New capture card to replace two old ones

[Mikeee404]

I have been supporting an install at a local bowling alley for quite a few years. We originally started out with an old Backbox dvr system which was a Pentium D custom box with a proprietary capture card. It was a Windows XP modified install that just never worked right. This was back when I was upgrading my desktop every two years so I donated an AMD FX6300, 16GB RAM build. I bought a couple Chinese off-brand bt878 capture cards, two 8-port PCI cards. It worked pretty good under Ubuntu 10.04 and actually appeared to be under utilizing the hardware, the CPU and memory specifically. The owner wanted a cloud replacement to Dropbox at the time so I added Owncloud (now running Nextcloud), oh and more cameras. Anyway, this meant since it would be internet accessible I wanted a more current distro so it went to Ubuntu 16.04 and after a number of issues eventually Debian 9 which it runs yet today. While the system as a whole ran great Zoneminder just wasn't as smooth in capturing video. I blame the older PCI capture cards fighting for crap bandwidth on the PCI slots.

Here we are now, a semi usable install I want to just rework. My plan is to split Zoneminder, Nextcloud, etc into their own LXD container under Ubuntu 20.04 but this means it is also time to find a capture card or cards that uses PCI-express instead. Ideally a 16-port card, but I am good with another pair of 8-port as long as they are not PCI again.

So long story not so short, what recommendations does the community have for a 8/16 port PCI-E card? Currently run 12 mixed analog cameras at 4fps 480p.

[burger]

So long story not so short, what recommendations does the community have for a 8/16 port PCI-E card? Currently run 12 mixed analog cameras at 4fps 480p.

Make your life easy and ditch the PCI Cards. Use an IP Video Encoder. Modular, right tool for the job, no possibility of the kernel module becoming obsolete. I've had good luck with these. PCI cards on the other hand, just barely work (although I've only used one).
viewtopic.php?f=14&t=30017&p=117876&hilit=bt878#p117860
https://wiki.zoneminder.com/Hardware_Co ... eo_Encoder
viewtopic.php?f=14&t=29992&p=117815&hilit=pci#p117737

[Mikeee404]

Yeah budget wise the IP video encoder just doesn't fit. I have learned the hard way bowling alley budgets, at least in my home area, are ridiculously low. For the price of a couple encoders it would be nearly the same cost to ditch analog and go IP cam. Which is fine with me if that happens, all the other businesses I support have IP cameras. After a brief search for PCI-e cards I noticed anything large enough to support the existing camera count will be in the $600 range. Which is not worth it for analog in my opinion. Hoping maybe someone knows of some wierd hardware I never worked with or found yet. But I am thinking it will just be time to say go IP as soon as the budget allows.

[burger]

I see a couple used 4-port encoders for $50 a pop. Seems to fit the budget just fine.

If you find a PCI-E card that works for you, let us know. Either should work. Just avoid the bt878 cards, those things are dinosaurs. Limited by FPS, # of cameras, or both.

Yeah, IP cameras are better. But old coax can be used. Nothing wrong with it for low res, high FPS scenarios.

[Mikeee404]

Actually I am keeping an eye on an older Axis M7010 16-channel encoder. Have seen a few of them on Ebay now for around $250. Still have to dig through the documentation to see if this will work with Zoneminder, but the brief search of their manual seems to imply the streaming options would allow it to work fine.