CPU requirement (IP cam).

[bob42]

Hello,

I have a hard time finding answer to a simple question, if I have a couple of IP cameras feeding 640x480 MJPEG 30FPS video to Zoneminder (over CAT5), what is the CPU requirement to motion detect on both cams at the same time and record on a SATA HDD on that box ?
Zoneminder would be running on Ubuntu server/Debian (no X necessarily).
Would a nettop based on Intel Atom D510 be realistic ?
Has anyone any other advice for this ?
Up to how many cameras would such a CPU setup support ?
Would an ION video card be any help (I wouldn't think so but I'm not so sure) ?


Thanks a lot.

[Flash_]

Have just googled for Bogomips for this cpu which seems to come in dual and quad core versions?

Per core delivers bogomips : 3325.66

I'm going to take a guess and say the dual core version would be fine for the usage you require.

If it struggles and there's still a couple of things you could do; install the fast jpg libs (I have a feeling ubuntu ships with them now installed anyway), reduce colour to B&W, and drop FPS (5 fps is perfectly fine for recordings, but many spec 30fps without a real requirement. Even if you can find an ip camera that gives a sustained 30fps (don't believe the adverts), you're recording security footage, not making a movie

[bob42]

Well thanks a lot for the answer, I was looking at a dual core nettop setup indeed.
I'll see what it's capable of doing whenever I get it and keep the thread updated for future reference.

[Drakoth]

I'd like to hijack this thread because the questions just simply are not easily found.

A Core 2 Duo CPU will support how many 640,480 cameras with motion detection?
For recording how much space per hour of recorded video (or stated in # of images) is required?

With hardware costs being what they are putting together this machine would not cost you much:

Core 2 Duo @ 2.66Ghz
2GB DDR2 RAM
1TB HDD (or two in RAID)
DVDRW Drive for obvious reasons

now, what would it support?

[Flasheart]

As has been said numerous times, "How many cameras will this support" is too vague a question to answer. The wiki has guides, the forum more. Depends on camera, colour, size, feed type, fps and what else is running on the server, if anything.

For server cost - HP's ML110 and ML115 are about the cheapest servers, tend to be more robust than self-built machines and have plenty of power. I now have about eight of them and have stopped self-building for everything but my home machine.

Not sure what's obvious about a dvd drive for a server btw - initial netinst install by PXE or usb stick, everything else done remote by ssh and downloaded. Even if you don't pxe, you'll only use it once so borrow something else - even an old cd drive as the netinst is only 300mb or so.

[kingofkya]

There is also the fact the CPUs can do ifrent amounts of work depeding on new vs old.

Also as far as motion detection goes it can be anywhere from 2 cameras on a 2 cpu system to 20 on a 20 cpu system. It all depends on circumstances.

[Drakoth]

As has been said numerous times, "How many cameras will this support" is too vague a question to answer. The wiki has guides, the forum more. Depends on camera, colour, size, feed type, fps and what else is running on the server, if anything.

I appreciate you taking the time to respond. I've not put a ton of time into searching but I've yet to find anything that is fairly straight forward. If you know a post in the forum or where in the wiki would you mind making a link? I, and anyone else who reads this thread, can post your link to others who'll inevitably ask the same question in the future.

TIA