Processor power

herf · Post by **herf** » Tue Jan 04, 2011 1:15 pm

Is it possible to record continously eight networks cameras 640x480 at 12 fps, and in the same time having two screens, one with the 8 cameras and one antother with only four ?
If it is, which processor and memory I need ?

Thanks

PacoLM · Post by **PacoLM** » Tue Jan 04, 2011 1:48 pm

I do not think that there's a rule for processor speed, it will depend also on the Linux distribution you install. The powerful the better, I think, I will try a 4 core processor with at least 8 Gigabytes of RAM....

curtishall · Post by **curtishall** » Tue Jan 04, 2011 2:54 pm

PacoLM wrote:I do not think that there's a rule for processor speed, it will depend also on the Linux distribution you install. The powerful the better, I think, I will try a 4 core processor with at least 8 Gigabytes of RAM....

I'm not sure how a Linux distribution will change anything in regards to "raw processing power". Do you care to explain that?

SteveinPhx · Post by **SteveinPhx** » Wed Jan 05, 2011 3:54 am

That also depends on the DVR card you are using. If you use a good card with multiple processing chips on it, that shouldn't be a problem.
My current setup is a Pentium dual-core 2.6ghz with 2GB ram. I can record 4 cameras at 640x480 at 10 fps each with less than 20% cpu usage.
I can record much higher frame rates but then I run out of disk very quickly, so I have them all set to only 10 fps.

Flash_ · Post by **Flash_** » Wed Jan 05, 2011 7:19 am

Actually PacolM has a point.

In my own testing (documented here http://www.zoneminder.com/forums/viewto ... buntu+load ) switching distros resulted in a huge load difference. (1.8 to 0.4) with only zoneminder running and no other changes.

I put this down to some distros doing core things in different ways. Certainly Ubuntu's stock install includes a whole world more processes running than a simple and headless debian install, and this inevitably affects performance.

PacoLM · Post by **PacoLM** » Wed Jan 05, 2011 1:01 pm

Flash_ wrote:Actually PacolM has a point.

In my own testing (documented here http://www.zoneminder.com/forums/viewto ... buntu+load ) switching distros resulted in a huge load difference. (1.8 to 0.4) with only zoneminder running and no other changes.

I put this down to some distros doing core things in different ways. Certainly Ubuntu's stock install includes a whole world more processes running than a simple and headless debian install, and this inevitably affects performance.

Yes, this is what I read from some posts here. Running a distribution like Debian in a Guruplug (ARM based) where the processor doesn't have to take care of graphical processes/mouse,e tc, versus Ubuntu 10.00 in a PC with a powerful processor has more CPU load...also makes a real difference in performance, and working with only 2 IP-Cams, so connecting more cameras will make a much bigger difference, I think.

Regards,

PacoLM