Are there camera systems/software where I can use my PR4100 as the NVR and then view the footage through an app, and be notified of movement? Is this too much load for the PR4100?
Thanks,
Paul
Hi @atgcpaul,
Please contact the WD Technical Support team for the best assistance and troubleshooting:
https://support-en.wd.com/app/ask
I wouldn’t recommend using your PR4100 as an NVR given the resource demands from transcoding video and the undue read/write on the drives. Yes, a NAS is meant for read/writes but footage from cameras goes through storage quickly and you end up writing over the same sectors significantly more than you otherwise would. This of course takes away from the reliability factor even in the slightest you’d want from a NAS. NVRs really aren’t that expensive when you consider the toll and purpose. The benefit is, at least many support backups and transferring specific footage you might want to backup to your NAS.
All that said, if you did decide to go down the route of trying it out, you’d want to look at using Docker (lots of threads on this forum about said software) to then run a compatible Docker container with an NVR that is compatible with your cameras.
#WDUserRewards
If you’re using recommend WD Red (or an equivalent from another vendor) drives your warning is not applicable. Put 4 x 22TB drives in the Pr4100 in RAID-5 and you have 66TB of storage very quickly for comparatively little $.
BTW, across 3 separate locations, I have 8 xx4100s (of various ages, including 3 x PR4100s) and 1 EX4 (bought in early 2014, a few months after its release date). 6 of them get 6TB written to them every single day, SQL backups, and have for years. I’ve replaced ONE of the 36 WD Red drives in them in that time.
A customer of mine, I’m an IT network engineer, has a purpose-configured NVR from their security camera vendor, Motorola Avigilon. The base server is a Dell R540 with 12 x 16TB Toshiba N300 in a 150TB RAID-6 array. There are 30 cameras around the facility that, together write 150TB of data every 2 months. There have been no drive failures.
On a side note, I have an old Seagate NAS with 4 x 4TB Barracuda desktop drives in it. It runs 24/7 and has since March 2016. I just had the first drive fail about 2 months ago. I replaced all 4 with 4TB Red drives, since of course, when one drive fails they all may if they’re the same age. 7 years of 24/7 uptime isn’t too bad for inexpensive desktop drives.
In the end, the right tool for the right job is applicable. If you’re going to use a NAS of ANY kind for ANY data that’s important, use the RIGHT drives in it and you can read/write to it all day long for years and you won’t likely have any issues. Your fan will die before the drives (I’ve replaced several of the xx4100 fans).
