Surveillance Server for unRAID?


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Is there some sort of surveillance server available for unRAID? Does anyone have experience with setting something up like this?

 

In particular, I'd like to have 1-2 webcams hooked up to the box for the front door and maybe the backyard as well. It also helps to see if my friends are pulling into my driveway when they're coming over :P As with everything unRAID, it'd be best to have the interface set up so I can view everything through the web. Having a feature to save the feed is a plus. As the lengths will probably be very far, I'd imagine I'd need one of those USB to Ethernet adapters for the USB webcams to function properly, right?

 

Are there any existing packages that can set something like this up? Thanks.

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Is there some sort of surveillance server available for unRAID? Does anyone have experience with setting something up like this?

 

In particular, I'd like to have 1-2 webcams hooked up to the box for the front door and maybe the backyard as well. It also helps to see if my friends are pulling into my driveway when they're coming over :P As with everything unRAID, it'd be best to have the interface set up so I can view everything through the web. Having a feature to save the feed is a plus. As the lengths will probably be very far, I'd imagine I'd need one of those USB to Ethernet adapters for the USB webcams to function properly, right?

 

Are there any existing packages that can set something like this up? Thanks.

 

Get an IP camera

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I would like to know the answer to this also.   And how exactly will "getting an IP camera" work?   Can the IP camera be setup to store in the smb share?  More info would be great, thanks!

 

I second this question.

 

Can IP cameras be set to save streaming video to an SMB or NFS share?

What should we look for in the camera specs to indicate this?

 

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I have 2 IP cameras recording 24/7 video and saving all the video to my unraid server. All you need to do is create a share on the unraid server and point your IP camera client software to save on that share. One glitch is you need to have a Windows computer running 24/7 to run the IP client software. I don't think there are any client IP camera software for Linux. Since I keep my computers running 24/7 this wasn't really a big deal to me. I use Vivotek cameras, and I use those in particular because they give you the full version monitoring software for free download. Most other companies will charge you for this, sometimes like a $100.

 

 

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I bought a cheap Trendnet camera to play with when it was on sale for cheap.  It can be set to record a series of images to a server during any motion detection - I had mine set to record via FTP. It doesn't need any PC software running. I could get a series of images when I pull-out or when someone came to the door. The only problem is the thing kept hanging-up after being on for a certain length of time.

 

It was like this model, but there was no USB which this says it has. They have others for different locations or applications too.

 

http://www.trendnet.com/products/proddetail.asp?prod=105_TV-IP312W&cat=148

 

I'm sure there are other makes and models that would work just as well and some that would record video too. It's also likely easy to find ones that are better than Trendnet products...

 

Peter

 

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I have 2 IP cameras recording 24/7 video and saving all the video to my unraid server. All you need to do is create a share on the unraid server and point your IP camera client software to save on that share. One glitch is you need to have a Windows computer running 24/7 to run the IP client software. I don't think there are any client IP camera software for Linux. Since I keep my computers running 24/7 this wasn't really a big deal to me. I use Vivotek cameras, and I use those in particular because they give you the full version monitoring software for free download. Most other companies will charge you for this, sometimes like a $100.

 

 

"zoneminder" will work on Linux.  I've never tried to install it on unRAID as it needs SQL and (I think) "perl"

 

It would be great though, as when I most want it running the server would be otherwise idle.  (I use a dedicated security DVR here, with hard-wired cameras)

 

Joe L.

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So is this only possible with an IP camera? not a regular webcam?

 

Any good cheap recommendations? Thanks!

 

Web Cameras use the USB port and need a host to work, like a computer. While they can record like a security camera they aren't really designed for that purpose. Most all IP cameras (even the one I have mentioned before) have a built in setup web/browser which has basic controls and operations. I only use the software on a computer to get more functions out of the camera. A webcam is a cheap start if you don't have much money to spend.

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So is this only possible with an IP camera? not a regular webcam?

 

Any good cheap recommendations? Thanks!

 

Web Cameras use the USB port and need a host to work, like a computer. While they can record like a security camera they aren't really designed for that purpose. Most all IP cameras (even the one I have mentioned before) have a built in setup web/browser which has basic controls and operations. I only use the software on a computer to get more functions out of the camera. A webcam is a cheap start if you don't have much money to spend.

 

Well, I was thinking the unRAID server could work as the host, which is why I posted this here. I mean, it'd be great to backup the tapes on the server, but that's more intuitive compared to using unRAID as a surveillance host instead. Are there any such software for unRAID?

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By far the easiest is to get a IP camera that will record video or still images. You will just have to setup a spot to store the video or images on the server. An IP camera can store on the server and be accessed by another PC for real-time viewing.

 

USB cameras are crappy for security use anyways.

 

Peter

 

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  • 6 months later...

I have a Foscam FI8904W wide angle ip cam (outdoors and wireless)

 

It has built-in features for motion detection and saving screenshots on an ftp server

 

However, I wasn't too happy with its motion detection

 

So instead I am using Blue Iris (paid software with a trial period) which has much better motion detection capability, and it takes screenshots every sec for 30 seconds whenever there is motion. It can also do a lot more like send you emails with screenshots, or text messages, etc. I also have Blue Iris restart the cam every 36 hours because running it longer than a week makes it less stable. Ever since I set up the auto restarts, I haven't had to do any maintenance or tweaking or a power cycle on the cam and it's been months.

 

The only catch is it is windows only, but I have it running in virtualbox on my unraid server in an XP VM with 512MB ram.

 

I can also access that feed on my android phone through a free app

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