New User, I Need Help!!

[Ynot713 0]

First of let me make a preemptive apology for my lack of knowledge on this topic. I am by no means an expert on this topic and my my networking and IP camera knowledge is basically all self taught.

 

Here is my situation:

 

I recently built a house and did all of the cat5e wiring myself. I wired every room in the house with a cat5e outlet. I also wired the house for 7 ip based POE surveillance cameras using cat5e. I currently have two ip cameras installed (Vivotek IP7330) and I plan on using vivotek for the rest of my cameras.

 

I have all of my cables running to a central location in the basement. I have a netgear WNDR3700 router and have whatever ports are available on it running to the cat5e in the house. I also have two other gigabit switches connected to the router, one of which is a POE switch where i have all of my IP camera cat5e cables connected to.

 

Now, Here is my situation. Obviously the work I have done has been relatively low budget and I would like to keep it that way. I am totally confused in what i need to use to properly set up my IP camera software that came with the cameras on a separate server so that I can take advantage of the recording, motion detection, alerting, and remote (non LAN) access of the cameras, like from another persons residence or from a I phone.

 

I want my system to be IP based and want something that I can install software on and record surveillance footage on the server and still be able to access the cameras remotely. I also want to be able to use the storage for my own home theater and media usage as that is also connected to the network.

 

I have done internet research and have found Home Network Servers, NAS Hard Drive Servers and also NVR Servers and I am completely lost in what i need and what i am going to need to spend to do this. I figure I only need 1 TB of HD space. Some people also tell me that all I need is a old computer to act as a server. I really done know what to use. I have put allot of time and effort into this and I want this system to be done right.

 

Can someone please give me some links, options or some help whatsoever as to what i need to do this? Up to this point I have done everything on my own and I think I'm now a bit over my head.

 

If there is any other info you need let me know and I will try to obtain it.

 

Sorry about the long post.

 

Thank You,

 

Nick (Upstate NY)

[skane 0]

If you're planning on running all Vivotek cameras, give the ST7501 (?) software that came with the cameras a try on a PC with Windows OS. From the requirements you included, it should be adequate for your setup.

 

For access from the iPhone, you can either access the cameras by port-forwarding the individual cams in your router, or interface with the ST7501 SW by port-forwarding to the PC running it.

 

Most all this information should be included in the documentation that came with the cameras and documentation for your router.

[Ynot713 0]

I do have that software and I do want to use it with the cameras. I just want to use something else besides my laptop to run it. I don't know what i need as far as a server goes to effectively run the software and have sufficient hard drive space to store recorded video and also store home media files.

 

Can I use a NAS? Or do I need a Home Server with a operating system? Or can I just use a desktop computer running windows?

 

If so, does anyone have any recommendations on specific products?

 

I want to be able to access the cameras and files when I am away from home also so is there a specific server that I need to do that?

 

I'm sorry if I'm being redundant here.

 

I really appreciate the help!

 

I hope to get this up and effectively running soon.

 

Thanks,

Nick

[skane 0]

PC running Windows XP or Vista, 32 or 64 bit. Probably will run on Win7 too. The documentation for the ST7501 SW has system requirements; check it out.