What Is the State of Linux Security DVR Software? 112
StonyCreekBare writes "I am wondering what slashdotters have to offer on the idea of Linux based security systems, especially DVR software. I am aware of Zoneminder, but wonder what else is out there? Are there applications that will not only monitor video cameras, but motion sensors and contact closure alarms? What is state of the art in this area, and how do the various Linux platforms stack up in comparison to dedicated embedded solutions? Will these 'play nice' with other software, such as Asterisk, and Misterhouse? Can one server host three or four services applications of this nature, assuming CPU/memory/disk resources are sufficient?"
Re:Direct tv uses Linux on there HD DVR's (Score:3, Insightful)
Do they have to be? The basic functions are pretty similar. You may want things like event logging from sensors, automatic start and stop recording based on events (motion sensors, heat sensors, vibration sensors) etc. Though, in the end, its just video recording and management.
I would bet that if you were going to put together something and wanted a base to start from, MythTV wouldn't be a bad place to start.
-Steve
Re:Zoneminder (Score:3, Insightful)
You are assuming the contract is the only one the company has. Any reasonable company should have enough customers that that 700k per year is split over several hundred accounts. You might say they aren't offering enough $, he might say the business isn't taking the risk and spending the money up front with fixed pricing to establish a client base. It's quite possible that there aren't enough customers to support such a venture, it's also possible no one has bothered to spend the initial capital to build the business. It's rare that any customer is going to be willing to pay 100% of the costs of a venture so that the business owner has no risk or investment in the business, it's also quite unreasonable to expect such. It is reasonable that there might not be enough customers demanding such services to make a sustainable business but obtaining a small business loan to setup a support service with the 24/7/365 15min SLA if there are customers demanding that level of support isn't going to be difficult.
The OP was quite clear he looked for a business that would offer such an SLA and didn't mention price even being a factor. Maybe it was, maybe there aren't businesses even offering such services. I can say one thing, it's not reasonable to expect one customer to pay for an entire businesses fixed costs unless you know nothing about business.
Re:Direct tv uses Linux on there HD DVR's (Score:3, Insightful)
I've actually used MythTV for this purpose before; I was already familiar with it from using it to record TV. I knocked together a system with a spare MPEG encoder card and a wireless camera when I wanted to find out who was stealing my newspaper. Once you get some fake channel information configured, it's just a matter of setting up a bunch of daily recordings to monitor each input.
Sorry, but your wrong (Score:3, Insightful)
Because you dont know how zoneminder works. If it were to record everything 24/7 blindly.. yes you are right almost zero processor used.. Zoneminder looks at every frame doing motion zones and detection. It's 1000% better than the best commercial DVR you can buy. Really it is. I have tried all them including the high dollar ones, Zoneminder kicks their butts hard.
Sorry, but your completely wrong. The idea of motion detection on digital video recorders is over 10 years old. All DVRs of any value have motion detection built in, and the BT878 MJPEG cards mostly used with Zoneminder are garbage. The MJPEG codec is the wrong one to use for most applications because of the high storage requirements. Yes, you can process motion detection faster, but you loose out on bandwidth and storage. Zoneminder can use IP cameras, so that is a plus in its favor.
Also, your point about no CPU usage at full 24/7 is also incorrect. The BT878 cards require software compression, which means CPU overheard just to lay down the video. There are other cards, such as from Vidicon, which allow for hardware compression thus offloading the bulk of th CPU requirements.
Again this is nice, but very home-brew type of solution. If you are a professional or just a larger business who takes into account the man hours required to build, and most importantly to maintain this system, you should go to one of the "commercial DVR systems". These will give you the required reliability and low maintenance, in addition to a smooth interface usable by more then the IT guy.