cam Talk

 

[Charlie007]

@wittaj Yes you are correct, I have not done any optimization. It's on my list of things to do.

 

[The Automation Guy]

That computer will be fine for the average user (ie not trying to run 50 cameras). The only potential downside is the limited internal hard drive capacity of the mini format but since you are recording to a NAS, that is a non-issue. Plus you can always add external drives if needed.

I'm not sure why you need a PTZ camera for outdoor use. The "problem" with a PTZ camera is that murphy's law comes into play and ensures that the camera will be pointing in the wrong direction when an event occurs. PTZ cameras were initially intended to be used at facilities that had 24/7 security monitoring the feeds that would manually move the cameras as needed. Of course todays PTZ cameras can be smarter with AI triggers and set movement points, but you still shouldn't expect to cover a huge area with a single PTZ camera.

A better practice is to use fixed cameras that have appropriate focal lengths for field of view that you need to capture. It will obviously take more cameras to accomplish this, but using fixed cameras assures that you always have the cameras pointed in the right direction and they are always capturing what is expected/needed. Not only is using fixed cameras generally going to provide a better result, buying several fixed cameras might actually be cheaper than buying a single PTZ because good PTZ cameras are so expensive.

Don't get me wrong, there is still a time and place to use a PTZ camera. But far too often people wrongly look at them as a "do everything" solution and end up dissatisfied with the results.

 

[sebastiantombs]

Recording 24/7 with multiple cameras to a NAS probably won't work out very well. NAS, generally, is not designed for constant, multi-stream writes.

 

[Charlie007]

Thank you all for the suggestions and comments! I've got all 7 cameras finally up and running. Completed the optimization and my cpu usage is between 5-8% consistently so I'm happy about that.

As for recording to NAS, I'm currently recording onto 2 internal drives. Boot Drive is nvme (256gb) then copying to Stored on 500GB Crucial SSD, then backing older videos to 8TB NAS as needed. I feel I do fill up the 700ish GB internal drives pretty quick so I may have to play with recording options a bit more. I really don't need 24/7 recording especially on all cameras.

 

[sebastiantombs]

I still recommend an internal surveillance rated platter drive for all video. They aren't expensive and are responsive enough during playback. They are not susceptible to exceeding write cycles as an SSD drive is. That also eliminates the need to move files from drive to drive which is a redundant operation that consumes CPU resources.

 

[looney2ns]

Thank you all for the suggestions and comments! I've got all 7 cameras finally up and running. Completed the optimization and my cpu usage is between 5-8% consistently so I'm happy about that.

As for recording to NAS, I'm currently recording onto 2 internal drives. Boot Drive is nvme (256gb) then copying to Stored on 500GB Crucial SSD, then backing older videos to 8TB NAS as needed. I feel I do fill up the 700ish GB internal drives pretty quick so I may have to play with recording options a bit more. I really don't need 24/7 recording especially on all cameras.

Study this: