Need Info on CCTV security systems

[JimB 0]

I am a student doing research on security cameras that the Computer Information Technology department of my college is considering implementing as a pilot project. We wanted to start out with a two cameras covering one room, and if all goes well, possibly expanding to 15-20 cameras for half a dozen rooms. I was wondering if anybody could point me in the right direction on the following questions:

 

What are some websites that have lots of good information on closed-circuit TV surveillance systems?

 

Ideally, we want the cost of the pilot project to be under $1,000. Is that feasible?

 

Is it better to use digital or analog recording? Which is more reliable? Which is cheaper? Why?

 

We have Pentium III servers running at 800MHz. Are these sufficient to do the job of recording digital information from the security cameras?

 

Can you save a significant amount of money by buying individual components and putting them together yourself, or is this just asking for trouble?

 

What are some of the better companies that sell individual surveillance system components?

 

What are some of the better companies that sell complete surveillance systems?

 

Conversely, what are some of the companies that we should avoid?

 

What other important questions should I be asking?

 

Please feel free to answer as many, or as few of these questions as you like. All input is greatly appreciated.

[Thomas 0]

For DVR work, you'll find those PC's a hair under powered for the 15-20 camera range. As far as building it yourself goes, just remeber that cheap parts are cheap for a reason.

[AVCONSULTING 0]

Try this link. It has some articles linked that you can look at which might prove interesting.

 

http://www.digitalvideorecorder.net/articles.htm

[cctv_down_under 0]

What an awesome site!!!