newbie - getting video stream from ip camera

[kevineaton]

hi guys and girls

right, so i need some help please. and im not sure if im in the right forum, so forgive me.

i want to buy a 2 surveilance cameras ( looking at http://www.rfconcepts.co.uk/network_camera.htm

the reseller says it doesnt come with capture software....it doe scome with a built in web server - but thats not a whole load of use.

essentially its an IP camera that streams mpeg4.

i want to record the output on a dedicated PC with 500Gb raid 1 storage. i also may want to trigger recording on movement events instead of just constantly recording.

is there any software out there that will do this?

is there a better way to be doing this?

cheers
kev

[redwudz]

It would be simpler to just get a DVR that has IP capability, along with motion detection, such as this one from the site:
http://www.rfconcepts.co.uk/avermedia_eb1704.htm

Do you have to use a IP camera? If you already have the LAN wiring in place, I can understand that. But a regular camera would be a lot cheaper and probably easier to set up. I've ran cameras using a 6 conductor cable that supplied power and carried audio and video over 200 feet back to a DVR.

But if you do a Google search for ' motion detection software ', you should find a few programs that can work with a IP camera, such as this one:
http://www.deskshare.com/wcm.aspx

And welcome to our forums.

[kevineaton]

thanks for the advice - and the welcome!

I want to use IP because i dont want to run new cables - i can use turbo homeplugs to run the network side of things - this means that i only need a hole through the wall to the camera and then to a power point. nice and clean and easy.

I can get a PC with 500Gb's RAID 1 so its fault tolerant for £400, plus it'll be controllable / viewable from anywhere on the planet using logmein.com, also controllable and viewable locally from an existing monitor and keyboard through a KVM switch.

however, the EB1704 DVD Hybrid looks pretty good i have to say. i cant believe they didn't recommend it - mind you, they don't seem to know what they are talking about, they just sell the kit i think.

any other thoughts?

[redwudz]

You should take a closer look at that DVR. It may be able to use a second hard drive, or even a RAID setup. The one I got for our company had that option. I got mine without a hard drive, then dropped in a 500GB hard drive. The one I used also had internet capabilities so I could remote control or view if needed. But it all depends on how you want to set it all up.

Most of the DVRs use a form of Linux for the OS. I prefer the OS on a chip, so the DVR doesn't have to boot from a disk. Some store the OS on the hard drive. Not a good idea. It can get corrupted and then the whole system is down. You would have the same problem with a PC. A DVR with Linux on a chip is also fairly immune to malware, such as a virus or trojan.

You might also consider a UPS (Uninterruptable Power Supply) to keep the system up if you lose line power. Most also function to filter noise and eliminate brownouts that can be hard on electronic devices.

But don't let me discourage you from considering a PC. Again, if it will do what you want. But I find a dedicated DVR a bit easier to set up and maintain.