I have a few questions about Frigate and security cameras, and I thought this
would be a good place to ask.
I’m new to security cameras and Frigate, so please excuse any basic questions I
might have.
I have a PC at home with an i7-8700 CPU running Proxmox, where I plan to install
Frigate in an LXC container for device passthrough.
I came across this Amcrest camera on Amazon:
Amcrest IP5M-B1276EW-AI.
Since Amcrest is recommended, I assume it should work well, but I’d like to
confirm before purchasing. If you have any camera recommendations in the $60
range, I’d appreciate them.
I also read that having dual network interfaces is recommended. My router
doesn’t support creating new subnets (I don't know if that would be a problem),
and my PC currently has only one network interface. My initial plan was to get a
PoE switch and connect the cameras and the router to it, but would getting a
separate PCIe network card, and then connect my PC to the switch instead of the
router work for creating a separate, internet-less network?
Lastly, I understand that using a Coral accelerator is highly recommended. I’m
deciding between the $25 PCIe version and the $60 USB version. Does Frigate
benefit from the more expensive USB Coral, or is the $25 PCIe version
sufficient? My motherboard is a Gigabyte B365M DS3H, in case that’s relevant.
I put a passively cooled GT1030 in mine and its doing the decoding & tensorrt detection for 4x 1080p cameras just fine, based on its current load I expect I could add another 4.
I couldn't tell you if that specific Amcrest camera will work, but I have 2 of the recommended ones on the frigate docs (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B083G9KT4C/) and they work.
I could do that, but I don't know if the iGPU of my i7 8700 is good enough. Even then, if it means taking load off my CPU I think it would be worth it.
Other than picking that type, I don't think I had to make any other configuration changes as I was already passing the iGPU through to the container for hardware acceleration.
(As a side note, even with openvino, 4 cameras using the hardware decoding, AND jellyfin transcodes, the iGPU basically sits at 5% usage. The openvino stuff is shockingly efficient.)