FTP IP Camera Setup

[Krowvin]

I hope this is the right forum location for this. I almost put this in the off-topic section.

I'm looking into buying a few IP Cameras for my network, and i'd like them to record the data to my FreeNAS server.

It's my understanding that I will use the software provided by the camera(s) to setup a LAN FTP connection to my NAS with the user name and password. That being said, should I simply point the camera to the root directory of that camera user and lock access to 700?

There was a time when I thought I could run some sort of software on the FreeNAS box to take a live stream from the camera and mux it in house. However, I think FTP is the cleaner solution (perhaps pricier).

Question 1: Will my question about how to setup the FTP connection work? No special loops for BSD?

Question 2: (The off-topic bit) Does anyone have a recommendation on a good camera(focusing on software for playback and recording management from FTP) to use with FreeNAS(FTP)? I'm sure it's more preference as I was looking at AXIS, but man... that price tag. Their software looks great though after seeing a few reviews over it.

If I missed a post in regards to this (saw a few on mindbender), please point me to it.


I'd love any advice you guys/gals have to offer.

 

[DoubleIPA]

Watching this one.. Very interested.

 

[MtK]

Well...
Recommendations for ip cameras is not the main focus on a server software (!) community forum.

That been said, first thing I would do is search the forum for these questions cause they've been asked before.
Then I would just broaden the search into google (which maybe should have been the first step) for something like 'cctv freenas' which you'll find more answers not only about ftp webcams with freenas (see first part of my reply), but also projects that provide information on supported cameras...


The general rule here in the forum is, first search, then try, then share you findings and/or further questions...

 

[cyberjock]

Moved to off-topic.

 

[jgreco]

You might want to clarify whether the "FTP" mode of the cameras is doing what you want. I'm not familiar with the very latest cameras, but am definitely familiar with the technology going back at least as far as the Axis NetEye 200/2100's (still have at least half a dozen of them in inventory or use). The FTP mode on many cameras is typically just taking a frame every so often and uploading the JPG to the FTP server, hopefully with an index count. I believe that's what the Foscam units do, for example.

http://www.foscam.com/help2_view.aspx?Id=61

They're a popular inexpensive network based option.

Getting motion video off these things isn't that hard if you merely need MPG, which I expect most current cameras support. Some of the older gear (including the 200/2100) supported "motion JPEG", which involved each frame being made into a JPG and then shoved down a TCP stream, at up to half a dozen frames per second. For several years, I ran cameras at Milwaukee's Summerfest on behalf of the city's largest ISP, back around 1996-2002. With only a T1 data circuit available on the festival grounds, and the camera's meager onboard resources, I pulled the MJPEG stream back to the data center, where it was then split up into individual frames with some custom code I wrote, and then served up to customers, sometimes several hundred dialup and DSL users watching at a time - each getting a video stream suited to the capabilities of their Internet connection(!). I remember the guys at AXIS crapped their pants when they found out the Summerfest live video feed involved their gear.

Anyways, guessing the FTP support may not be well-suited to managing playback. I believe some cameras now support streaming MPG to an FTP server so recording it probably isn't an issue, as long as your camera actually supports that. You'll want to clarify with your vendor what their feature set actually is, and then be prepared for them to have overimplied what it is capable of doing.

 

[depasseg]

What are you trying to accomplish? Do you want a repository of images? Do you want to rebroadcast to others? Do you want to create a timelapse? Do you want to livestream video?

What are you trying to capture? Are the cameras indoors? Low light? Auto-Iris? Infrared? PTZ?

Most cameras should support uploading to FTP, so that shouldn't be an issue. The question is what do you want to do with that image?

I run an outdoor webcam for fun, and I use a service to rebroadcast the video streams so that my local WAN connection doesn't get crushed (angelcam). There are also other services that create time lapse and history (teleport). You can also go simple and use dropcam. And for a more serious CCTV security monitoring solution, look at the unifi cameras and NVR appliance (https://www.ubnt.com/products/#all/surveillance).

 

[philious77]

I set this up about 2 weeks with a Foscam re-badged camera. This camera does not support dumping video or mjpeg on its own -- it would require software to capture. It does, however, support dumping individual jpg's via ftp so I set it to upload a jpeg every second. This makes it 1 frame/sec but it's fine for my needs.