Question on creating my IP Camera network

[TheGooginator]

I have a question on how I think I would like to begin building up my POE camera system and reading through some of the guides and threads here I would like to make sure my system is secure. I am building from the ground up so my thoughts atm are as follows.

1. Purchase a used Dell Optiplex system that will run BI and install it in my entertainment center in my living room using my TV as the video out as needed.
2. Purchase a 16 port POE+ switch like the one linked here on amazon and install it also in the entertainment center. MokerLink 16 Port POE
3. Begin by purchasing the IPC-HFW5241E-Z12E camera which will become my LPR camera down my street around 120ft as well as in the future be able to tinker with focal lengths at other positions as I build out other camera locations.
4. I will be running the first few of my cameras wiring into the garage as they will be mounted just on the outside and then hopefully up into the attic and then down the same place where a current run of cat5E comes to my entertainment center. My house was built in 2017 and most rooms were connected with cat5e and my box is in my master closet. I have not ventured into my attic so that could provide some problems for me we will see.

My question comes in the equipment that I just listed am I able to connect all of this together without connecting to my network and therefore the internet at all and be able to manage it with a mouse and keyboard to my Dell Optiplex or do I need to replace anything I mentioned above or add any additional equipment. I am sure as I feel more comfortable and go down the VLAN route that I eventually will connect my system so I can manage things from my desktop but I would feel better doing this as my LPR camera will be my first project and will help me learn a lot.

Any additional advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

 

[Kn10]

1. Yep, little Dell Optiplex's gets you lots of power for little money, with low power usage.
2. Yep, looks fine. Dont need full gigabit in all ports so this 10/100 works fine.
3. Yep, popular cam here for LPR. Good idea to use a varifocal for choosing other locations.

Yep, you can run all your cameras to the switch, and use that uplink port to the single network card of the Optiplex.
You can use the Dual NIC setup guide to tell you how to setup IP's and such. But don't do the internet/wan side of it.
When you are ready for it to connect it to the internet, you can change this up to be VLAN with a managed switch (that switch is not managed), or go the dual nic route.

 

[TheGooginator]

1. Yep, little Dell Optiplex's gets you lots of power for little money, with low power usage.
2. Yep, looks fine. Dont need full gigabit in all ports so this 10/100 works fine.
3. Yep, popular cam here for LPR. Good idea to use a varifocal for choosing other locations.

Yep, you can run all your cameras to the switch, and use that uplink port to the single network card of the Optiplex.
You can use the Dual NIC setup guide to tell you how to setup IP's and such. But don't do the internet/wan side of it.
When you are ready for it to connect it to the internet, you can change this up to be VLAN with a managed switch (that switch is not managed), or go the dual nic route.

Thats awesome I was afraid I would need to purchased a managed switch instead of an unmanaged one due to no router but I guess the routers purpose is to route traffic from the WAN to the LAN.

 

[samplenhold]

I would caution you on attempting to do LPR right off the bat. LPR is very tricky. Getting just one cam at first and using it for testing ideas and focal lengths is a great idea. Realize that the IPC-HFW5241E-Z12E is a 5-60 mm varifocal. Most fixed focal cams come in 2.8mm, 3.6mm, and 6mm. So the only fixed focal cam you could simulate with the 5431 Z12 is the 6mm.

If you buy a non-managed switch to start, but intend to do VLANs, you will ultimately need to buy a managed switch. But you could just do a dual NIC install and not have to buy the managed switch or use VLANs.

so I can manage things from my desktop

The Dual NICs in the BI computer allows you to access the cams from that sub-net and the rest of your LAN can access the BI computer via either UI3 or RDP. If you want to use the cam's web browser from your desktop, install a 2nd NIC in that desktop as shown below.

 

[TheGooginator]

I would caution you on attempting to do LPR right off the bat. LPR is very tricky. Getting just one cam at first and using it for testing ideas and focal lengths is a great idea. Realize that the IPC-HFW5241E-Z12E is a 5-60 mm varifocal. Most fixed focal cams come in 2.8mm, 3.6mm, and 6mm. So the only fixed focal cam you could simulate with the 5431 Z12 is the 6mm.

If you buy a non-managed switch to start, but intend to do VLANs, you will ultimately need to buy a managed switch. But you could just do a dual NIC install and not have to buy the managed switch or use VLANs.


The Dual NICs in the BI computer allows you to access the cams from that sub-net and the rest of your LAN can access the BI computer via either UI3 or RDP. If you want to use the cam's web browser from your desktop, install a 2nd NIC in that desktop as shown below.

View attachment 65014

Thanks for the advice @samplenhold I will most likley be doing the dual NIC once I become more familiar with it. I have a question about the diagram you added though. Why do you have two computers with dual NICs attached to the POE switch is this for ease of access to the CAMs live feed if need be? My BI PC will be in my entertainment center and my main pc is my master bedroom so if I wanted to follow this setup I would need to run additional ethernet from the entertainment center back to my masterbedroom. Could I not just remote into my BI PC from my PC to mess with settings and download footage etc?

I also appreciate your concern with me purchasing an LPR camera right away but that is really my main objective atm and the whole reason I am moving to POE cameras from the current 2 Nest cams I have in operation. I am sure it will take me some time but I feel confident I will get the results I want with the IPC-HFW5241E-Z12E.

 

[samplenhold]

Why do you have two computers with dual NICs attached to the POE switch

My BI server is upstairs, my office PC is downstairs and that is where I spend most of my time at a computer. I rarely actually sit at the BI machine. So when I get a new cam, I can plug it in to the 192.168.1xxx network, initialize it, and set the IP address to the cam sub-net all from my office. I then can log into it via a web browser and get all of the settings the way I want them before I mount it. You do not have to set up two PCs with dual NICs. I was just showing you the option based on your statement "...so I can manage things from my desktop...". Yes you can just remote into your BI PC from any PC on your network, using RDP, or use UI3 for viewing BI. By having my office PC on both sub-nets, I do not have to RDP into the BI server and then launch a web browser to log in to the cam.

I have the luxury of having three separate ethernet drops in my office. So it is easy for me to do this.

There is a whole sub-forum on LPR. You should look at the posts there.

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