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SS vs NVR vs NAS

robertbroussardrobertbroussard
edited July 2017 in SecuritySpy
I'm new to having security cameras and have only experienced having three NestCams at one location and I must say they were pretty slick with the ease of deployment, analytics, fast iOS scrubbing, easy to share a clip from one cam at least and audio I/o by default. Now, at a new location (a 2100 SF residential property) I'd like to reconsider all of the possibilities. From what I can tell there are 4 fundamental possibilities:

1) SS (software NVR)
2) NVR (hardware, integrated POE SW)
3) NAS (synology or QNAP)
4) WiFi Cloud-based (NestCam or Arlo)

I'm a software developer and have done a lot of my own premise wiring.... I'm not afraid of getting my hands dirty or for things to get technical. However I'm struggling with understanding the relative benefits of each approach.

Things that are important to me:
-hardware must be mounted in a machine room with no direct physical access.
-all NVR operations should be available remotely via LAN or wan etc.
-audio recording for each camera
-clip saving should be easy and can save to any network drive
-full Mac compatible.
-easy IOS viewing of live feed.
-easy and precise marking of in and out points for clips to be saved.
-ability to synchronize or reconcile data on the cameras card if the NVR went down and the data is available on the camera SD card.
-reliable and flexible. So far SS seems fragile. I'm sure it's just me and I need to learn more about SS.
-certain events should be saved to a remote FTP just in case the NVR is stolen during a smash and grab.
-NVR data traffic to and from the cameras should be logically and or physically isolated from the rest of the network. With SS I assume I'd need a managed Ethernet switch to allow Vlans to be established.

Anyway, I look forward to hearing your comments about these different approaches.

Thanks,

Robert

Comments

  • robertbroussardrobertbroussard
    A friend that uses SS in a small way (a couple of cameras, some analog) mentioned that when it comes time to save a clip that SS is far superior than the hardware NVRs (even expensive commercial ones). When an event does occur and you want to save it. I assume that there is an easy way to save multiple (user-selectable) angles and to easily select the in and out points for the clip. I use Final Cut Pro X and I love that I can just type "I" for input and "o" for the output in many situations, making it effortless to accurately define a clip. Thoughts about that SS benefit? Of course, I'm hoping to hear more about the relative pros/cons of: SS, NVRs and NAS-based NVRs.

    Thanks,

    Robert
  • robertbroussardrobertbroussard
    No one wants to discuss the big picture...? I was hoping to get some NVR perspective that would guide me through my surveillance system journey.

    R
  • BenBen
    Hi Robert, as you know I would recommend SecuritySpy for a variety of reasons (flexibility, feature set, iOS app, no recurring fee), but I may be a bit biased :)

    Since this forum is specifically for SecuritySpy users to come together and share ideas and get help about SecuritySpy, your question is probably outside the realm of what this forum is designed for.
  • robertbroussardrobertbroussard
    Hi Ben, thanks for all of your input. I hope you understand that I was just trying to get the SS user perspective. Those that are rolling there own with SS have probably used other systems other hardware NVRs and now can speak about the pros and cons of this approach (with SS) that requires a more savvy user. Thanks for not becoming overwhelmed by my multitude of questions. Have a great day!

    Robert
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