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New server stress

mgisdmgisd
edited January 2020 in SecuritySpy
We need a new SecuritySpy server. We are a K-12. Budgets are TIGHT. Needs are great. I want to make sure that what I get is going to do the job. I want to get a top of the line 2018 Mac mini and a 32 TB OWC Thunderbay 4 RAID5 for storage.
Right now I have a Mid-2012 Mac Pro. And it's struggling. I have 37 cameras at 5-6 FPS , but I have 8 on the bench I'm about to add. And my principals want more cameras in every nook and cranny. So I'll be at 50 very soon and what then? Plus, retention is an issue. We record continuously on all cameras because every time I try to go motion only we miss too many things. (kid a punched kid b, and guess what, the camera didn't catch it). We prob should be keeping footage for 3 months, but there's no way oncontinuous. That would be like 500 TB. So, what can I do to make motion detection better maybe?

Comments

  • BenBen
    To help you decide what hardware to get, check out our system requirements calculator. The Mac mini is a very capable machine, but 50 cameras can put significant load on a Mac, depending on the resolution and frame rates involved.

    As for motion-detection recording, the best way to reduce the chance of missing something is to increase the motion-detection sensitivity, reduce the trigger time, leave the AI turned off, and increase the post-capture time. This will result in a much higher chance of a false-positive detection, but the important thing is that you are unlikely to miss anything, and in an indoor setting with controlled lighting this should work well.

    Let me know how you get on with this and if you have any other questions please ask.
  • mgisdmgisd
    Thanks, Ben. Yes. I'm well-versed with the system requirements calculator. Good tool. Although it doesn't seem to have the new Mac Pros in it yet. It seems like for what I want to do and have room to grow there are only a couple of Macs capable of handling it with some room to grow. Namely a top of the line iMac 2019 or an iMac Pro. I feel like we are outgrowing SecuritySpy, but I like it and don't want to change. Plus we've invested quite a bit in the system already I want to make sure it will work for us for years to come. Thanks. I'll experiment with the motion detection settings, masks, and picking and choosing which cameras have to be continuous capture during school hours and which I can move to motion detection.
  • BenBen
    Good point - we'll add the new Mac Pros to the calculator shortly - this will certainly allow for larger systems than what is possible with other Mac hardware.

    One route that other customers with large installations have gone for is to implement multiple Macs running SecuritySpy, and splitting the cameras between them.
  • mgisdmgisd
    Would that involve purchasing an additional license? Just treating it as two different systems?
  • BenBen
    Yes, that would require two separate SecuritySpy licenses, and the two systems would be separate. This tends to work well when it's possible to split the cameras into logical groups so it isn't too much of a problem to separate them. If you were to go this route, we can swap your unlimited-camera license for two 32-camera licenses, and you just pay the difference (plus we can provide an educational discount for such an order).
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