Is the Synology Surveillance Station better than Blue Iris?

[@lpa9323]

I work for a CCTV company I can say from experience with a few servers I am talking about the rs1619xs+ rs3621xs+ rs820. The viewing stations really needs to be powerful unlike any other system DW Spectrum etc…. And on the phone it takes long to load H265 and H265+ forget about. I am using Hik-Visions cameras

[@IntermitTech]

Nice comparison, I know how hard it can be, what to highlight and what not, think you did a great job! It's good you don't HAVE to keep paying for Blue Iris if you don't want to, that annoys me about all the google cameras and stuff, you basically have to pay 10$ a month per camera or they become worthless. With a few cameras over the span of a few years, that's thousands of dollars! I went with different NVR software myself but that has a one-time lifetime fee but in return easily runs my 10x 4K (8MP) cameras in a VM with 2 cores (or a cheap 200$ machine will do just fine too).

[@KarlH1980]

For even cheaper, I run BI4 on my older I7 4700k desktop with the ability to have 6 hard drives in the case.

[@McCuneWindandSolar]

What I wish a company like Blue Iris will do is this. Create software that will not need a operating system to be used, were you by it and it has its own OS so its the only thing running when booted that way you don't have to worry about windows ect. but I have it running good and love it.

[@toolate6971]

Why recreate the wheel? They only need a secure linux distro like Qubes OS and done. They can build their UI and you got your wish. Probably not as difficult as you think.

[@callofgeorge]

from experience, i loved my synology system. the biggest downfall of the system are the required camera licenses.. expensive and personally a ridiculous way for them to make more money. after spending the chunk of cash for the unit itself.. I'm in the process of setting up a blue iris box on an i7 pc and it will cost roughly half of what the synology setup w/4 cams did and support more cams without additional cost.

[@michaelpoczynek]

Good plan! I just set up Blue Iris on an i7 with 64GB and a 4TB Hard Disk.

[@cwichura]

Did you use the native Surveillance Station client, or just the web client? I'm guessing you used the web client, and that's why you had the slow load times with all the spinning wheels in that one clip. The web client is hobbled by being in a web browser, and is orders of magnitude slower than the native client. The web client also doesn't support the enhanced GPU decoding of the streams like the native client does, nor does it support h.265 streams (since the web browsers don't). Seriously, the native client is night and day compared to the web client. I run ten cameras on an old Synology RS815+ (so even older CPU, although I do max out its RAM at 16GB) and have zero performance problems. I can jump around in the timeline and it is consistently instant at switching streams. (Even on my old RS815+, SS never really uses more than about 10% CPU, it's just doing a lot of file I/O. But I do all motion detection in the cameras, while I noticed you were using motion detection within SS -- that will eat a fair bit more CPU vs configuring it to rely on the motion detection in the cameras. And with real cameras (Axis, HikVision, etc) they have WAY more advanced motion detection controls built into them.) I will give you that optimizations like this do fall into the "learning curve to really take advantage of it" that you mention in the video. As to your "find the white van". In the app menu in Surveillance Station (top left corner) is an app called "Smart Search". It supports triggers for motion, missing object, foreign object, etc, and lets you draw in a grid the areas to look. So you could make a foreign object trigger and paint in the street in front of your house and then let it find every vehicle that goes by within a desired time range. A lot of people get hung up on the camera license costs. But they are cheap compared to the professional video surveillance systems that Synology considers their real competitor in an enterprise environment. Blue Iris works well for home users, but it doesn't hold up in an enterprise environment where you have multiple security stations all logged in and monitoring different areas/cameras. (E.g., see all the advanced group controls, permissions, etc that Surveillance Station has.)

[@dodgecrickets7862]

You know your stuff mate.. Synology is solid unit .. trust me

[@ShinyTechThings]

@PDX Geek I run Blue Iris as my primary, then 2 Synology's as secondaries because each node is hidden in my house. I have my old analog system in up on the wall in plain sight so that would get taken or smashed and ingest those streams into Blue Iris plus additional IP cameras.Also Blue Iris you can setup Ai (local or cloud based) to detect people, pets, cars, etc. For basic users that only have 2 cameras Synology is fine but if you have over a dozen camera's it can't handle the bitstream from all of them especially when several are 4K cameras and the rest 2-6MP ones.

[@PoeLemic]

I have a friend who is not tech-savvy that wants a surveillance system, so I am going to suggest this to him -- after watching video.

