Synology vs Aver NVR

[rkninc 0]

Anyone have experience with any of these two product?

Anybody have experience with both? How do they compare?

Which software GUI did you prefer? Did one have better functionality then the other?

 

 

Thanks in advance for help.

[voip-ninja 0]

I have Synology but have no experience with Aver.

 

Synology is pretty slick, it offers a very easy to use interface and adding cameras is a breeze. Since it's a NAS, all of the recordings are going to a storage volume which is probably drive failure redundant (assuming you have two or more drives and turn on Synology Hybrid Raid).

 

One of the big features of the web based interface of the Synology that's pretty slick is that it can do sync time display of up to 9 camera feeds, so that if you have multiple cameras recording an event you can view it all in synchronized at the same time.

 

It has an iPad and iPhone app that not only let you watch live feeds but also allow you to watch recordings (as long as they are in a supported resolution, codec, etc) and also use a search button to zero in on recordings in a specific time frame.

 

Drawbacks to Synology, there are a few (well, more than a few);

 

1. Does not support transcoding of your surveillance recordings, so if, for example, you record H.264 or MPEG4 in a resolution greater than 720P, or record unsupported audio formats, you can't play the recordings on your iPhone (this has resulted in me either using MJPEG or using H.264/MPEG4 at resolutions of 800X600).

 

2. The iPad and iPhone app only support HTTP for authentication, not HTTPS

 

3. The iPad, iPhone and web apps require quite a few open network ports to function, on both the client side and the server side. As a result, for example, I can't view my cameras at my work location (on either wi-fi with my iPhone or over the wired network with a browser) ... where-as I can view my Blue Iris feed with no issues.

 

4. Support for cameras not on their supported list is poor (admittedly though they do support a LOT of cameras, just maybe not the oldest or newest ones out there).

 

5. From the Synology Surveillance web page, there is no capability for defining a motion recording area if you are doing on-camera motion events, you can only define motion recording areas if the Surveillance Station does motion detection, which results in a cpu hit.

 

6. Maximum recording resolution is 1600X1200, so the ability to record full 1080P or higher resolution MP cameras does not exist.

 

7. You have to buy a license for each camera, to the tune of about $50 per camera, although you can easily find a 4 camera license pack on eBay for $139.

 

All in all I like Surveillance Station quite a bit, and now use it more than I use Blue Iris... if they put a little more work into it then it would be really outstanding.

[akelley 0]

I have Synology but have no experience with Aver.

 

6. Maximum recording resolution is 1600X1200, so the ability to record full 1080P or higher resolution MP cameras does not exist.

 

When connecting an Axis p3367-VE (5MP) to a DS1511+, running the latest DSM, the Synology would randomly change the capture mode of the p3367 from 5MP to 1080P. Frustrated the heck out of me as I couldn't figure out why it would randomly change. Searching through the camera's server logs showed when the mode was changed, but not who (IP address) did it, so it took some sleauthing and I was able to recreate the glitch. No idea why this happened, but perhaps due to this restriction on recording resolution. While the camera was at 5MP capture mode, Synology Surveillance Station was able to display the full resolution stream live. But capture was limited to 1600x1200 resolution as noted by voip-ninja.

 

7. You have to buy a license for each camera, to the tune of about $50 per camera, although you can easily find a 4 camera license pack on eBay for $139.

 

All in all I like Surveillance Station quite a bit, and now use it more than I use Blue Iris... if they put a little more work into it then it would be really outstanding.

 

I have seen these 4 pack licenses from Chinese sellers on eBay. I'm skeptical because I've never seen the 4 packs sold anywhere else for that low. I suspect either the license keys are fake/generated/hacked or simply will not work. I haven't had the desire to bet $139 to find out. If anyone knows if they are in fact legit, they would represent a good value, as a single license is $50.

[voip-ninja 0]

The $139 license packs are indeed legit. I have installed one on my DS1511+. They actually sent me a receipt and everything and offered me the choice of either having the code scanned and sent digitally or sending me a physical copy of the code and receipt.

[voip-ninja 0]

Another "plus" of the Synology is that they make a dedicated surveillance appliance, the VS-80 (I haven't bought one yet) which allows up to 8 camera feeds to be piped directly out to a VGA display along with mini audio output. Keyboard/mouse are supported so that you can pick an individual camera or review recordings. This is a pretty cool product because, although it's not much cheaper than a dedicated net top PC, it has a dedicated Linux interface for the surveillance functions as well as only consuming about 5 watts.