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I'd recommend Dahua, Hikvision, or any of their clones. But I wouldn't trust them. I have mine blocked at the router and can only talk to the NVR through a vlan. I tried a linux NVR but the false positives were out of control. Blue Iris is for Windows and costs $50 but is much better.

The important part is that the camera supports ONVIF and POE. Many of the big names only work with their own NVR hardware.


The second most important the camera uses a patch IR led instead of a bunch of discrete IR leds.

This is a patch IR led:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07N18N9ZW

The lens produces a diffuse spot light good for 30+ yards but a little too bright up close.

This one with no lens and two IR patch led's produces nice even lighting to 30' but only reaches to 100' max.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B014JV0R4O/

The "old style" ring of LED's produces a bright spot light at 20' which is horrible for night vision. You have an over exposed picture when someone is close and absolute darkness if they are out of the spotlight.

Here is an example of "old style" discrete IR leds:

https://www.amazon.com/HIKVISION-DS-2CD2142FWD-I-Fixed-Network-2-8mm/dp/B013LR5B9I


It's a flashlight in the dark problem. A bright beam will light up what you are looking at but everything else will be complete black. A diffuse beam will let you see a wider area but won't reach as far.

> If you expand too much you will end up being disappointed in the reliance on USB of any of the single board computers.

I built my server around a Raspberry PI and currently have four 4+ TB drives hooked up via a powered USB hub. I've had as many as six drives hooked up, but I consolidated my drive-mapping and storage sizes a bit ago.

(Note: If you buy through the Amazon Smile link I posted for the USB hub, proceeds go to benefit the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a very worthy cause!)

One option is to go with a Synology. There are a lot of models to choose from, you could pick one with enough power. There are pros and cons with Synology. I used one for several years until a software update corrupted the raid. I had a backup, so not big deal, but my trust level in Synology went to zero.

Another option is a linux server. I got an Intel NUC (and 8gb ram + 128gb ssd):
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01MSZTD8N/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

And this enclosure:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KCEAXJW/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I now have everything I had with the Synology plus a whole lot more power and versatility. You could even bump up to the i3 for a little more. The great thing about these NUC's is they use very little power and are extremely reliable. I have several that have been running 24/7 for years without even a hiccup.

I use these cameras all around the house paired with the latest branch of ZoneMinder which has come a long way in the past year; on top of Ubuntu 18.04.

The cameras have fantastic quality.

POE IP Camera, SV3C ProHD 1080p Outdoor Video Security Camera(Wired), 36PCS IR LED Night Light Surveillance Camera, Waterproof Security Indoor Outdoor Motion Camera with H.265 ONVIF …
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0777PNBY4/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_stlyCbMC0Q1XT

I've been self-hosting DNS for decades. It's totally doable. Reading the grasshopper book wouldn't be a terrible idea.

I finally got off BIND and would encourage everyone else to do the same. I'm using PowerDNS and NSEdit to manage records.

I use a free service as a slave for my secondary DNS server.

POE IP Camera, SV3C ProHD 1080p Outdoor Video Security Camera(Wired), 36PCS IR LED Night Light Surveillance Camera, Waterproof Security Indoor Outdoor Motion Camera with H.265 ONVIF … https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0777PNBY4/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_qpM1CbJWVDTJ4

I turned my laptop into a unraid server. Bought a mediasonic box.


https://smile.amazon.com/Mediasonic-ProBox-HF2-SU3S2-SATA-Enclosure/dp/B003X26VV4/


Works wonderful

you can short the vga adapter if you have one. or buy a dummy hdmi dongle on amazon for like $8.50 https://www.amazon.com/CompuLab-fit-Headless-Display-Emulator/dp/B00FLZXGJ6

I have been very pleased with the Ubiquiti EdgeRouter X coupled with their AP-AC-LR access point.

I had good speeds with this one https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00U2SIS0O/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Plugged it in and it worked on both Ubuntu and Solus.

I have a 8300 Elite SFF with an i5-4570 and it works wonders for my usage. I just maxed out the RAM modules and added a DAS box like this one to expand storage.

Sure, here's a few:

https://smile.amazon.com/Z-Wave-Power-Switch-ZEN15-Humidifiers/dp/B07578W7KY/

https://smile.amazon.com/HAOZEE-Automation-Extender-Monitoring-SmartThings/dp/B0781XZYWR/

https://smile.amazon.com/Aeotec-Aeon-Labs-ZW096-ZW096/dp/B00VQISOCG/

I have a gigabyte mini PC. It's about nuc factor, but a litttle bit lower spec, and a lot cheaper. Much more capable than most sbc hobby computers (unless you're looking to attach sensors).

Below is the one I have, and they have some newer models it there. You can boot off of USB or install an SSD drive.


Gigabyte GB-BXBT-2807 Barebones Mini PC w/ Intel Celeron N2807 (RAM and HDD Not Included) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00KR0QHXW/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_8EB9Bb3TV4AXR

(shrug) Nearly all our servers are laptops. This is what we use:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00XKU47Y2/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1


I would never hesitate building passive cooling into a desktop machine, but the price for using refined single board laptop computers is forced air cooling. Don't see a way arould it.

Have considered buying a refrigerator to use as a server shelf :)

I'm in a similar situation, I'm looking at building a NAS with a Raspberry Pi 4, Open Media Vault, and a five drive USB 3.0 enclosure I saw someone else post

https://www.reddit.com/r/raspberry_pi/comments/czs3gp/rpi4_nasplex_server/

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07V54G6ZG/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_U_x_6HsIDbD9FEFHG

Depends where the links going to, its purpose, etc. A full referral link with retainment of search / category history can be really long, e.g: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Seagate-Expansion-Portable-PlayStation-STEA4000400/dp/B017KE8OG0/ref=as_li_ss_tl?keywords=4tb&qid=1555608261&s=gateway&sr=8-4&linkCode=ll1&tag=w0ce9-21&linkId=8acbfe3bb1bb8801471dae6f5d2e7797&language=en_GB

If you can get an old phone or dongle then you could try smstools. Modern Androids and iThings do not let you at the modem. Huawei do a modern dongle (https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B011YZZ6Q2/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1) - I have one sat on my desk at work but have not used it yet because I happened across a stash of old O2 dongles that simply worked for me. There is also kannel I believe but I have not tried it because ...

Oh and that lot is all on Linux.

Rosewill 2U.

heres one in canada https://www.amazon.ca/Asus-Remote-Management-Motherboards-ASMB5-IKVM/dp/B005KSBU2Y/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=ASMB5&qid=1566237273&s=electronics&sr=1-1

The CM160 I have comes in two parts. The collar/clamp that goes around your mains in supply and the little screen/monitor that connects via USB. The monitor takes the signal from the collar and interprets it, sending a stream of data to the USB host. I don't use the screen for anything other than that purpose of being a bridge to get data into my host.

I have this one here - https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B004BDNR84/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1522071308&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=Cm160

A little air flow couldn't hurt. I would put one hole on each side of the cabinet for intake and exhaust. On the intake, place a mesh or filter to minimize dust etc. On the exhaust side, I would just use something like this: https://www.amazon.ca/Thermaltake-A1888-External-Usb-Fan/dp/B00080G0BK Inexpensive and relatively low power draw.

Stay away from it. It started as a kickstarter campaign, but not a successful one judging from the comments: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/cloud-guys/plug-the-brain-of-your-devices/comments
The reviews are awful: https://www.amazon.com/Lima-Private-Storage-Device-Smartphone/dp/B00WMKBNGQ
The official forum activity is zero, plus the "Problems" section is hidden: https://feedback.meetlima.com/