Soundy 1 Posted November 6, 2010 We have LOTS of retail clients (two major gas-station chains), and none of them want to pay for that level of redundancy... suffice to say, there are lots of instances where they go to look for video only to find it's not there, either because a drive has failed, or the system has stopped recording for some reason, and nobody noticed the constant beeping and error popup. RAID5 is a good way to help ensure data integrity... just keep in mind that you need some sort of error reporting to let you know if a drive fails, so you can replace it right away, because if a second drive goes at that point, you lose ALL of it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cglaeser 0 Posted November 6, 2010 This is a business/warehouse. We want to store video as far back as possible in order to investigate issues after the fact. Thanks, I missed that post. Best, Christopher Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
thewireguys 3 Posted November 6, 2010 Do not use Green Drives and do use a good Raid card if you want Raid. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
marcuso 0 Posted November 6, 2010 (edited) This is a business/warehouse. We want to store video as far back as possible in order to investigate issues after the fact. Thanks, I missed that post. Best, Christopher I should have mentioned it earlier. The Dell T3400 can do software RAID 5 on 4 drives. Theoretically, RAID 5 can be faster than single drives, but I know it would be better with hardware RAID. I bought the 2TB AV-GP drives with 64MB buffer. I know they aren't as fast at the 7200RPM drives, but I am going to give it a shot. The Dell box with 4GB of RAM and drives cost < $800 so far - pretty pleased with that. If it doesn't work, I will probably install hardware RAID. The question now is what Cameras to get. I really like the idea of the Arecont 180 and 360 degree quad cam deals. In another thread, someone said that ExacQ licenses by MAC address as opposed to per feed. I would assume the Arecont cameras are only using one MAC address? So does it save me a bunch on ExacQ licensing fees if I go in that direction? I am leaning towards the Arecont panoramic cams (H.264) as well as lower end ACTi cams (also H.264). Probably TCM-4301. What do you guys think? Sorry to come in with all these questions. I really should use a pro, but I am having fun trying to source all the equipment. I should probably be concerned with some a thief walking off with the NVR box (and all the evidence). It would be nice if I could get a CPU security cage that I could drill and bolt into the concrete floor. I did some searching, and it seems like most of the cages could be defeated with a screw-driver. Any recommendations on a cage that would foil the casual thief. Edited November 6, 2010 by Guest Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
marcuso 0 Posted November 6, 2010 Do not use Green Drives and do use a good Raid card if you want Raid. Too late. Already ordered the greens. Is there a RAID card that you recommend? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
thewireguys 3 Posted November 6, 2010 Do not use Green Drives and do use a good Raid card if you want Raid. Too late. Already ordered the greens. Is there a RAID card that you recommend? Sorry but they are not gonna work you will have problems with your system and they are not recommended for RAID so I can't recommended a card. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Soundy 1 Posted November 6, 2010 The question now is what Cameras to get. I really like the idea of the Arecont 180 and 360 degree quad cam deals. In another thread, someone said that ExacQ licenses by MAC address as opposed to per feed. I would assume the Arecont cameras are only using one MAC address? So does it save me a bunch on ExacQ licensing fees if I go in that direction? I am leaning towards the Arecont panoramic cams (H.264) as well as lower end ACTi cams (also H.264). Probably TCM-4301. What do you guys think? Keep in mind that these panoramic cameras require special processing of the images they put out, to stitch and de-warp the multiple cameras feeds. With some NVRs, that capability requires additional licensing as well, IF it supports it. You'll want to make sure the cameras are fully supported. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
thewireguys 3 Posted November 6, 2010 Do not use Green Drives and do use a good Raid card if you want Raid. Too late. Already ordered the greens. Is there a RAID card that you recommend? I am sorry but I don't quiet understand why you are gonna spend 5000 plus for a good cctv system and try and save 100 on green drives. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rory 0 Posted November 6, 2010 I am sorry but I don't quiet understand why you are gonna spend 5000 plus for a good cctv system and try and save 100 on green drives. not to mention Vista and just 2GB of memory for half the price of that dell one could build a killer system that blows that away. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cglaeser 0 Posted November 6, 2010 not to mention Vista and just 2GB of memory for half the price of that dell one could build a killer system that blows that away. His parts list includes an additional 4GB of RAM. Best, Christopher Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rory 0 Posted November 6, 2010 not to mention Vista and just 2GB of memory for half the price of that dell one could build a killer system that blows that away. His parts list includes an additional 4GB of RAM. Best, Christopher ahh missed that thanks. but still vista, yuck! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
marcuso 0 Posted November 6, 2010 not to mention Vista and just 2GB of memory for half the price of that dell one could build a killer system that blows that away. His parts list includes an additional 4GB of RAM. Best, Christopher ahh missed that thanks. but still vista, yuck! I wouldn't want to use Vista as my desktop OS, but is there any reason not to use on an ExacQ system? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
marcuso 0 Posted November 6, 2010 Do not use Green Drives and do use a good Raid card if you want Raid. Too late. Already ordered the greens. Is there a RAID card that you recommend? I am sorry but I don't quiet understand why you are gonna spend 5000 plus for a good cctv system and try and save 100 on green drives. I had purchased the drives before you insisted that they weren't useable; if I could make the decision over again, I would select the other drive. I wonder why you are so adement that they won't work. Have you tried the same 2TB drives that I selected? Speed is related to drive density, so the newest generation and largest sizes of harddrives will yield the best performance. In a video recording environment, I would assume that data usage rates are pretty static (do not have many dips and peaks), and as long the drives are 'fast enough', I would assume they would work. If not, can you give me an explanation of why they won't work? One of the reasons that I would pick this lower performance drive is that high-performance drives (like cars) are pushed closer to their limit and in my opinion are more likely to fail. I wonder if you had a bad experience in the past and have been writing them off since. I agree that it is false economy to save $200 if they aren't going to work, but if they do work, I will be very pleased. Here is the link to the drives that I purchased (indicating that it is designed for DVR type usage patterns): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136783&cm_re=2tb_av-gp-_-22-136-783-_-Product Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
akelley 0 Posted November 8, 2010 These drives are rated for 24/7 operation and should be okay. Enterprise class drives are overkill unless you're dealing with mission critical data/performance and have a larger budget for the storage specs. The standard "Green" drives from the major manufacturers are not suitable for 24/7 operation and I would not rely on them. I use them in a home media server (4X2TB RAID5) which gets fairly good use, but in the past two years I've replaced one drive based on SMART notification of a pending failure. RAID5 allows me to easily swap out the defective drive without losing any data (or even shutting down the array). Here is the link to the drives that I purchased (indicating that it is designed for DVR type usage patterns): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136783&cm_re=2tb_av-gp-_-22-136-783-_-Product Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rory 0 Posted November 8, 2010 Here is the link to the drives that I purchased (indicating that it is designed for DVR type usage patterns): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136783&cm_re=2tb_av-gp-_-22-136-783-_-Product Same line as I used just a different size, and they dont work with Geovision DVRs - or should I say they do work but with stuttering/skipping recordings. Hopefully they will work properly with the software you will be using though. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
HiroPro 0 Posted August 5, 2012 Use the Caviar Black drives, not the Greens. Green drives don't have the performance and aren't designed for 24/7 operation. OR better yet purchase NVR designed HDs meant for this purpose! PS on flash NVR HD firmware into non NVR HD... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
