Prosumer Video Surveillance

Initial performance testing with ZoneMinder NVR running on Ubuntu Server. I'm attempting to replicate the exact test that I performed with Blue Iris on Windows 10 Pro, documented [ here ]. Testing Methodology The environment I'm testing in is a Intel i7-7700 4.2GHz processor, but only 2 of the 4 cores on this processor is assigned to the virtual machine.  The machine has an M.2 SSD and 8GB of memory assigned to it - but neither of those appear to be a bottleneck in my prior testing. I have an SSH session open in order to execute commands and to monitor performance. As with Blue Iris testing I'm going to add one camera at a time and incrementally add functionality. Just the streaming camera Add motion detection and alerting Record the video to disk. CPU of the entire machine will be measured off of the VMWare console (exactly like Blue Iris).  To read the CPU of the application, I'm going to use  ps -eo pid,ppid,cmd,%mem,%cpu --sort=-%mem | head in the S

Initial performance testing with Blue Iris NVR running on Windows 10 Pro. I'll admit, I did some initial testing of Blue Iris on another machine and experienced some significant performance challenges especially when recording continuously from multiple cameras.  It appeared that more than just a couple 3 megapixel cameras recording at one time would eat up most of the CPU even on a very powerful machine.  This is the reason for me wanting to do more extensive testing of Blue Iris and other NVR software. Please keep in mind, my soon-to-be-replaced off-the-shelf Amcrest DVR supporting 8 - 1080p cameras is recording every camera in full resolution 24/7 and it runs very, very cool.  It can't be even 1/4 the power of the Core i7 system I just built.  This tells me either the video stream coming from the IP cameras is more intensive, the Windows operating system is creating too much overhead, or the Blue Iris software is just inefficient.  I need to get to the bottom of this.

Overview Although this post is not intended to be an instruction manual for installing these two NVR software programs, I do step through the processes and link to step-by-step instructions.  The true intention is to give you a window into my experience setting up both systems up to the point of streaming a camera. My skill level Since I'm installing on operating systems where I have different skill levels, you should know where I stand on each.  I want this evaluation to be as fair as possible, but I can't alter my knowledge of one system in such a short time-frame - so we just have to deal with and acknowledge the difference: Windows:   Intermediate.   At one time I knew much more than I do today, but hey, Windows is easy, and for the purposes of installing Blue Iris, I rarely, if ever, had to dig into my Intermediate skill bag. Linux: Rusty Novice.   As with Windows, I used to know more than I do now.  The difference is, for installing ZoneMinder I definitely

The NVR hardware is assembled and now it is time to get the operating system(s) installed.   I grappled with dual boot versus running multiple OS’s virtually.  Given my experience with VMWare and the desire to keep systems running in parallel for testing I have opted to virtualize.  I’ll be using the free VMWare ESXi platform ... well, because it is free and it’s really, really good.  There is one limitation that may keep me from continuing to run this virtualization environment long term, specifically the limitation of 2 CPUs per guest machine.  The Core i7 processor has 4 cores and I will want all of them assigned to my final system.  Other than that, I would actually prefer to run even 1 OS on VMWare because of the tools available - some I will explain later. Learn more about virtualization basics.   Learn more about installing the ESXi hypervisor.   Installing VMWare ESXi:    Visit VMWare’s site to download the ESXi ISO for free, use Rufus to create a bootable USB thumb

As previously mentioned, there are some givens about how the next version of my video surveillance system will be built: The system will utilize my existing home network in some respect - in others, new infrastructure needs to be added. The system will be based on IP cameras; both POE & WiFi. The system will employ an Network Video Recorder (NVR).  At this time I am not sure what version of software I will use, nor what operating system it will run - but it will not be an off-the-shelf NVR/Software combo. Being that I'm using POE cameras, I will need to pull some new CAT 6 cable. Here is my existing Infrastructure before this project: ISP: I use Comcast Xfinity for Internet access with Blast.  The speed is wicked quick - but it comes at a price. Internet Modem: I'm using a cheap $99 Motorola cable modem.  Coax comes in from Xfinity, and 1 RJ45 out which feeds into my router/firewall. Router/Firewall:  I built and extremely overkill piece of hardware to run pf

First, a little about me and why it came to be that I'm creating this blog.  I'm a 20+ year veteran in the Information Technology field who has always had a passion for techno-gadgetry.  In my early 20's (long before the Internet was popular) I was a nuclear power plant operator in the US Navy and indulged in 12v [car] audio, video and security as a hobby.  My exodus from the Navy was largely because they would not let me pursue a career in IT, so leaving before retirement was the chosen alternative.  In my-post military career I have had the opportunity to work in Windows Server administration, Network design and administration, IT Infrastructure design, Information Security, IT Project Management and currently I am an IT Solution Architect for law applications. It should be no surprise with my passion around technology I have some pretty nifty Smart Home devices as well.  My home theater is managed by a Logitech Harmony which integrates well with Amazon Echo [Alexa].  M