rosenblumr

I will have to try TV. I used it once when someone had to get to my machine, but have been using Jump desktop and have been happy with it, and use it to VNC to other macs in the house (as well as the windows box on occasion), but didn’t want to scare the poor guy +1 I also install TeamViewer on all my Windows and Linux surveillance servers so I can perform maintenance remotely as well. (actually, I install TeamViewer on virtually everything including Mac and PC desktops and laptops. My daughters are away at college and I manage their laptops remotely. My dad is in another state and I manage all his desktop and laptop computers remotely. TV is one of those must-have utilities). Best, Christopher

Ok, I dont work for Exacq, and I am the first to admit that I dont like the fact that I am "strongly encouraged" to spend $25/year/camera on maintenance, and the search leaves something to be desired (dont get me wrong, it works, and is more than functional, but could certainly be faster an more intuitive),but . . . . I had a vendor that wanted me to use Hikvision, so I tested it extensively. Perhaps the new revision is better, but wow when I tested it about 3 months ago, it lost cameras, and crashed a lot, I mean a LOT. It was one of those things, where I felt it was not worth "Free" regardless of cost. Oh and yesterdays release of Exacq supports 2 way audio. And (I guess) the plus side of the $25/cam/year fee, is that they always have incentive to keep improving software as the recurring revenue becomes a huge part of their revenue, and people wont bother continuing to pay if the improvements arent there, as face it, once cameras are up, people are not replacing them all that frequently. I loved certain aspects of Vitamin D for the mac--check it out if you havent already, but WOW did it use a lot of resources, and because the didn’t generate enough demand (read money) they dont (or didn’t last I checked) develop it anymore--That was not a trade off I was willing to accept. Lastly, I FAR prefer an NVR solution that is cameras neutral, and has as much incentive to add any manufacturers cameras to their compatibility list. This looks very promising, especially the bidirectional audio. I will look very closely at this. Thanks, Andy

Sorry that this is my first post, I could have sworn I registered here before. In any event I have been lurking here for a couple of years getting more info before setting up a system. I also use (almost) exclusively mac os (and iOS). And had about 5 vendors start a bid process only to flake out on me, so I was forced to do this myself. I was deterred by running something other than a mac, and also deterred by purchasing cameras that were not really mac compatible. So I tinkered with security spy early. It was good for what it was, and at the end if you insist on using a mac for your server t is probably your best bet. I just dug through my video cam software folder, and also noticed i used something called Evom, which was also OK. My biggest problem with Security Spy (IIRC) was that it used a LOT of resources. So where did I end up? Well I went with exacq. I went to best buy and bought a $300 Dell desktop computer--yes with windows on it. Downloaded the Exacq software and installed the demo. Now I wont lie, I do NOT LIKE windows 8, and had to google a few things (that where the hell do I find the new software I just downloaded--ironically just start typing "Exacq" and up it will come. Run it. ALSO and dont forget, as I did the first time, start typing Exacq, and also click and run the "exacq Web Server"--which will enable you to see the machine from ipad etc--I say dont forget, not because you cant do it later--you can--but I dont want to go back to the windows machine-- Oh and dont be scared by the statement "run the server" you are just double clicking it not configuring it in any real way. Give that machine a dedicated IP address, Then on your Mac, download the Exacq client, enter the server information, AND NEVER GO TO THE WINDOWS MACHINE AGAIN. Now from you mac Client, you can run ALL of the admin features of the Exacq server. (and yes there is an exacq demo as well, so as to risk, no Exacq cost risk, and you can return machine to BB if it does not work out). So now how did I deal with my issue of non mac compatible cameras? Well that turned out to be a no brainer also. There are easier/faster ways to do this, but just for simplicity I am going to explain one that will be somewhat seemless for you: Plug in new cameras. Go to exacq system (yes still on your mac), let it search for the camera, when it finds it, add it. Note the IP address that the camera uses. On YOUR MAC (again we never go back to the PC), enter the IP address. So far, even on EVERY non mac compatible camera I have found, I can set up the camera I just can see the video on the mac (ie no active X). Create a "static ip" for the camera (this is something you would likely want to do regardless of what platform your server is on. Go back to the exacq screen, and change the IP address to the one you just created (or search for a camera again, and re-add it). Now how do you set up the camera when it cant be seen on a mac? I feel like a fool by not realizing how stupid easy it was. Keep 2 windows open. One window in the camera IP address with the setup info, the other is the exacq software client. WHICH IS RUNNING ON YOUR MAC, But CAN see the camera--so you are seeing the camera on your mac!! Just not in the cameras IP window. So yes, you type in one window, while looking at another--something that I view as easier anyway. But is not really a price to pay. even on a 12" laptop, 2 side by side screens is far from onerous. Anyway, this is where I ended up, and I have been happy with it. When my testing was done, I actually ended up with 25 cameras. So I bought a bigger machine, although I question if I may have been able to run it on the $300 Dell. And I was lazy so I bought it from exacq which cost a premium (but also means I did not need to download the software). Also at 25 licenses, when you buy from them you get a 3 year license, which "saves" 25/year per license in fee per cameras (which is a different issue entirely you can search the forum about--you dont have to pay this, but if you ever want to get a camera after you service runs out you would be limited to cameras that were supported when you last paid--or pay retroactively, kind of onerous, but anyway . . .) So by buying there server, I save $25/year*25 cameras*2 years. Or about $1250 that I likely would have spent over 3 years anyway. Still I suspect you can buy whatever windows machine you want for a small setup, and as far as I am concerned, other than the 30 minutes it took me to plug in the windows machine and run 2 programs, I do everything else on a mac. Actually I think most people would think it was a piece of mac software. I have it on my machine, my laptop, my wifes machine, 10 ipads, 2 iphones etc . . . almost forgot, I did have 1 issue, for whatever reason when I use exacq to create the on screen display for a camera from a mac, it lets me change the font, and the size, and the position, but will NOT accept the mac color palette to change colors. So when something yellow is on alight background, I cant really see it. So if I want it to be black, yes I do have to go to the windows machine (or VNC to it, if you are comfortable with that), and look at the exacq client software (which I have running anyway, so it is just a matter of turning on the monitor, and entering the PW, no funky windows stuff) and change the color from there. Anyway, sorry to go so long on my first post, but since I went through the entire "how do I do all this without having to deal with windows" I figured I may as well have saved you all the time I wasted trying, when at the end of the day the amount of windows interaction is negligible, and the machine is cheaper anyway. (and I own 3 mac mini's as well). Oh, and I imagine it would work, but I would not waste your time trying to run exacq on vmware or parallels on a mini as it would cost more, run worse, and be slightly harder to admin.