Noob network layout and hardware selection help

D

Dustin Mustangs

n3wb
May 21, 2018
16
1
Holland, MI
Ready to pull the trigger on a 12-16 cam BI setup, all POE. Nothing is purchased yet except one cam for testing purposes. I have an existing home wired/wifi network which consists of modem>router>unmanaged switch>cat5e. I understand I will need a POE switch that all the cameras will connect to. Does it matter if the POE switch is managed or not? Should my other existing switch be managed?? I am also confused as to how the BI PC physically connects to my POE switch and my existing network at the same time or if it would even need to??? I would prefer everything be hard wired if possible.

Also, what is the preferred hard drive setup for the recordings on this type of system???? If NAS, where would that connect to the network?????

I am looking for this to not only function properly but also be as secure and reliable as possible. Thoughts on anything else I maybe overlooking with regards to those goals would be greatly appreciated.
 
Dustin Mustangs said:
Ready to pull the trigger on a 12-16 cam BI setup, all POE. Nothing is purchased yet except one cam for testing purposes. I have an existing home wired/wifi network which consists of modem>router>unmanaged switch>cat5e. I understand I will need a POE switch that all the cameras will connect to. Does it matter if the POE switch is managed or not? Should my other existing switch be managed?? I am also confused as to how the BI PC physically connects to my POE switch and my existing network at the same time or if it would even need to??? I would prefer everything be hard wired if possible.

Also, what is the preferred hard drive setup for the recordings on this type of system???? If NAS, where would that connect to the network?????

I am looking for this to not only function properly but also be as secure and reliable as possible. Thoughts on anything else I maybe overlooking with regards to those goals would be greatly appreciated.
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POE Switches do not have to be managed, managed means you can connect to it from a web browser.

You can add a 2 port Intel network card into your Blue Iris PC. One port goes to your camera poe switch and other port can go to your home network that has internet. This way your cameras will be on a network that is not connected to the Internet, but you will still have to setup port forwarding on your router to get remote access to your BI PC.

The most secure way is to buy a Router that has an Openvpn server, some Netgear & Asus routers have it or a Pfsense router works great! Setup your phone with an Openvpn client, then dont use any port forwarding! You can watch youtube videos on any of this of stuff to learn more.
 
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Managed also allows you many more advanced features. VLANs are probably the most common. These features are primarily used in a corporate environment or in more advanced home networks. Here's an article that helps to explain the difference: How to choose between a managed, or unmanaged network switch.

Your cameras will work fine on an unmanaged switch. You can gladly get a managed switch too if you wish. The cameras will work fine there too.
 
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I use a ASUS router for my OpenVPN into my network.
I have two network cards in my Blue Iris PC. one connects to the Router/internet, the other to the camera sub net.
All my cameras are on a sub net with no internet access possible.
I have a normal 8 port Gigabit switch (not POE) connected to the second nic card.
From the Gigabit switch the network fans out to four - 4 port POE+ switches, this saves on pulling all the network cables to a single location.
Each of the POE switches has a small UPS that will keep it and the cameras running during a short power outage.
Each POE switch has 2 uplink ports, but I only use one.
All the hardware is on UPS, the blue iris PC, the Asus router, the 8 port gigabit switch.
The Blue Iris PC also runs my time server for the cameras.
 
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