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DIY home security build

Big_Forte
By Big_Forte
in New Builds and Planning
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Go to solution Solved by jec6613,

Okay, first, to clarify, are you looking for a security server, which will handle intrusion detection, glass break sensors, fire alarms and such, or a surveillance server, to handle cameras?  If the first, skip using a PC and get a dedicated piece of hardware, then get a discount on your homeowner's insurance.

 

For the second, that's a bit of a ball of wax to untangle.  You have to start from the goal: what do you want to view and record?  Do you need scene recognition?  Then work backwards, what cameras are required for it, how many pixels do they push, what the recording rates are, and so on.

 

For my home, I ended up with 40 MP worth of cameras at 15 FPS, with AI object recognition and feeding into my home automation system for triggered events.  That lead to me to Blue Iris, on a dedicated machine, with a Xeon E3 v3, 24 GB of RAM, Quadro K2200, with two 256 GB SSDs for boot and DB work and two 6 TB enterprise HDDs, each in a RAID 1 pair.  And this is barely enough to handle the load of everything coming in, recording, object recognition, and clients connecting to view that requiring transcoding.

 

I would not recommend putting such tasks on an Unraid box unless both my needs were modest, and my Unraid server very beefy.  Or, you know, you could just buy an NVR in a box like the Dream Machine. 🙂

 

Aside, my storage server has more than enough bandwidth to intake all of my video footage, you don't necessarily need dedicated drives for it.  The main reason I have dedicated drives for this is so that the system is 100% independent of any other outages elsewhere - so long as the server runs and the switches are up, it'll record and fire alerts.

Posted

Budget (including currency): ~$500-$1000

Country: USA

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: Home Security

Other details (existing parts lists, whether any peripherals are needed, what you're upgrading from, when you're going to buy, what resolution and refresh rate you want to play at, etc): 

 

Hello everyone. Not sure if this is the correct thread but I bought a house recently and I'm looking to add some DIY home security in it. Like Linus I loathe subscription based products and I was looking for some wired cameras and sensors that I could connect to my Unraid machine.

 

I've only barely begun some research and the sheer amount of vendors is making my head spin.

 

I did find a very useful, although a little aged, video guide here that describes some good points to start with and also aligns with my goal - to use my Unraid machine as the video server.

 

It was recommended in the videos above to had a HDD outside of the array for better performance, which I agree. I can get my Unraid machine prepped on my own by adding an additional HDD and set up a VM or docker on my own I believe for the software, but I'm curious what everyone's recommendations are for the actual security equipment. There are a million cameras out there...and I'm only looking for 2, maybe 3.

 

I'm also looking for a couple smart locks for the doors and maybe some enhancements to the garage door opener. it would be great if it all connected together.

 

I was looking at Ring and its hard to tell if their no-contract version is DIY-able like that...

 

Any guidance would be appreciated! Thanks!!

 

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https://linustechtips.com/topic/1389552-diy-home-security-build/
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Okay, first, to clarify, are you looking for a security server, which will handle intrusion detection, glass break sensors, fire alarms and such, or a surveillance server, to handle cameras?  If the first, skip using a PC and get a dedicated piece of hardware, then get a discount on your homeowner's insurance.

 

For the second, that's a bit of a ball of wax to untangle.  You have to start from the goal: what do you want to view and record?  Do you need scene recognition?  Then work backwards, what cameras are required for it, how many pixels do they push, what the recording rates are, and so on.

 

For my home, I ended up with 40 MP worth of cameras at 15 FPS, with AI object recognition and feeding into my home automation system for triggered events.  That lead to me to Blue Iris, on a dedicated machine, with a Xeon E3 v3, 24 GB of RAM, Quadro K2200, with two 256 GB SSDs for boot and DB work and two 6 TB enterprise HDDs, each in a RAID 1 pair.  And this is barely enough to handle the load of everything coming in, recording, object recognition, and clients connecting to view that requiring transcoding.

 

I would not recommend putting such tasks on an Unraid box unless both my needs were modest, and my Unraid server very beefy.  Or, you know, you could just buy an NVR in a box like the Dream Machine. 🙂

 

Aside, my storage server has more than enough bandwidth to intake all of my video footage, you don't necessarily need dedicated drives for it.  The main reason I have dedicated drives for this is so that the system is 100% independent of any other outages elsewhere - so long as the server runs and the switches are up, it'll record and fire alerts.

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Hey Jec, thanks for responding.

 

The goal is more surveillance rather than security. I saw some of the glass break sensors, indoor cameras etc. and just don't feel the immediate need for it right now. The neighborhood I'm in appears to be less prone to crime, I'm more worried about the occasional porch snatcher.

 

I did read about the potential discount on homeowner's insurance and by your comment it looks like they'll likely want a recognized brand name system rather than a DIY. I'll need to ask about that...

 

Thanks for the heads up about the risk of performance on my Unraid machine. I'm not opposed to throwing together a small form factor machine to handle the load.

 

I am looking for some object recognition for alerts and event recording.

 

I recall the name 'dream machine' and checked into it. I've heard of Ubiquiti from a few LTT videos and checking their site now for some of their products and they appear completely sold out of basically everything, lol. Covid hitting everything/everywhere still it seems...

 

Thanks for the input! This gives me a little more structure to work with!

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