NVR/DVR alternatives to Nest, Arlo cloud features

[digity]

I like the features of my Arlo system, especially the free 7 day cloud recordings, but I want to replace the system with IP cameras that are more open/standard. Are there any software, services, DIY systems that are low cost or free/open source that gives similar notifications/alerts and cloud recording functionality to Nest or Arlo (i.e., storing motion clips in S3, Dropbox/Drive/OneDrive, off-site NAS or even over FTP/RSYNC/BTSYNC)?

 

[fenderman]

I like the features of my Arlo system, especially the free 7 day cloud recordings, but I want to replace the system with IP cameras that are more open/standard. Are there any software, services, DIY systems that are low cost or free/open source that gives similar notifications/alerts and cloud recording functionality to Nest or Arlo (i.e., storing motion clips in S3, Dropbox/Drive/OneDrive, off-site NAS or even over FTP/RSYNC/BTSYNC)?

you can do this with blue iris..though cloud recording is silly...its inefficient and hogs bandwidth if you want good quality..it also requires an internet connection to be working...you are much better off sending a duplicate recording to a hidden nas or better yet hide a second nvr...

 

[aristobrat]

I'm just getting my feet with with Blue Iris software running on an PC that was laying around the house. I've not seen the notification/alerts of Nest/Arlo, but I've got Blue Iris set to send push notifications to my iOS devices whenever an alert happens. If I click on the alert on the iOS device, it connects back to the PC running Blue Iris and starts playing the clip.

Do the Nest and Arlo record continuously to the cloud, or just record when there's motion? Most of my cameras are the Dahua 5231 turret, and recording continuously, an hour of recording from just one camera is about 2.5GB. I can't imagine sending that x5 up to the cloud!

 

[fenderman]

Do the Nest and Arlo record continuously to the cloud, or just record when there's motion? !

The nest and arlo do not continuously record...arlo can never continuously record because it is battery powered (they do have some ac powered models)...those systems are for suckers.

 

[digity]

The nest and arlo do not continuously record...arlo can never continuously record because it is battery powered (they do have some ac powered models)...those systems are for suckers.

I wouldn't say Arlo/Nest is for suckers - they stripped away all the overhead and noise and narrowed down the features intelligently for the average person. The only reason I'm replacing it is because I'm a tinkerer and want more control. I can give my Arlo to anyone and they're be able to use it easily. I can't give my non-technical people standard IP cameras because then I'll have to set up and support it.

 

[aristobrat]

I really like the Dahua varifocal Starlight turret. The Sony sensor inside does awesome in low-light. If you like to tinker, check out Blue Iris software on a PC for the NVR. I just used it to setup a fake camera that only shows a black screen, and then use the Blue Iris Tools add-on to overlay weather conditions. About to have it make calls to my home automation hub when it senses motion on the front cameras, to give a heads up before someone gets to the porch.

 

[fenderman]

I wouldn't say Arlo/Nest is for suckers - they stripped away all the overhead and noise and narrowed down the features intelligently for the average person. The only reason I'm replacing it is because I'm a tinkerer and want more control. I can give my Arlo to anyone and they're be able to use it easily. I can't give my non-technical people standard IP cameras because then I'll have to set up and support it.

No..its for suckers...here is why..
1) Motion detection only works when close to the camera, because it relies on PIR only. You also dont get any pretrigger frames. You will miss vital events.
2) no continuous record.
3) MONTHLY FEE!!! If you want more than 1gb or 7 days of recording you have to pay monthly.
4) Battery replacement, time, cost, Murphy's law-they will die when you need it
5) Cannot display 24/7 on internal monitor
6)Cannot integrate into any other system.
7) wifi is unreliable
8) Its way over priced, it would cost about the same to pay someone to run ethernet.

I have 20+ blue iris systems in service. 99 percent of my users have zero technical skill, as in, they are most comfortable with a rotary phone...they have no problems...

 

[digity]

I'm just getting my feet with with Blue Iris software running on an PC that was laying around the house. I've not seen the notification/alerts of Nest/Arlo, but I've got Blue Iris set to send push notifications to my iOS devices whenever an alert happens. If I click on the alert on the iOS device, it connects back to the PC running Blue Iris and starts playing the clip.