[@stressfree9780]

most people I know dont have any cameras - if they had 1 its a huge deal. Im gonna venture to say most people who do take the plunge will never have more than 1 or 2 maybe 3 MAX! so the Synology is plenty- Also its cool to have it all in one place in the Synology ecosystem

[@Solrak8O]

Synology Surveillance Station is great for most people. I use 2 cameras at home with it and I doubt the average Joe would have more than 2-4 cameras installed so the initial cost wouldn't be as high. I can see why Jason would prefer Blue Iris if he has 13+ cameras at home.

[@sebastianvalentin3366]

i guess I am kinda off topic but do anybody know a good website to stream new movies online ?

[@kohenbyron3895]

@Sebastian Valentin Flixportal :P

[@sebastianvalentin3366]

@Kohen Byron thanks, signed up and it seems like they got a lot of movies there :) I appreciate it !!

[@kohenbyron3895]

@Sebastian Valentin happy to help :)

[@michaelpoczynek]

I have been using Blue Iris for a couple of months now, and I am very impressed. I am not sure if there is anything out there that will compete.

[@EsotericArctos]

Price of purchasing the NAS would also have to be taken into account. Is the power draw of the Synology much less than a PC given it is basically a computer, running an Intel Celeton with 8GB RAM?. What resolution are your cameras? That makes a huge difference. You could run 10 plus 2.1megpixel cameras on a sub 200 PC in Blue Iris. What are updates like with the NAS? Edit: Blue Iris can be a once cost as the cost is only to pay for upgrades, the software will run forever in the version you have even if you don't pay for it a second time.

[@007systems7]

I recommend and use a dedicated IP camera recorder They are cheaper way than a PC, designed with enough horsepower to decode high end cameras, have a built in POE switch witch will take the traffic off of your network and the big one here....... NO License fees!

[@yourpcmd]

For just surveillance, we use and recommend for micro to small businesses and even residential clients, a Ubuquiti NVR and the G3 IP cameras as most want a minimum of 4 cameras. That complete setup is roughly the same cost - or less - as buying the Synology DS1019+ plus the drives but without the additional cost of the license. I'm surprised you have not tried Ubuquiti yet.

[@dreampimp4520]

If only PLEX could work with IP cameras....

[@funnynoodle6997]

What do you have in mind ?

[@jeremiaelliott9687]

You make some good videos man keep up

[@RPostWVU]

I've had a Synology 1218NVR for 3 years now. I think this review is accurate, however, the motion detection is TERRIBLE for anything outside. I have experience in Machine Vision, and I cannot get the settings right to get less than 50 false triggers a day and still detect my dog. Shadows from Clouds and leaves, rain drops, bugs (especially at night with IR). They need to allow you to use a recorded video to run your settings against it. As it is, you have to have live person out there, which doesnt work to test daytime and night time. Also they don't allow for close up, vs longer distance settings which occurs with elevated cameras at angles.

[@DeSibyl]

Isn't Blue Iris only $60 for the Full version, it's not a yearly subscription... or did they change it?

[@mikefromwa]

I've played with both Synology Station and Blue Iris, and as far as I'm concerned Blue Iris is the hands-down winner in almost every category. Cost and ease-of-use are factors, to be sure, but functionality is what it's all about in the end, and Blue Iris is way beyond Synology Station in that respect.

[@IAmZen_007]

Can you run Blue Iris in docker on Synology?

[@RPostWVU]

Another downfall of the software, is it does NOT downsize videos for playback. So if you are recording at 1080p or higher, you will need fast internet connection to view the video on your phone.

[@TheGgbk]

i didn't hear power usage mentioned much? The OP has fast cpu and a dedicated gpu running blue iris - will be a lot more power usage than a NAS. If you run it 24/7 that extra cost in electricity could add up pretty fast

[@Kurt013]

Yes, i just needed 4 more cameras licenses, but paying 200€??? After the investment on my DS920+ and HDD's? It's ridiculous

[@alanoldaker563]

I'm not sure what takes your live view so long to pull up cameras. Although I just have an old DS412+ and five 5mp Hikvision cameras, they pull up almost instantly.

[@TheGgbk]

could be hard drive access time? there are fast drives (less reliable) and there are slow drives (can be very stable but could effect scrub time)

[@asdf51501]

5960x was a good CPU back in the day. I ran a 5930k for 6 years. X99 was solid.

