uncommonlich

My parent's house has Cat 5 cable built in so for the indoor cameras it's just simply running cables to the jacks. I can get an electrician to wire the outdoor cameras. Would you recommend the Swann 3MP camera from Costco? I read that they are Hikvision rebrand. If not, what other vendor should I look at? Is there a particular feature of Haswell CPU that makes it more effective than older Xeon based rack server of similar price? Thanks to everyone who helped.

Hi, new user here. My parents wants to have security and surveillance system installed at their house. I've been looking and reading on various forums and site about the basics of how everything works. I think the best solution for the surveillance portion is probably to DIY. This is what I think they would need: 8 cameras - the house is 4500 sq ft and I want to cover the entire outside plus any entrance into the house, I think 4 outside and 4 inside should do it. I see most people recommend IP camera running on PoE because it's simple for wiring and they have the best quality image. A lot of recommendations are for Dahua and Hikvision branded camera, but I can't find any "authorized" vendors that sells direct online, only 3rd parties or distributor that wants you to open an account with them. Which vendor is reliable and can sell cameras that is covered by manufacturer warranty? Looking for 1080p camera with IR NVR - I don't know if it's worth the time to set up a server to run a NVR software or just buy one from a manufacturer. It seems like the software on these things are pretty poor from reviews. For someone that's new to security, do you think I should go DIY or just stick with a brand name NVR? For those that have used ZoneMinder, was it worth the trouble and was it compatible with a lot of cameras? Budget is flexible, but I'm not looking at high end equipment that cost many hundreds a piece. I want to finish setting up the system before end of month. I'm located in the US. Thanks