briarwood

I'm going to setup a system for our office building and I was hoping I could get some input/advice. I'm going to build a the PC based DVR and initially attach 3 PTZ cameras and 4 stationary cameras, all outdoor. Once that is sorted out we will be adding 16 additional cameras to the system. We have an older analog system in place now that will be replaced and sold off to subsidize the cost of the new system. Here's the PC. Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 3 GB total RAM, 2 GB dual channel kit and a 1 GB stick Intel BOXD975XBX2KR Motherboard WD 160 GB SATA 3 HD to run Windows XP Pro and Avermedia software 3 WD 500 GB SATA 3 HD drives in a RAID 1 Sapphire Radeon X1650 Pro video Card Hipro 700 Watt power supply Chenming Full Tower Case DVD-/+RW optical drive floppy, flash card reader The complex is large so I'm going to place the switch centrally and connect it to the router from there. The span between each point (camera to switch, switch to router) will be roughly 175', short of the 300' limit. The router is a SonicWall TZ170 and I think I'm going to go with a NETGEAR GS748TP switch. It's nearly $1,400 though. Any suggestions for a good quality PoE 48 port switch costing less would be welcomed. The cameras are Axis 214 PTZ's and Axis 211's. Any suggestions on DVR software? Any comments and or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Nothing is set in stone yet so please feel free to be critical.

We've got an existing analog CCTV system comprised of 12 Pelco cameras running through a GE DVMRe-16CT-1000 Triplex and a NVT NV–1613A passive transceiver hub. We're putting up a new system with IP cameras. My question is, is there anyway to control both systems with one software package? Eventually the whole system will consist of IP cameras but until then it would be nice to be able to control both systems with the PC based DVR that is being built for the IP cameras. Milestone, IP Video or Luxriot would be preferred because of the good things I've read about them.

I'm debating buying an NV7000 card for the analog cameras and using the Avermedia software. Selling the analog dvr and transceiver would go a long way towards paying for the new system. For third party software I'm looking at Milestone, Video Insight and Luxriot. That's only if we decide to keep the IP cameras separate. Video servers would be more than $2,200.

Hello and thanks for this forum. It's a great resource. I was hoping the board could help with an issue I've come across. I've got an office building that has 16 IP cameras on a embedded DVR currently. I need to add a few PZT's outside and a few stationary cameras as well. I'm going to build a PC based DVR and use two Avermedia NV6480E's to run the cameras. My question revolves around connecting the cameras to the PC DVR. What is the best option for connecting that many channels to a network? Are there routers/bridges with up to 32 ports or do I need to bridge multiple units together. I can't seem to find a solution from the research I've done and Avermedia's tech support hasn't gotten back to me. Thanks for any help you can offer, it's much appreciated.

We took your advice and we're going with a dedicated network for the CCTV system. Once we really tossed the idea around it made the most sense. The added expense certainly seems worth it to ensure maximum bandwidth. We're looking into a device that keeps the IP address static. I think it's called myipbox but I'm not sure. We also looked at the IQEye 511 and 711 and the Arecont 3130 and 8360 but the added expense is somewhat prohibitive at this point. I'm curious what your thoughts are on a PoE switch and a good quality router for the new system. I'm looking at the Netgear GS724TP for the switch and I haven't found a router that I'm set on. The LINKSYS SGE2000P switch is an option as well but it's a few hundred more, 24 ports might be a little short so I'm debating on going with more ports for the PoE switch. The switch for the PTZ's can be 8 ports and easily fill the need. That is if we don't just connect the ones less than 100 meters from the router directly to the router. What are your thoughts? I talked to the rep. at Axis today and questioned him about the 25 camera limit on the software and his response was that they're releasing a 50 camera version sometime in the first quarter of 08. Not sure whether or not to trust him or if it was just a sales pitch. Thanks again Soundy, you've been a ton of help and I really appreciate it.

I'm using Axis 214's for the PZT cameras and Axis 211's for the stationary cameras. You're right, they are 4CIF camera's. We wanted to stay with quality cameras and we didn't want to go above a certain price point. The 214's are $1191 each and the 211's are $540 each. The outdoor housings add a few hundred each, even more for the 214. I'm curious about the dedicated network for the cameras, how would that work? Would I need another IP address for it? We want to be able to access the PC from the office computers and from home. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU. I was just about to spend $2,100 on two DVR cards. So I'm assuming then the control for the IP cameras would be all software based instead of hardware based as with BNC cameras? Since I don't need the DVR cards do you have a recommendation for the software? Axis has it's own proprietary program but I'm not familiar with it. Excellent point regarding the switch, I can always add another when the system is up and stable and we're ready to change the older system that's in place now. You've been a TON of help to me. Thank you.

Thanks again Soundy, another great reply. The main office only consists of five computers right now, secretary and four offices are feeding off of the router. The PC based DVR will be added to that router so it will be six computers. The rest of the complex is filled with separate businesses that have their own dedicated networks. So our IP cameras will feed into a switch somewhere at the halfway point (roughly 175' between switch and cameras) and from there the switch will feed into the router which is also feeding the five office computers and the PC DVR. I like the 48 port switch the best, it gives room to grow (with another DVR card) and with only one switch setup is simpler. The only issue is that the switches I've seen are around $1,400. More than I thought they would be. For example the NETGEAR GS748TP at Newegg.

Soundy, Thanks for the reply. I'm going to use the Intel BOXD975XBX2KR motherboard which has 1000 Mbps LAN speed. Excellent advice on the router/switches and using smaller multiple smaller units. The complex is enormous and stringing together a few smaller units would work well. The main office has a Sonicwall router, I'm not there at the moment and I don't remember the model number so I'm not sure it has a 1000 Mbps LAN speed. Can you recommend a good brand of router? Or at least one that you would trust for this application? I also question powering so many camera's via ethernet, it seems like it would drain too much power from the routers/switches, especially for the PZT cameras. Thanks again Soundy, I appreciate you taking the time to help.