Install on a virtual server in internet?

[roadster]

Hi folks,
I was running a linux server since april 20 running zoneminder and several other applications 24/7...
Then I had to pay 345 € more for energy than usual. Most of the costs seem to belong to the 24/7 computer running three hd drives, it´s an intel board from 2006 I remember, 300w power unit, no monitor...

To avoid high energy costs I wonder if it is possible to rent a server at a server farm, install everything there, even a fileserver.
And access it via vpn.

Would that be possible?
Cheers, Roadster

[burger]

It's possible, sure. It might be best with only a few cameras though. You will have to forward all camera traffic (which is typically high bandwidth) over the vpn to the remote server. This kind of application is better handled by a local server which keeps the bandwidth from clogging up the internet. But to be fair, remote video is basically what sites like youtube or netflix do, though. They stream video over the web 24/7. But the bandwidth costs will be considerable. Which is why video sites are a flawed approach, in my opinion. Video is best served from the local machine or network. Remotely downloading large media streams is just not how the technology is supposed to work. By the nature of media being large files, it should be stored locally, and downloaded from the remote server on an as needed basis, ahead of time. The whole idea of streaming over the internet is broken. Especially with high resolution pre recorded media. Low res live video is somewhat more acceptable.

345 euros seems like a lot. Are you sure that's correct?

[mikb]

Back of envelope ...

Let's assume 300W power supply actually consuming 300W

24 hrs x 7 days x 52 weeks = 8736 hours.

That's 300 x 8736 Wh (2620 KWh, aka units)

Here (UK) a unit costs me about £0.16 so that would be £419 (approx 489 Euro)

So it's possible a significant chunk, maybe most, of that energy usage over a year IS a computer running full tilt all day long.

I'd suspect that the server isn't drawing 300W all the time, easy to measure with a Kill-A-Watt or similar inline meter. Could be much lower!

[yannlieb]

Thanks for your inputs, I was wondering the same as the OP.
Maybe I won't be buying a second hand server, and lean towards new HW more energy efficient.

[Magic919]

I use a HP Gen 10 Microserver in the hope that overall power consumption is a bit lower than a full grown server.

[roadster]

Hello dear zoneminders,
thanks fpr your replies.
I have installed an AVM switchable socket that can measure powerconsumption.
Maybe then I can verify how much power the zoneminderserver really needs.

OK, the zoneminderserver is also a fileserver with a raid 1 array to serve 4Tb dataspace and hosts a few internal websites.
I only use three IP Cameras (Wanscam JW0004) at the moment at VGA resolution.
Cheers to you

[paulgault]

I bought one of these for £20 (just over 25 USD) to measure the actual power used by the various bits of tech i have on 24/7.

I had the meter monitoring a small QNAP NAS (TS-251) that just serves files and runs Plex and in 75 days it used just 33.4 kWh, which i though was really very reasonable at less than half a kWh a day.

I've only just moved the meter to the old Dell Latitude D450 that i have running ZM with 1 cam (setup still a work in progress). I've got a feeling it's going to be guzzling a fair bit more juice than the NAS when i check on it again in a few weeks.

If anyone has words of wisdom to offer on power consumption v's initial equipment cost for a domestic 3 cam system, i would be glad to hear it.
Paul.