jimmi328 0 Posted September 5, 2016 I’m new to surveillance cameras and need advice to put together a 1 to 2 camera system using hardware I already have. My plan is as follows. Both my computers I built for performance (gaming) and both have additional hard drives of around 2 terabytes. I believe I could use one as a NVR? Both computers run 24/7. Next; I would buy an outdoor hardwired IP bullet camera(s) and mount to the front of my house. I figure 75 feet of CAT5 (per camera) and feed it through the attic or existing hole in the cement wall of my house. The CAT5 cable(s) would attach to a PoE switch and then the uplink port of this switch would attach to the RJ-45 port on the mother board or one of the ports on my router. Then purchase Blue Iris software. Am I thinking correctly? Would this work? Please advise. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
almelst 1 Posted September 7, 2016 You are partially right. I would always suggest standalone NVR : small, more stable and durable. If you still want to use PC solution, you can set IP camera(s) to use PC just as NetHDD or NAS. I suggest setting a partition on PC HDD for video recordings. There is no need for purchasing a software like Blue Iris, because every producer has a free video surveillance application which can do the job. Some work only with their cameras, but if you use Onvif compatible cameras you can mix vendors and also some support third-party protocols. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jimmi328 0 Posted September 9, 2016 You are partially right. I would always suggest standalone NVR : small, more stable and durable. If you still want to use PC solution, you can set IP camera(s) to use PC just as NetHDD or NAS. I suggest setting a partition on PC HDD for video recordings. There is no need for purchasing a software like Blue Iris, because every producer has a free video surveillance application which can do the job. Some work only with their cameras, but if you use Onvif compatible cameras you can mix vendors and also some support third-party protocols. Thank you for responding almelst. After further consideration, I decided to buy a NVR and two cameras to start my security system (see below) and CAT5e cable for each camera. The vendor said if run cable from the NVR to my router, I can view the cameras via my computer or smart phone. Supposed to arrive early next week. Hikvision DS-7608NI-E2/8P Hikvision EXIR Series 3MP Outdoor Bullet Camera Hikvision 4MP Indoor/Outdoor EXIR Turret Network Camera Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
