Got my cat5 cables set up... do I really want NVR?

[csmba 0]

Had my contractor pull all the cables and my home is ready for me to pull the trigger and get a NVR + 4 IP cameras... but I got cold feet/second thoughts. Do I really want a NVR?

 

My thoughts why not:

1/ NVR will make noise (it is my bedroom closet)

2/ NVR uses more energy (==$)

3/ NVR SW is I read pretty clunky (Swann, Avertx, Qsee)

4/ I don't really need 24/7 recording

 

What I need:

1/ on demand (motion) recording

2/ notifications (email, sms, app: some subset of these is fine)

3/ access to the images and videos from phone/remote pc

 

So if not NVR, could I use:

1/ same type of high quality IP cameras, but connect them to a simpler that just facilitates uploading the images to the cloud or recording on the camera itself?

2/ using gdrive, box etc' as cloud storage

3/ power the camera with a PoE switch?

 

If anyone has an opinion on NVR vs not, and if not, what alternative will make use of my already wired setup.

 

thanks!

[1QuickSI 0]

The only setup I know of that has no central recording device is the Cisco Meraki Security Camera: https://meraki.cisco.com/products/security-cameras

 

The only reason I did not go this route (I am a network engineer and run a full Cisco Meraki network at home) is I really wanted 4k cameras. I ended up with: Lorex system: NVR LNR6083 and 8MP LNB8111BW The NVR is about a noisy as a desktop PC's fan at worst.