Home servers for cctv, backup, home assist etc

Scougar

Scougar

Scougar

Soldato
Joined
30 Jan 2007
Posts
15,485
Location
PA, USA (Orig UK)
So I will be moving into a new home soon, and I want to have a lowish power home server setup for offline surveillance/cctv of my property via POE. Finally have some for of backup solution for my homes devices. A start into using something like Home Assist. Also, possibly to have some web server for my VERY small business and finally after decades get my own domain name/email etc.

I am being a little geeky over using something like Lenovo mini PCs clustered, but I am not sure if these could meet all of these scenarios? Possibly need some clustered and some dedicated ?

I also am not sure which software/OS's to use yet.

I would prefer not having to rely on something like Docker that required a subscription, but would be OK with 'reasonable' one time costs if some some software was worthwhile over open source. (I am also happy to donate to open source projects, I just don't want ever increasing costs like Docker seems to be shafting people with lately.)
 
Last edited:
I don't mind having separate dedicated boxes. I was just trying to plan for failed equipment, and better load sharing.

Backup: I don't need media services, only backup of files that want to be shared or long term saved safely. (Photos/videos/documents).

CCTV: I don't currently need AI, but would want a rolling few weeks of video to be saved, in case anything happens. Maybe add AI later to store key events. I used to live in a townhouse where movement was setting off our blink cameras all the time, but here it is almost 2 acres enclosed. I don't mind recording 24/7.

Firewall etc: should probably implement pfsense or similar. I do have a buddy to potentially help with that setup though.
 
Last edited:
Donnie Fisher said:
I use Zoneminder. It was one of the free options when I first started looking and I’ve stuck with it.

it gets a bit of flack from people and there are definitely other options out there that offer more features … but for me once setup, I’ve found it reliable enough as a means to simply store the footage and review if necessary.
Click to expand...
I don't need complexity. I just want simple and reliable recording. I can always swap to something better later.
 
El Pew said:
What are you doing that you think you would need a Docker subscription for? The free versions of Docker desktop and associated access to the hub are absolutely fine for the kind of home-use scenarios that you are talking about. You'd only need a subscription if you are planning on doing more than 200 image pulls per 6 hours (800/day) - but even if you are there are ways to mitigate this (e.g. a registry mirror like Harbor).

There are also alternatives like Podman which are perfectly good Docker replacements and free.
Click to expand...
I had assumed that I needed a subscription to use Docker. I was looking at Docker for clustering, really just for low power mini-PC's and being geeky about it all.

Also, good info, thank you for that :)
 
Last edited:
El Pew said:
Docker Swarm is the clustered version of standalone Docker and it's also free. It's pretty rubbish though. Kubernetes is the de facto standard for clustered containerised workloads but the learning curve can be pretty steep, albeit very rewarding when you get reasonably good at it.
Click to expand...
we use kubernetes at work, but it's enterprise level, and I'm a dev, so don't do those installations of kubernetes itself.
 
OK, well.. I've received my Lenovo M715q Gen 2

CPU: 2400GE
RAM: 16GB 2666mhz on one dimm, so I have another slot free :)
SSD: Samsung 256GB.
Spare SSD slot for 2.5" drive
M.2 Slot being used currently by wifi, but I could convert to use AI card or 10GB/s Ethernet etc as I don't plan on using wifi.

lots of USB ports. Some USB 3.0 so I could attach NAS through that.
No HDMI only DP, which is fine tbh.

-----

Now I just have to figure out what software and OS to slap on it.

Pretty much decided to go with Reolink POE cameras at this point already.
Looking at ex-data warehouse Drives such as 12TB HGST drives. Get a few of them and raid/duplicate etc for backup.
 
Last edited:
Well.. right now, I have a 180 degree REOLINK camera with floodlights, and a REOLINK Trackmix (wide + zoom + track + lights). They are currently independent, but on the POE network. I am using SD Cards just to get them up and running.

I have the Tiny PC, and I have a demo version of BlueIris on it for now which I have one camera hooked up, but I'm waiting on a monitor to arrive so I can configure it in it's new location. Will try to see if BlueIris is worth investing in.

I'm holding off on the backup solution for now, until I get the security part done.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom