Raspberry pi for ftp server?

[spork947 0]

Hello Everyone,

 

I'm still thinking of ways to simplify my cctv setup running xprotect with 4 cams. At first I was checking on recordings everyday. Now I mostly use it for live viewing. The dropcam I only do snapshots or live viewing also.

 

I tried camcloud but didn't like the idea of ftp over the net or the fee's and I think the service was not able to deal with the raw video files from my acti cam. So my current idea is to purchase a raspberry pi and upload snapshots to it. I would like to run something like dropbox or owncloud on there as well for checking the snapshots remotely. I can still upload the raw video from my acti cams if I ever wanted to record but not be concerned with regular viewing.

 

The pi is cheap and very low power. It would be cool if something like xprotect was optimized to run on it.

[buellwinkle 0]

I'm playing with the idea of running XProtect on a $200 tablet, 16 cameras, waiting for some bits to make that possible, very low power consumption, so I admire your willingness to experiment. But many network cameras already have the ability to FTP snapshots or video on motion detection to wherever you want including something like the Amazon S3 cloud storage or a cheap NAS located somewhere else, sort of your own cloud.

[spork947 0]

My issue with ftp fwir is that its a old protocol and very insecure unless its ftps. If I added a indoor cam to my setup then I wouldn't want those images to be easily hackable which is why I would like to use dropbox or owncloud on the pi and keep the ftp local.

 

There is a very long thread on the dropcam forums requesting a outdoor model. If I can get the pi setup how I want it then I could be happy not using dropcam at all. However I have 5 mbps upload and I would rather pay the $200 for 3 recording dropcams than have a standard nvr ... if they ever release a outdoor model and if they do I hope they don't make a silly mistake and not include POE.

 

I am trying to be a extreme cheapskate on my cctv setup to have minimal power usage and hardware cost replacements. I'm learning a lot about networking and stuff too which is fun.

 

I wanted to thanks again. You are a cctv encyclopedia

 

Edit: The tablet nvr sounds awesome. Will there be a how to if you get it working? I could give in and use windows for a application such as that.

[buellwinkle 0]

I run Windows 8.1 on my tablet with a Bay Trail processor which is very cool, about the equivalent of a Haswell i3 by some estimates. No reason I can't run Milestone XProtect or any other NVR software on it other than the only hard drive is a 64GB microSD card slot and it's WiFI only.

 

Some people have made breakthroughs on my tablet, the Venue 8 Pro and have through a series of adapters been able to attach a USB hub to the device and still power the device. Then I can plug in a keyboard, mouse, GigE network adapter and USB hard drive using the tablet only as the quick display and the processor bits. So imagine, 8 camera NVR for $200 for the tablet, maybe $100 for the other bits, 1TB USB, cables, usb Ethernet adapter, mouse & keyboard.

 

Imagine the advantages, I can shove the entire thing in my desk pencil drawer, very low power consumption, low heat dissipation, cheap, built in monitor for quick config changes. I can also run anything I want that's a Windows program, FTP server if I chose. Even comes with Word and Excel for free, plug in a USB monitor and you have a full PC, at least in theory

 

Dropcam besides it being a lousy camera compared to others in the same price range, costs money for the cloud service to store recordings, so 3 cameras, not so cheap. Only makes one style as you found out, not even IR, not outdoor, not day/night, not high resolution. And you need a serious internet connection to have all 3 recording and remote viewing at the same time. They do have something that others do not, better marketing, so I do admire the company.

[drocer 0]

I run Windows 8.1 on my tablet with a Bay Trail processor which is very cool, about the equivalent of a Haswell i3 by some estimates. No reason I can't run Milestone XProtect or any other NVR software on it other than the only hard drive is a 64GB microSD card slot and it's WiFI only.

 

Some people have made breakthroughs on my tablet, the Venue 8 Pro and have through a series of adapters been able to attach a USB hub to the device and still power the device. Then I can plug in a keyboard, mouse, GigE network adapter and USB hard drive using the tablet only as the quick display and the processor bits. So imagine, 8 camera NVR for $200 for the tablet, maybe $100 for the other bits, 1TB USB, cables, usb Ethernet adapter, mouse & keyboard.

 

Imagine the advantages, I can shove the entire thing in my desk pencil drawer, very low power consumption, low heat dissipation, cheap, built in monitor for quick config changes. I can also run anything I want that's a Windows program, FTP server if I chose. Even comes with Word and Excel for free, plug in a USB monitor and you have a full PC, at least in theory

 

I do like your thinking

 

I too have been watching x86 tablets very closely. You and I both know the PRO's so I'll only list the CONS that's been holding me back:

 

• Very low CPU/passmark. 2K is likely the minimum. Even the baytrail NUC is $140 and barely 1K score.
  
• Cost of all the addons and some are proprietary. USB OTG and regular HDMI out is what I want.
  
• Failure points of all the addons.
  
• Failure point of running a tablet 24/7. Intel loves to lie about TDP as "SDP" for marketing. Battery being plugged in 24/7 can/could be a fire hazard.

 

Regular PC desktops are in the toilet as I picked up an i7-3770 for $485; an i3 NUC loaded would be $200-$400. I still think it's about 1-2 years away for consumer tablet/PC stick/NUC products to be worth it for being re-purposed as an NVR.

 

I would even predict IP cameras becoming IP smartcamera's making an NVR and PC software completely worthless before that point even. Just point to a dirt cheap NAS. A Frankenstein-tablet solution may be short-lived.

[spork947 0]

 

Dropcam besides it being a lousy camera compared to others in the same price range, costs money for the cloud service to store recordings, so 3 cameras, not so cheap. Only makes one style as you found out, not even IR, not outdoor, not day/night, not high resolution. And you need a serious internet connection to have all 3 recording and remote viewing at the same time. They do have something that others do not, better marketing, so I do admire the company.

 

The original dropcam has been discontinued. IIRC it was made by axis. They now have 2 models both with IR that were designed in house. One is 720p and the other 1080p. They have some extra compression on them to save bandwidth but I think the picture is quite good for what it is. Most of those complaints were about the original model. You can record for a week with 3 cams for $200 per year. Each cam takes about .5 mbps.

 

They are a lot like apple and have everything locked down so you can't record locally. I wouldn't mind a sort of dropcam adapter that you could use with your existing cams.

 

I don't like fee's and prefer to own my setup so when my sub is up I plan to buy one of the cube type axis cams as a replacment. I just ordered my pi and can't wait to try it out. I'm playing with filezilla right now. I seem to change my mind every 5 minutes though ...