Hopefully somebody can lead me in the right path on this one. I'll be the first to admit that I'm not a DVR expert, but have been a field computer network engineer for 20+ years and this one has got me a bit stumped. Excuse the long story/history but it's to explain what has been done so far.
I have a customer that I support their IT and PC and server needs, not the DVR. The customer purchased through a local dealer a HIKVision DS-9016HQHI-SH recorder and 32 hi-def POE camera's. They have had the system for over 6 months, but I just got involved in it a 2 months ago but have had issues since day 1. There are 4 PC's, a server and a guest wireless access point on the internal lan. The guest access point is limited to 1mbs up and down. Very little traffic on the internal network. Internet is cable modem, 10 up 50 down. DVR has a monitor attached directly to it. Client PC's are running iVMS 4200 client v2.4.1.7.
Main issue that got me involved a few months ago was that the DVR was rebooting anywhere from 4 to 20 times a day by itself and had been since install. The installer for the vendor that sold them the equipment contacted HIKVision and they blamed it on my network. If there is one client computer connected to the DVR using iVms client the DVR seemed stable. If a second PC accessed it after a few minutes or switching of views, the DVR would crash and reboot within a minute or two. It did the same thing on from the installers PC and a virgin install of the software on my laptop. Since the issue also happened on our laptops I kind of ruled out my network. They have never complained of any network issues at all as far as PC's and internet goes. Accessing the DVR from a phone over internet would also cause the unit to crash. Installer calls and places a ticket with HIKVision and I leave.
A week or two later, I get a call from my client and they were told by HIKVision that the DVR needed it's own static IP and this is the issue! Customer already has a static IP, so I order a block of 5 that of course requires me to change the static ip I had. No big deal. I meet with the installer again (not real computer savvy), remove the DVR from my internal network and set it up with a straight public static IP on the DVR. No firewall, no router. Clients can connect on the new IP address but the DVR is still crashing with more than one (and sometimes even with only one) client connected. Another ticket placed.
HIKVision factory tech comes to town, have a sit down with him and the installer. Tech connects his PC to the DVR and it crashes within a few minutes. I've been screaming at the top of my lungs as to why the DVR keeps rebooting, but nobody has a answer other than "it's your network". For the life of me, I can't think of any reason in the world something on my network would cause the DVR to crash especially now that the DVR is on its network. The tech did "kind of" fix the rebooting issues. He did this by dropping all the cams to a much lower resolution and dropped the frame rate to 15fps or so. Now the customer is kinda ticked off because she doesn't have nearly the resolution or quality she did have, but the DVR at least isn't rebooting. Factory tech looks at one of the PC's, said "it's a i3 cpu, the iVms client needs at least a quad core PC and 8 gigs of ram". I show him the specs on the web page that shows no cpu or memory requirement and that is will run on XP 32bit that does't even support more than 4 gig of ram. He tells me it's "in a internal document that hasn't been published yet". Still couldn't tell me why his PC caused the DVR to crash and reboot.
Get a call from the customer last week and they are still having issues. The DVR isn't rebooting as often but quality and frame rate is set really bad to keep it from happening. Clients can connect, but now keep getting booted off or get a error 302 from the client that shows "camera is disabled or not connected" or unable to stream cam messages. If they refresh or go back a cam and back forward sometimes they see the cam, other times they have to reboot the client and reconnect. Now HIKVision is blaming it on 10mbs upload (again, only thing on this IP and modem) and wants the client upgrade their internet. I guess I can move the DVR back to the internal LAN and have gigabit speed for the internal PC's - but it will do the same thing. I only moved it off the gigabit internal LAN because that's what they told me and the customer to do.
I'm down to this at the moment:
Have the vendor/installer factory reset the DVR, set the resolution to the hi-def cams that purchased, install 3 virgin laptops with iVms and a 8 port gigabit switch with no internet and see if it does the same thing (and I'm sure it will). With the resolution and frame rate as low as it is now, it's kinda like buying a Corvette with a Pinto engine.
Does anybody have any idea's to check? Is there such a simple thing as a check mark box in the iVms client options we are missing? Can the DVR really support 32 hi def poe cams and the ability and or CPU power to stream to at least two clients at the same time? It also seems that the problem happens most often when there is heavy motion (or busy time of the day) but does not seem to happen very often after hours. During business hours there is a LOT of motion - a bowling alley. That's what has me thinking the DVR just doesn't the the power to do it.
Help! and Thanks!
