Recommend windows version/type for Blueiris 5 VM

Notice: Page may contain affiliate links for which we may earn a small commission through services like Amazon Affiliates or Skimlinks.

epicurean

Active Member
Sep 29, 2014
785
80
28
Am about to set up a windows type VM in esxi for blueiris 5 NVR to replace my dying 8 year old NVR I also have a Haswell mini-itx which I can dedicate as a standalone NVR.
Would like to read/hear about best practices on which windows to use for for Blueiris 5. I find the ipcamtalk forums very opinionated (eg absolutely must be standalone(not virtualised), must be Intel with quicksync) by the forum moderators and would like a more measure and balanced view before embarking.
 

Angus

Member
Mar 3, 2015
48
8
8
43
Question I would have is are you set on Blue Iris? The feature set is fairly limited... How many cameras do you have?
 

epicurean

Active Member
Sep 29, 2014
785
80
28
I am about 90% set on Blue Iris(BI). One of the reasons is that I use Openhab for my home automation and cameras in BI interact well in that platform with automation.
From what I have researched, BI is a mature software with a reasonable price tag. I just wish it wasn't in windows only.

I looked at Zoneminder, but was persuaded to try Shinobi instead. The latter was at its early stages then and I think I was biased against how complex it was to setup my cameras (mostly Panasonic POE PTZ cameras).
I am open to other suggestions for the NVR software.
 

Angus

Member
Mar 3, 2015
48
8
8
43
Integration definitely makes it harder, are you doing live viewing integration or playback as well? I did have Blue Iris setup just to capture live streams and then re-transmit then to Control4.

For actual recording my first pick would be Milestone. It is a true commercial/enterprise package. It is free for up to 8 cameras. They removed a bunch of limitations they had a few years ago. XProtect® Essential+ | Free VMS | Milestone Systems

Other one that I'm not overly found of but again a commercial package with a good feature set but only 4 camera support would be AxxonSoft Free 4-channel version of Axxon Next video management software


Could also look at Exacqvision but they do not have a free version.. I beleive the start version is relatively cheap ~ 50ish per camera but not sure of exact price.

All will run fine in a VM with minimal resources.
 

BeTeP

Well-Known Member
Mar 23, 2019
653
429
63
On my linux server I got 8 separate ffmpeg processes (each controlled by a separate systemd service unit) saving streams from my 8 cameras in 10 minute long chunks. I use VLC to watch both the recordings and live streams. I used to have a couple of RaspberryPi's to show 4 live streams per TV for live monitoring but I needed the Pies for another project. Also I use a python script to pull and process a still image from my garage camera every 10 seconds to check if the garage door is open.

What other useful non gimmicky features am I currently missing?
 

JSchuricht

Active Member
Apr 4, 2011
198
74
28
Windows 10 1903 with BI 4 or BI 5 works fine in a VM. It is heavy on CPU usage but that all comes down to how you set it up.

The graph below is BI 5.0.0.57 x64 on Win 10 1903 running on a dual E5 2697 V2 2019 Hyper V host. The VM has 12 threads and 14 cameras at 926.7 MP/s according to BI update helper. A chunk of that CPU usage is the VM having a 2560x1080 RDP session running constantly for monitoring. There is also two 9 camera web streams, one at 1080P and one at 2160P going to Intel compute sticks on TV's.

ScreenShot374.jpg


For the BI setup, direct to disk is probably the most important thing for keeping CPU usage in check. That takes the raw camera feed and records it vs BI processing the image with overlays.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: epicurean

Huy Le

Member
Dec 1, 2015
30
3
8
36
Late to the party, but my systems for BI go like this

bare metal e3-1240v3 but serving as a NAS as well > HyperV 12 threads Xeon E5-2697v3 > bare metal i5-8400 6 cores.

On the VM, for some reason i noticed during playback the recorded clips would be lagging. I did rebuild it and experienced it again. From there, kept reading on ipcamtalk like you did how people said use a stand alone box. Gave that a shot, won't go back to VM. Also Quicksync drastically decreases CPU usage, i can run Plex transcoding on there if i wanted to without issues. I'm also recording directly to my NAS server, not to a drive local to the bare metal i5-8400 machine.

My system with the VM and the current i5-8400 bare metal consists of 13 1080p cameras recording at 15FPS (2 cameras at 20 FPS) and a 4K camera at 20 FPS.
 

PigLover

Moderator
Jan 26, 2011
3,184
1,545
113
I’ve been all over the map with this one. BI can be made to run reasonably well in a VM. But it is a cpu pig. I tried a number of stand alone configs and finally settled on an HP DeskPro 800 G2 mini with a low power i7-6700. It was cheap used on eBay (about $325) and I added a 1tb m.2 drive for storage. 12 1080p cameras at 20fps hums along no worries.

The thing got me set on the standalone was that I want my cameras to keep recording as long as possible during a power failure. Everything else is expendable load. So the standalone BI box and the PoE switch feeding the cameras are on their own 2u UPS. Together they draw ~100watts (a bit more at night when all the IR is lit up) and I have most of an hour of power failure coverage. Set it up this way after a friends how got hit. First thing the crooks did was kill the main breaker to knock off his cameras. I also added a camera overlooking the power panel...
 
  • Like
Reactions: epicurean

epicurean

Active Member
Sep 29, 2014
785
80
28
Looks like standalone would be the way to go unless I have the CPU power to spare.
Would a windows 10 enterprise or a light windows server be a better OS choice?
 

JSchuricht

Active Member
Apr 4, 2011
198
74
28
Win 10 enterprise works great. Server versions can be a bit of work to get going, adding desktop experience and possibly other items to make it more like a desktop.

Just remember to keep it as a dedicated system either physical or virtual to minimize issues.