[@neilgreene]

My SS NAS failed and Synology sent me a complete REPLACEMENT. Swapped the drives, system booted up fine and I mailed them back the failed NAS. HUGE PLAY SYNOLOGY!

[@troyhickman8577]

Yep, same thing here! They were great UNTIL the unit is out of warranty then they tell you to go pound salt :( XPEnology hands down works better for my needs. Based on the DS918+ I built twin units for both our homes using i3 9100, 16gb ram, twelve 10tb WD Reds/Whites. They back up to each other and I've not had a problem in the 4 months they been online. Blue Iris is great and you have far more control, power and options. I've had it running on two i7 2600 machines (14 cams in FL and 16 cams in OH) powered on and recording 24/7 for over 6 years with next to no problems aside from one or two hard drives that failed. Hot spares kept me up until replaced. I just upgraded them with new i7 8700 builds running Windows Server.

[@jlficken]

Blue Iris only has a one time fee if you don't need the support. I've never used it so I've only paid the ~70 to run my 14 cameras. You can still get updates for free with the one time fee.

[@adamanddog]

True, but right now if you renew your BI license now before June 1st for $29.99 you will be eligable for the BlueIris5 thats beinging released in June. After that price is going to be about $90.

[@jlficken]

@@adamanddog Thanks for that! I'll go grab a copy.

[@EsotericArctos]

I was watching this again. I have just been given a DS918+ for free, so now considering if it is worth running a computer 24/7. I played with Surveillance Station, but one thing really annoys me. SS seems to change the camera settings so messes up the feed to BI while I am testing. Question: How do you stop SS from messing with the camera settings?

[@danroberts7975]

How much does running surveillance station with 6 cameras affect Plex functionality? This is incredibly useful as someone recently asked me about Synology's surveillance station (they already have a synology box) now I can be lazy and just point them to this video.

[@dodgecrickets7862]

Dan Roberts ... no problems at all ..

[@jpthsd]

Hmm I got the HP laptop Elitebook 16 inch, i7 quadcore, decent Intel HD, $200 + Blueiris license , hooked in USB3 HD 1TB,,,record all the day long! Remote access, easy,,,DDNS -> my wifi router -> RDP access special port number -> onto the Laptop desktop ! :)

[@MatthewHill]

Can't you just virtualize BI on your NAS?

[@TheMatthewDMerrill]

I use blue iris. I bought the license one year but you honestly never need it again.

[@aidanjt]

That's the single most annoying thing about Synology, they deliver fantastic NAS software, and then immediately hobble it with an abysmal CPU, every... damn... time.

[@xxcr4ckzzxx840]

Download Xpenology, use it on something else. Problem solved

[@aidanjt]

@@xxcr4ckzzxx840 Nah, I can't be bothered with shoehorning DSM onto standard uefi/z97 hardware, and all the hassle unsupported configurations entails. Debian 9 with backports for cockpit and kernel works alright for me. It'd just be nice if Synology didn't deliberately gimp it's NAS boxes with garbage tier CPUs. I wouldn't even mind if they slapped a hundred bucks premium on an i3 model, just that they do it.

[@xxcr4ckzzxx840]

@@aidanjt Yeah u totally right. That's why I got a cheap nas for like 150 bucks. Reads are great. Raid 5 4 disks, around 110 mb/s over gigabit LAN. Not bad for dualcore 512mb ram. (ls441D is the name) Writes where pretty slow tho. 40mb/s, but only with smb1, if I use smb2 (on per default) it's heavily limited by the cpu cuz of overhead. Yeah.. Was annoying, set up an zfs smb share in proxmox now, using raidz2 on an X58 dual socket system. Needs some more ram, but that will come somewhere else. No problems till now an already written like 3tb continous.

[@LetThatSinkIn]

What do you think about using Blue Iris and using the Synology NAS strictly for storage? Would that be problematic?

[@phalcon23]

Fricking ridiculous that companies like this artificially hobble their software with per camera licences

[@mrbdior]

If you're going to compare event finding in Surveillance Station to that in Blue Iris -- and say that BI is better -- it would be helpful if you actually showed how it's better. Also, you didn't mention false triggers due to racing clouds, wind, etc. Which is better there? That is perhaps the biggest discriminator.

[@SeregaTikhonov]

The only sure way is to leave event detection to cameras. Otherwise, as the number of cameras grows, you will need unlimited resources of your PC's performance.

[@TDHobbies]

How does all this compare to an NVR? as I scroll down I see 90% of questions have no answers.

