Hardware Review for 7 Camera Setup + DR

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So I have a NUC setup with the following
  • i5-4250U CPU @ 1.30 Ghz
  • 8GB RAM
  • 4TB WD Elements connected via USB for recording
  • 256GB SSD for OS and Blue Iris Configuration to sit on.
  • Windows 10
The NUC doesn't perform any other operation apart from this and running a Plex server which is not used frequently, thus idle most of the time.

I have 6 x Hikvision Cameras and 1 x D-Link Baby Camera.. It's been running for a year or more.. Even forgotten what the cameras are recording at.. showing bitrate of approx 500 kB/s and 15 fps for all Hikvision Cameras and 130 kB/s and 30 fps for D-Link Camera

Current recording setup gives me about 2 weeks of 24/7 recording history which is more than enough I guess.

CPU usage is constant 94-98% all the time with BlueIris using approx 88-94% CPU and 3.1GB Memory without the app open. So the NUC is pretty much taxed 24x7

Is the setup ok or should I upgrade something or reduce some settings to make it better? If I do sometime want to use the NUC / update it or use another software. I sometimes stop BlueIris so that CPU usage drops and can use other applications.. But I don't do this everyday.

Hope NUC doesn't blow up on me some day lol..

If I keep the "Export Settings" from Options Config in Dropbox will that save everything including camera config and properties as well and restore.. Or should I save that + goto each camera and do export for each camera individually as well via their properties? Just looking for DR scenario
 
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Is BI set to record straight to disk? I dont think ur cpu should be running that hot.
Checking all 7 cameras.. 4 of them have re-encode on..I have fixed them and this is the setting for all 7 cameras (Guessing this is what should be)

upload_2017-11-13_11-49-28.png

WOW

that has dropped it drastically to about 36-40% BlueIris CPU usage.. fan is quieter now...

I obviously botched my setup.. does that usage sound ok ??

Anything else I should look at from setup and optimization perspective?

How about the DR ??
 

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What cameras what resolution?
Hikvision DS-2CD2332-I x 5
Hikvision DS-2CD2432F-IW x 1
D-Link DCS-855L Camera

I believe all Hikvision are (from the camera config - not BlueIris)
  • Resolution: 1280x720p
  • frame rate: 15 fps
  • bitrate: variable
  • max bitrate: 4096 Kbps
  • Video Encoding: H.264
 

fenderman

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Hikvision DS-2CD2332-I x 5
Hikvision DS-2CD2432F-IW x 1
D-Link DCS-855L Camera

I believe all Hikvision are (from the camera config - not BlueIris)
  • Resolution: 1280x720p
  • frame rate: 15 fps
  • bitrate: variable
  • max bitrate: 4096 Kbps
  • Video Encoding: H.264
see the wiki, enable hardware acceleration....
also now that you have more headroom, you can move up to 1080p...
 

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see the wiki, enable hardware acceleration....
Thanks @fenderman ... I have gone through Optimizing Blue Iris's CPU Usage | IP Cam Talk and done the following

  • Direct to disc recording for all cameras (well already fixed)
  • Enabled Hardware Acceleration
  • Set all camera frame rates to 15fps (was currently 18 - 20fps)
  • Run as a service - was already doing so
  • Live Preview Frame rate - Dropped from 35 to 10
  • Video Scaling - Left it as Fast
  • Overlays - disabled all although nothing was overlaying - all coming from camera
  • Encoder Preset - set to superfast
Holy S**T... My Blue Iris CPU usage without app open is hovering around 15% CPU and 600MB RAM.. never been so quiet.. Although I will have to see if it has affected my 2 weeks storage in 4TB disk.. but that will take time to see I guess

Thanks once again

also now that you have more headroom, you can move up to 1080p...
Where are we doing this and how ?

Any thoughts on the DR plan? and whats better way to export and save config?

Also can you help with GeoFence broken in iOS 11 and App v1.59.03 ? ??

