Blue Iris

Hello all

New to BI, and quite like the interface so far (testing using a trial version).

I have a project where the requirement is to have local IP cameras, and application / storage in the cloud / on remote servers.

Can anyone let me know if this can be done/if they have done it?

Apologies if this has been asked before, I have tried a number of searches and videos (as well as emailing BI themselves, who referred me to here).

Many thanks

JJ

This was posted twice. Could you delete one please. You may get two threads going.

Application AND storage in the cloud?

Do you mean run a windows instance on a cloud platform like Azure or AWS? And store video onto the cloud storage?

While is can be done probably please consider the risk that if the network is down for any reason there will be no recorded video captured. If there is a storm that knocks out internet service, you'll get zero video capture. You'll also be churning a lot of bandwidth to push all of the camera feeds in parallel through your WAN.

I do apologize for questioning your premise, but I have to wonder about the requirement as stated.

Absolutely possible (very high-level guide);
- Use CPU decoding
- Use cams with Local Storage as backup, eg: SD Cards (highest quality)
- Use H.265 to keep the stream size low (~20Mbps for 4 x 4 MP cams at full resolution), which isn't much bandwidth these days.
- Consider BI using a sub-stream, to keep the SD recordings on MAX and send a lower quality off to to the cloud

For security;
- Have static IP locally and in the cloud
- Config your router firewall to only accept traffic from the static Cloud IP
- Whitelist your access on the cloud firewalls
and the usual cloud and BI hardening

Absolutely works, given the high costs of cloud not too many use cases. Your monthly cloud bill will exceed, the cost of a cheap refurb i7 on eBay.
But yes if you need real-time offsiting, direct to the cloud works providing you have the bandwidth and a big wallet or a ton of credits. But if you had a ton of credits, there is a lot better ways to spend them.

Sorry for reviving dead thread, but wanted to say thanks to those who took time to respond. We believe we have a workable solution, but will come back if we stumble..

cheers

jj

I have a slightly different "cloud" setup that others may find it useful. Instead of putting the entire application and storage to cloud, I have a hybrid solution that served me well for the last 3 yrs.

As part of Office 365 subscription, I get 5 users with 1TB cloud space each. So I created a separate account for only storing "New" clips online. On my local server, I have OneDrive Sync configured, so all New clips automatically get uploaded to OneDrive. Alternatively, you can choose to have your alerts or snapshots auto-uploaded to OneDrive. Works well for my six 5MP H.265 camera setup.

That way, if there's a catastrophic event at my location - e.g. it someone stealing my BI server or comet/earthquake destroying it (well, I suppose I have more things to worry about than security footage at that point - the latest clips are always stored in cloud for me to access.

Having a AWS EC2 instance running 24/7 to capture streams and store all the clips is a pretty expensive proposition. Even with a 3-yr contract it will be still a lot more expensive than getting two redundant servers on-prem. Even if you have to add additional UPS, etc. it will be still cheaper. In addition, you will need to setup a VPN connection to your AWS VPC, which adds to the cost; you would NOT want to expose all your camera port-forwards on your router, as camera unit's security isn't usually great.

Roy