[@maxmeier532]

Because this guy doesnt know the answer. He's just a random dude on the internet. Nothing he said gave any information. He basically just read specs. It took him 10 minutes to explain that syn nas is more expensive and less capable but easier to use than BI. Regardless whether that is true- why does he need so long to say that. Cause the rest he said had zero value in terms of learning anything.

[@compuguynum1]

How would the DS1019+ perform while running Surveillance Station & Plex at the same time?

[@ghost93rvc]

i am running a DS918+ with surveillance station with 2 camera's recording non stop, and surceillance station usually uses 0,5 to 2 % of cpu so pretty much negligible. (recording in 1080p, h264 encoding)

[@nighthawkvc25a]

Have you (or anyone here) tried to see how the performance is like when using the NAS for both surveillance and Plex functions simultaneously?

[@VideoNOLA]

How feasible is it to feed the video stream from an existing 4-camera NVR into the Synology NAS's Surveillance Station? Would that count as 1 camera or 4?

[@microhaxo]

I will say that the synology surveillance station is pretty good. Its really nice to have a box that does it all for you. IF you pair this with the right cameras (Dahua with IVS) you can get very good notifications with minimal false alarms and have it all managed by 1 small box vs a big machine. The per camera license is a little annoying but I think its worth it and they transfer forward if you upgrade to a new model etc. To me its a convenience fee that's worth it. If you already have a dedicated machine / server and you want to have it handle your security, you're already half way there. I like to separate concerns so having a dedicated security / storage box is better for me.

[@Elementalism]

Question on Blue Iris. Is there a big benefit to running a dedicated GPU? I have an HP DL160 G6 with 6TB of drive space I was going to use for running Blue Iris. But it doesnt have a standalone GPU.

[@macster1457]

What about the cpu usage? - With Blue Iris you have to use sub stream in order to lower the cpu usage, if not, then you could miss motions.. Blue Iris is a cpu hog.

[@Sam-tg4ii]

I have a relatively powerful computer which I can leave on all the time (core i7, 64 GB RAM, 1GB GPU). I wish to have 8 security cameras. Can I just install Blue iris on my computer and use it as a server as well? Or I need to buy a dedicated server for the cameras? Thanks for great content

[@albertkleyn111]

No need for an additional server. Yr main pc will do the work.

[@CashWiley]

FYI you missed another strength of the Synology solution: scalability. Rather than try to upgrade the NAS to expand, you can buy another NAS and add your new cameras to that, and access both from the same login (basically one station will act as a master). So when your performance degrades from more cameras, add a second NAS and put the new cameras on that. Save the local high res vid, but stream lower res thumbs to the master for live view monitoring. You can also set up zones with seperate NAS and trunk them together. Another thing, I use the secondary RJ45 for the camera POE network, primary RJ45 for data network, keeping camera traffic off the data network unless I'm directly viewing it on my device. 100% on your thoughts about scrubbing with synology, though. Weakest feature in the whole package, imo.

[@ariel3680]

honestly i dont think buying a new nas is a good solution for scalability

[@Im1CrazyCow]

Howdy Jason I use my QNAP Nas it is 59.99 EA ...so yours Syno is a Bit cheaper But from friends who have Syno and have seen my QNAP surveillance they like mine better. I have seen theirs and I get a bit lost on their interface BUT the rest of it ok it looks ok I guess. My Nas gives me 2 free (it was 4 but my ex wife F d up and now i lost 2 freebies......BUT the other 16 I buy on the Barn system cost me just over $950+ if i remember right for my 16 QNAP Licenses. I had a Pro Nas which gave me 16 Free Licenses but they did away with it ......I am thinking of Building a New Ryzen based NAS for the next 8 Camera Upgrade.....even though they are mostly 5mp when I use the 2 8 Mp Ptz the system can push the Gb connection to its max so im going 10 gb and full on GRUNT Power for the next toy!! Also I am looking at some new software free from Germany im not going to repay for my licenses they can all go screw! Cow}:-o)

[@MaximAvs]

Wait?!!!... You didn't injure yourself in this video!

[@Bytemybits]

Im playing with a ladder this weekend for a new video so stay tuned 😆

[@jeffherdzina6716]

So what your saying is .... if you know your IP address. You don't need all of the software ? i.e. blueiris or Synology.