Had also revived quite an old thread BI Switching Profiles Manually

Thanks
 
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fenderman

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Thanks @fenderman ... I have gone through Optimizing Blue Iris's CPU Usage | IP Cam Talk and done the following

  • Direct to disc recording for all cameras (well already fixed)
  • Enabled Hardware Acceleration
  • Set all camera frame rates to 15fps (was currently 18 - 20fps)
  • Run as a service - was already doing so
  • Live Preview Frame rate - Dropped from 35 to 10
  • Video Scaling - Left it as Fast
  • Overlays - disabled all although nothing was overlaying - all coming from camera
  • Encoder Preset - set to superfast
Holy S**T... My Blue Iris CPU usage without app open is hovering around 15% CPU and 600MB RAM.. never been so quiet.. Although I will have to see if it has affected my 2 weeks storage in 4TB disk.. but that will take time to see I guess

Thanks once again



Where are we doing this and how ?

Any thoughts on the DR plan? and whats better way to export and save config?

Also can you help with GeoFence broken in iOS 11 and App v1.59.03 ? ??

Had also revived quite an old thread BI Switching Profiles Manually

Thanks
this is done in the camera settings. log into the camera web interface.
if you export via blue iris options>about it will save everything except the license key.
There is a thread about geofencing issues with ios, email support.
 

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this is done in the camera settings. log into the camera web interface.
Thanks will check it out..

if you export via blue iris options>about it will save everything except the license key.
Cool.. So all I need is that + the key from my email or somwhere.. All general config + camera IP / Setting will come back? Will just backup that file

There is a thread about geofencing issues with ios, email support.
Couldn't find that thread... Could you point me to it, please? Have emailed support already. thanks.. So its a known issue I am guessing
 

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this is done in the camera settings. log into the camera web interface.
Thanks I have done this for 6 cameras.. CPU is now 30%.. I am guessing because of this my 2 weeks 24x7 storage will drop to 1 week 24x7 recording history?? (720p -> 1080p)

If that is the case can I tweak somewhere else? Or might drop some cameras (or all of them down to 720p).. How much loss of quality will be for these if I stick with 720p recording instead of 1080p ??
 

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Thanks I have done this for 6 cameras.. CPU is now 30%.. I am guessing because of this my 2 weeks 24x7 storage will drop to 1 week 24x7 recording history?? (720p -> 1080p)

If that is the case can I tweak somewhere else? Or might drop some cameras (or all of them down to 720p).. How much loss of quality will be for these if I stick with 720p recording instead of 1080p ??
resolution has no impact on recording size...only bitrate...if you have a variable bitrate set then it could impact size unless its already using the max...
 

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resolution has no impact on recording size...only bitrate...if you have a variable bitrate set then it could impact size unless its already using the max...
Thanks.. I have variable set in the cameras GUI with 8 MB/s set for all and 1080p.. I guess leave it to that.. Max rate in BlueIris Video (As per wiki) is set to 15fps

In BI, I can see its reporting about 850 kB/s (from my previous reported 500 kB/s) , So I guess I will loose some days..not half..

2 cameras are currently reporting a yellow exclamation mark on the fps with 0.00-0.46 and 0.46 fps respectively. something I should be concerned about?
 

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2 cameras are currently reporting a yellow exclamation mark on the fps with 0.00-0.46 and 0.46 fps respectively. something I should be concerned about?
yes...it should be coming in at the proper frame rate.
 

fenderman

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What can I check? Knowing that I raised it to 1080p and max bitrate to 8MB/s for all cameras..
you dont need that high a bitrate, set it to 4096 in the camera...are the cameras hard wired?
 

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you dont need that high a bitrate, set it to 4096 in the camera...are the cameras hard wired?
Yes.. All are hardwired to a switch which goes into my router (and the NUC is hardwired to it).. I will drop them back to 4096
 

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Hmm.. dropping it down to 4096 still has that issue for those two cameras.. maybe they were before I made changes today..
 

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Something wierd is going on.. task manager reports total CPU usage at 40% with BI using 25%.. but the BI UI and other places (windows gadget) all reporting 100% CPU usage fully.. what the???
 

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Something wierd is going on.. task manager reports total CPU usage at 40% with BI using 25%.. but the BI UI and other places (windows gadget) all reporting 100% CPU usage fully.. what the???
are you logged in remotely using something like teamviewer?
with respect to the fps, try connecting the blue iris pc to the same switch as the camera, not the router.
 
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