Do the Nest and Arlo record continuously to the cloud, or just record when there's motion? Most of my cameras are the Dahua 5231 turret, and recording continuously, an hour of recording from just one camera is about 2.5GB. I can't imagine sending that x5 up to the cloud!

There's no continuously recording to the cloud, just motion. I have my Arlo at the low quality/better battery setting and video file size is ~275 KB, ~1 MB and ~1.8 MB for 10 seconds, 30 seconds and 60 seconds respectively which is great now that Comcast has capped data to 1 TB. I'm actually considering the Dahua 5231 turret to replace my Arlo system, so thanks for the recording stats. If I do get stubborn and insist on continuous recordings to the cloud/off-site NAS then I'll just upgrade to 1 Gb/s or 2 Gb/s internet packages (plus they don't have data caps).

 

[digity]

No..its for suckers...here is why..
1) Motion detection only works when close to the camera, because it relies on PIR only. You also dont get any pretrigger frames. You will miss vital events.
2) no continuous record.
3) MONTHLY FEE!!! If you want more than 1gb or 7 days of recording you have to pay monthly.
4) Battery replacement, time, cost, Murphy's law-they will die when you need it
5) Cannot display 24/7 on internal monitor
6)Cannot integrate into any other system.
7) wifi is unreliable
8) Its way over priced, it would cost about the same to pay someone to run ethernet.

I have 20+ blue iris systems in service. 99 percent of my users have zero technical skill, as in, they are most comfortable with a rotary phone...they have no problems...

YES, LOL!!! Some of those reasons are why I'm moving away from Arlo, but I'm very technical and very anal. We're privy to these drawbacks, but the average person isn't and probably won't ever feel that they're missing out. We're awoke and aware, they're sleep and don't care.

 

[digity]

I'd prefer to avoid running Windows for the DVR/NVR (licenses and OS resource hogging). Are there anything that runs on linux or [Docker] containers?

 

[fenderman]

I'd prefer to avoid running Windows for the DVR/NVR (licenses and OS resource hogging). Are there anything that runs on linux or [Docker] containers?

Windows license is free with a Dell or HP refurbished PC they are cheaper than building your own even if you take the license out of it... Windows does not consume any significant resource.Search The Forum there are discussions about linux-based VMS..you will be paying significantly more...

 

[digity]

My home lab is anchored by ESXi + FreeNAS so I wouldn't be purchasing hosting. I try not to use standalone machines anymore for basic functionality like this - I try to virtualize and consolidate as much as possible to keep the bare metal count minimal. Does anyone have any experience with shinobi, veyesys, zoneminder or motioneye? If so, pros and cons?

 

[fenderman]

Garbage...

 

[aristobrat]

The last thing I wanted to do was stand up a dedicated Windows PC to act as a NVR, but after a month of using Dahua's NVR and dealing with all of its glitches and lack of support, I'm quite happy with it.

You'll see occasional Zoneminder threads on here, but they usually end with people giving up on it.

Blue Iris can record camera feeds direct to disk if the processor has Intel QuickSync support. I'm not sure if VMware exposes that to guest machines? Makes a huge difference in the amount of processor used.

 

[fenderman]

T

Blue Iris can record camera feeds direct to disk if the processor has Intel QuickSync support. I'm not sure if VMware exposes that to guest machines? Makes a huge difference in the amount of processor used.

Note direct to disk does not require quicksync..hardware acceleration does..

 

[digity]

Note direct to disk does not require quicksync..hardware acceleration does..

rats! it looks like quicksync does work via VT-d, but I have a XEON processor which doesn't include quicksync. Any idea if the performance of a dual XEON CPU system with 10Gb direct connection to SSD RAID NAS is anywhere near the performance of a system with quicksync for Blue Iris?

 

[fenderman]

rats! it looks like quicksync does work via VT-d, but I have a XEON processor which doesn't include quicksync. Any idea if the performance of a dual XEON CPU system with 10Gb direct connection to SSD RAID NAS is anywhere near the performance of a system with quicksync for Blue Iris?

What processor?

 

[digity]

What processor?

dual XEON E5-2620 v4 or upcoming dual XEON Gold 6138. Or is there a guesstimate of a spec the system should have (clock speed, cores/threads, bus speed, memory, etc.) to perform comparably or better than a Core i# series system with QuickSync for Blue Iris?