[@xDoomsdayx]

That is not what he is saying at all. Blueiris or Synology is an nvr program. Meaning it is the brain behind recording and where to store the recordings and how to access them. Without that, your camera would basically just be a lense into what is happening at that very moment that you connect to look at it. It is not smart, it doesnt send you notifications of movement or anything (depending on the type of camera your using and price), thats all done via the nvr software. Knowing your ip address is just a small portion of the total package for what you need.

[@YetAnotherTechGuy]

Whered you buy the mario picture from in the background?

[@adamanddog]

You need to try this again now that they (Blue Iris) use's sub-streams, CPU has dropped ten fold.

[@andrewlangley2221]

Hey Jason, with blue iris does it work with amcrest's surveillance pro? And does it have a mobile app?

[@snajperSLO]

I have one question. Should I get an NVR1218 or an DS218? I have 2 IP cameras... Whats the best option?

[@ikeo8666]

is it worth it on the ds220j? that thing only has 512meg of ram

[@adamanddog]

How about checking out Blue Iris's integration with Sentry Smart Alert technology. MUCH cooler video to make. Synology can't hold a candle to BI.

[@ssss-df5qz]

They want how much for that unintuitive software?!

[@jackkister5979]

I was disappointed with the review. Your heading said "Is the Synology Surveillance Station better than Blue Iris?" both of which are software and yet most of the review was on hardware. Speaking of hardware you missed comparing motion detection with is very hardware performance dependent. Also you spent very little time on Blue Iris software. The review left me with little knowledge on either software and a desire to look at other reviews.

[@fj5492]

just get a business class pc , HP or dell off ebay for around 300 bucks that comes with win10

[@vdaaza1043]

Thi is for geo Vision ?

[@jorisdevaan6845]

thanks for letting me know where you live and where your camera's are.

[@soundsnags2001]

Aint nobody ever feared a man with 'de' between his names. You're no threat!

[@nope7405]

I've always paid ONE TIME for blue iris, No idea what you're talking about.

[@12schnsaint]

does blue iris support face recognition?

[@claytyler-nt4rt]

Hard to catch the name of the IP cameras mentioned @ kzbin.info/www/bejne/aKa7pqunlryAqZY mcrest, reolink, wgcc adhering to onvif standard (protocol)

[@harthenry]

Synology does NOT replace units if they are faulty as stated at 9:50 in your video -- Synology's warranty. I purchased 2 of these 1019s at the same time with one of them almost DOA (barely worked), and it took over 6 weeks for Synology to agree to send one to me as repair (copious amount of back and forth emails). The only reason Synology sent me a new unit is because I had to escalate the issue over the Synology Techs head (which I did not like to do). Hence, because of Synology's lack of support - I cannot advise the purchase, and would probably go the computer route. Note: you can build a dedicated computer for the cost of a Synology 1019 system.

[@jamfamilytv]

no way BlueIris is way better!!!

[@colinandkerry]

Top video....cheers

[@scubieman]

I like eating pizza!

[@frankkumar2631]

Nice and objective review.For me I have also ads1019+ and i love it.Also use it for my multimedia.It streams everything so far, no problems.As home user 2 licenses for cam is enough, when i want to expand i just buy a average/cheap cam and a license.So for 100 bucks i am good to go. Thank you for your efforts.

[@slickman1953]

BlueIris hands down

[@Xpl0jd1]

I have worked with security systems for over 15 years, i work at a manufacturer wich i will not name, there is a few of the biggest and best software VMS companies out there that have the same software for free up to 8 cameras as they use with thousands of cameras with great features. but ofcorse you need the hardware with this softwares aswell.

[@AdamBluntTech]

Sounds like your describing XProtect there :) thats what I am using myself alongside a Hikvision DVR/NVR (the remote viewing on it sucks but I like the local monitor for quick access)

[@Xpl0jd1]

@@AdamBluntTech yes that's one of the vms softwares. 😊

[@Basn]

xProtect is awesome!

[@zachicusmaximus5551]

Dang what is going on with your neighbor's yard? Huge contrast between theirs and yours.

[@JasonLeaman]

Blue IRis in a Vm hands down ! Synology IMO is garbage !

[@alphabanks]

When I see Synology anything my first thoughts are over priced. However, this is still a great video.

[@sarabarabu4741]

Many words and no movie

[@XxsoonerbornxX]

Yes. In every way. Blue Iris is junk.

[@rougarou6635]

Seagate makes the best drives... Change my mind

[@TechySpeaking]

First