Inside the Swann NVR16-7200 (16 port nvr from costco)

[zikronix 0]

I ordered the system from Costco here

 

http://www.costco.com/Swann-16-Channel-HD-NVR-Security-System-with-3TB-HDD-and-8-1080p-Cameras.product.100070310.html

 

Based off of looks I believe it to be in the 7700 series family of products from hikvision located here

 

http://www.hikvision.com/en/Products_show.asp?id=6528

 

More specifically maybe a 7716SP? The problem with that is the OEM hikvision only has 8 ports. The Costco one has 16, According to buellwinkle hikvision doest have an nvr with 16 poe ports.

 

Swanns model number for this device is nvr16-7200. That coincides with the model number I got that directly from the swann tier II when I was talking to him while doing a firmware update to my nvr8-7200.

 

Any way onward with the first impressions.

 

Disclaimer: Im an IT guy, I am not some kinda camera wizard guru magic man. There are people on this forum that are that. I am giving my first impressions based solely off a "consumer perspective" with a minor technical look. Over all im happy with my swann nvr8 I just wanted some more cameras, and still I believe this to be the best bang for my buck, with a combination of cameras, manufacturer warranty and support, Costco backing.

 

This thing is huge. to get into it you have to remove two screws from the top panel. The hikvision oem have a flipdown front, if I recall correctly. The swann does not have this. The varifocal cameras....are gargantuan. You will not be able to use the dvd spot with a dvd drive WITHOUT modifications, not sure if the firmware supports it anyway (I may experiment with that). It also looks like shorted me a network cable in the master box. Ill deal with swann on that or costco concierge.

 

 

Processor markings for the NVR16

 

TMS320

DM8167BCYG

32C1V4W

786

 

Quick look up looks like a solid chip from TI, Its in their Performace line. Pretty much geared for IP DVR type applications. For comparison the NVR8 uses the DM8165

 

Looks like we have 8GB of DDR3 (same as the nvr8) and a 3TB WD Green drive vs 2TB in the NVR8. It can handle 8 internal drives for a max of 32TB, and one esata which can also be used for export or recording to. Additionally you can always add an NFS share from your nas for even more space.

 

Swann States that this thing can do full bandwidth 2.1MP on all ports. My guess is that's based on default settings, the default bitrate is 3072 @ full frame. Im not really sure how to test this or where to look to see if that's true.

 

When it powered I had to go through the wizard but the nvr wouldnt stop beeping all channels were in alarm with no link. I connected a camera, still kept beeping, rebooted, kept beeping, did a restore defaults, No beeping. The unit is no where as loud as the NVR8-7200 or lorex variants, which is to be expected

 

The menu options are pretty much the same as the NVR8. I have not fiddled with the front buttons or the jog wheel or any of that.

 

With out further waiting here are the pictures.

 

http://imgur.com/a/iwf8w#0

[ChrisP 0]

What is a green HDD doing in there? You should get a regular Seagate 7200 RPM HDD.

[rayt 0]

What is a green HDD doing in there? You should get a regular Seagate 7200 RPM HDD.

green to keep the heat down ( no fans in the case asides from processor fan and psu fan), no idea why you would need a 7200 rpm hd for nvr duties, nice but not sure it is needed.

[zikronix 0]

It came with the green. Low heat, low rpm is perfectly fine. A lot of manufacturers have moved to only making intellipower type drives and not stating the rpm. Additionally They are hardly any slower for sequential I/O. Maybe 10%; something you will never notice.

 

They are slower when it comes to latency/IOps though, but sequential I/O is very good for 5400rpm and 5900rpm drives. Their data density is so high, they even beat 10.000rpm disks with Sequential I/O, even though they only spin half as fast the data density makes up for it. So the prefered medium to store large bulky files on, is 5400/5900rpm drive. 7200rpm+ drives are quickly becoming less useful and eventually will disappear. The new WD Green's have at least 1TB platters, so 1-platter for 1.0TB, 2 for 2TB and 3 for 3TB. The speed doesn't increase with the number of platters, but it increases as the data density increases. Thus higher-capacity platters will result in higher sequential I/O.

 

This is why almost damn near everything has been running on 5900 rpm drives. An example of this is WD Red drives the "highly recomended" drives for NAS are identical from a physical stand point as the greens. A couple of tweaks to the firmware, and a new product line was born. Except its the SAME product!

[Hohlraum 0]

Were these discontinued or something? Mind if I ask how much the system set you back?

[Brenning 0]

I'm always amazed at how little is actually in these DVR/NVR's when you take away the hard drives. Enough space in there for a football match

[chucky 0]

These systems are back in stock at Costco for $2499.00

 

 

Thanks

Chucky

[zikronix 0]

These systems are back in stock at Costco for $2499.00

 

 

Thanks

Chucky

 

 

I took mine back, I couldnt justify the cost, All I needed was the nvr, and I could never recoup the excess cost by selling the cameras