[CentOS] OT hardware question

[Matt Garman]

On Fri, Jan 31, 2014 at 12:45 PM,  <m.roth at 5-cent.us> wrote:
> Mostly likely it *will*. I think we expect to get a surveillance appliance
> - a DVR with firmware, and cameras as part of the package. The ancient USB
> cheapie webcams will go.

I see, so you're looking at a complete package that includes
everything.  I was coming at this from an "a la carte" perspective,
where you would buy the components individually, and piece your system
together from there.  That's what my original email was based on
anyway.  If you do indeed go a la carte, then the number of options
goes up, e.g. analog vs IP cameras, OTS DVR vs open source, etc etc.
But yes, an all-in-one package makes many of those decisions for you.

> Most of them do. On the other hand, where do you see it using that? I've
> got to Speco's unpleasant website, and managed to find a spec sheet, which
> does *not* mention what the firmware is, while Zmodo and R-Tech and others
> do.

Check out this link[1], "Reliable Linux Operating System" is listed as
the first Product Highlight.

> I do like the gigabit NIC on it. I don't see it as a package, with four
> videocams, and the cheapest I see it is $322+; newegg wants over $500 for
> it, and that's pushing the envelope, esp. when we need several, and
> there's no cameras in the package. I may just call them to get details - I
> need to do that for several other OEMs.

How many cameras do you need in total?  And what is the budget?

> Btw, also, motion is not, AFAIK, zoneminder.

Right, I don't know anything about Motion, except that I've seen it
mentioned in context with ZoneMinder.  My limited knowledge is that
they are "competing" Linux/open source DVR packages, although Motion
is the older one with fewer features.

Why not use your existing USB webcams and just give ZoneMinder a try?
Especially if you have an old unused PC or laptop that you can test
with.  Nothing to lose but time.  For the sake of argument, say
ZoneMinder supports all the features you need.  It should run on low
end PC hardware.  If you don't already have some old PC/server
hardware you can re-purpose, you can assemble one for peanuts.  Or,
throw another hard drive on an existing server and run ZoneMinder on
that.  Resource utilization should be negligible (unless you're
capturing multiple high-def streams, which you clearly don't have the
budget for).

My point is, assuming ZoneMinder meets all your DVR
feature/software/management requirements, you can dedicate your entire
budget to the cameras (and possibly capture device if you don't buy IP
cameras).

In other words, why pay for a DVR appliance, when you can have all
that functionality for free with ZoneMinder?  If your budget is that
limited, and you need to spread it out across the surveillance package
(i.e. cameras + DVR), you're going to end up with mediocre hardware.
Cut out the cost of the DVR part and use the budget to get better
cameras.

[1] http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/875452-REG/Speco_Technologies_d4rs500_D4RS_4_Channel_DVR_500.html