Balrog requested my notes on IP cameras.
Mind you, these are recommendations for a business or mid grade security environments. The cameras are $250-500 per, and are PoE. There's very few professional network cameras that use WiFi, Tenvis is the higher brand of consumer wifi cameras. ACTI, Axis or Vivotek for mid grade. Bosch or Axis for high grade IP cameras. Only open protocols were acceptable.
Indoors Close up inspectionThe recommended camera would be the Axis M3006-V, which is a 3MP high definition camera. An alternative is the ACTi E72. The high definition will be necessary due to the small size of some of the (items being monitored), as well as distance from the feasible mounting points. We will likely have to manufacture custom mounting brackets for the cameras.
Axis M3006-V at $450 per - Example:
http://www.axis.com/products/cam_m3006v/img/m3006v_snapshot_large.jpgACTI E72 at $350 per, alternative
General Indoors/OutdoorsACTi E72 is a 3MP/1080P, Power over Ethernet, Pan-Tilt indoor/outdoor camera that is well reviewed. It runs $300 per unit. IR floodlights are around $50.
High Detail OutdoorsThe ACTi E33 is a fixed (non-PTZ) bullet POE camera. It's 5MP, which is very high resolution. The tradeoff is that the E33 comes with fixed focal, which can make light transitioning photos seem fuzzier but a longer service life. The camera has a 70° field of view. They retail for approximately $350 per unit. A bracket is included, but may want to purchase a different model depending on installment criteria. Additional IR lighting may be desired for more advanced night vision requirements. Ideal for license plates.
Switching:Individual 802.3af power injectors run $14-30 and require individual power ports.
Fast Ethernet 4 port PoE switches start at $60.
Gigabit 4 port PoE switches start at $100.
IEEE 802.3at is usually preferred to IEEE 802.3af, but 802.3at 4 port switches may not be able to handle full power to all four ports.
Data Storage:Using a baseline of 12 cameras, with 30 days storage and using H.264 encoding, there are some breakdowns of storage requirements.
720p, 5 frames per second = 20 Mbps, 7 TB storage space
720p, 10 frames per second = 36 Mbps, 12 TB storage space
1080p, 5 frames per second = 46 Mbps, 15 TB storage space
1080p, 10 frames per second = 81 Mbps, 26 TB storage space
Many/most of the above mentioned cameras can be fitted directly with SD cards to allow local storage as primary or backup storage.
Surveillance SoftwareBlue Iris - $50
http://www.blueirissoftware.comMore intended for home or small business use, not feature rich. Needs to run on a PC.
Bluecherry - $250
http://www.bluecherrydvr.com/downloads/ Linux based, needs to run on a PC
Surveillance Station - $55 per camera - Recommended Solution
https://www.synology.com/en-us/surveillance/indexNo hardware needed, runs directly on NAS. Has cryptologically secure digital signing of video.
