Security PC Questions.

[J-Roc]

Hello Everyone!

Some of you might remember a while back that somone was trying to setup a security pc to monitor his house while he was away. Just before that and upuntill now, i have been collecting components to build my own security pc. I thought it might be unnessecary for my to outfit my apartment with surveilliance equipment untill this weekend. My neighbour has his POS ugly dirt bag mini van stolen 30ft away from where my SkyNet resides. Since i moved in, i've had somone climb the building next door, jump across to my balcony and steal a bike and a couple of "Medicinal" plants i had cultivating in the summer sun. With the recent opening of an "all ages" music parlor a few doors down, there is no less than 30 young punks who loiter in the ally infront of my apartment on friday nights. I've had enough! My neighbours have had enough! I'm going to set thies cammeras up and hopfully catch some crooks!


I have a couple of questions regarding stabillity for allways on computers.

1. Can windows xp be setup to run for months on end?

2. Should i use a diffrent flavour of windows? Is there one specificly tailored for this?

3. I was wanting to stash the box in the maintanence room(which i dont have a key for) and would then need a reliable way to access the system remotely. Turn on/off, Restart, view the desktop, control every aspect of the computer, ect.

4. I want to be able to offer the abillity for the restaraunt and hairdresser downstairs to have access to monitoring. What is all needed for a private (wireless?) network with no access to third parties through the net? Think CCTV.

I have a Celeron 600mhz cpu and accomodaiting mobo. 512mb ram. 200Gb HD. I hope to use this but if its an XP box, i might need somthing better. I might have to trade Citrus for my brothers 478 2.4Ghz (might not be the exact specs). I'd have to chalk it up to charity. He needs a semi-current computer that can handel his DJ software.

More questions as i think of them...

Thanks

[Luke122]

1. Can windows xp be setup to run for months on end?

2. Should i use a diffrent flavour of windows? Is there one specificly tailored for this?

3. I was wanting to stash the box in the maintanence room(which i dont have a key for) and would then need a reliable way to access the system remotely. Turn on/off, Restart, view the desktop, control every aspect of the computer, ect.

4. I want to be able to offer the abillity for the restaraunt and hairdresser downstairs to have access to monitoring. What is all needed for a private (wireless?) network with no access to third parties through the net? Think CCTV.

I have a Celeron 600mhz cpu and accomodaiting mobo. 512mb ram. 200Gb HD. I hope to use this but if its an XP box, i might need somthing better. I might have to trade Citrus for my brothers 478 2.4Ghz (might not be the exact specs). I'd have to chalk it up to charity. He needs a semi-current computer that can handel his DJ software.



1. Yes.. disable autoupdates, set the bios to automatically restart on power loss, etc. A UPS would probably be a good idea too.

2. 2000 professional would be more reliable for this I think, plus require less for system resources. I've worked on a few systems doing similar duties, and most were win2k pro.

3. Turn on/off remotely = WOL (wake on lan).That, plus remote desktop/remoteadmin, would make it do pretty much what you need.

4. Depending on the hardware/software you use, you could probably set them up with the ability to view video through a web browser. To make it a private connection with no internet though, would be a bit more involved. You'd need to setup a private wifi network with WPA or WPA2 security (if you cant run a physical wire), and they'd need to be able to connect to it from a computer at their location too, so that means they'll need wifi hardware also, and decent signal strength.

I'd set the SSID to not broadcast.. less attention that way.

I'll you right now that a Celeron 600mhz will successfully record one camera, at around 320x240@30fps. Go for at least a p4 1.6 to record 4 cams @ decent res (640x480@30fps).

Ideally, you should also go for motion sensing recording if you can.. then it'll only record when there is actually movement going on.

You should be able to archive 1 month of video on 200gb, for 4 cams at a usable (ie: you can identify someone by their face) resolution with a decent framerate.. with motion sensing turned on, you could likely get more like 6 months.

[Eclecticos]

I found a device that may fit your needs.
Its called a "Zonbu Zonbox".
Basically a book with a pulse.

http://img337.imageshack.us/img337/5881/zonbuzonboxsa0.jpg

http://img523.imageshack.us/img523/6662/zonbuboxku3.jpg

Its uses a linux-based desktop environment with a complementary suite of cloud-based services including: remote access from any browser, data synchronization and automatic backups, online storage, the ability to edit and share documents and files on the fly.

http://img337.imageshack.us/img337/8978/135083zonbury4.jpg

You could probably build something like this for cheap.
Get a Mini-itx, Mini-PSU, and make a small enclosure out of aluminum,
and load one of those "Go to my pc" programs on there.

[Eclecticos]

Here is a Mini-Itx System I think would be ideal.
I would follow Luke122 advice in setting it up.

http://img528.imageshack.us/img528/3405/miniitxsystemmu7.jpg
Here (http://www.mini-box.com/site/index.html) and Here (http://www.ewayco.com/) are a few places that sell mini-itx systems pre-built.

[Eclecticos]

I think i've found something better. $100.00usd
Wireless IP Camera. Link. (http://www.ewayco.com/35-low-cost-IP-Wireless-Web-Cameras/low-cost-ip-wireless-web-camera-c22.html)

http://img523.imageshack.us/img523/9418/wirelessipcamvf4.gif

[nevermind1534]

You can use an Intel mini ITX motherboard like the one i'm using in my NES PC. It's faster than a P4 1.6

[Aud1073cH]

for software, it may be a bit of work to do with Windows.

I would use Linux, - Ubuntu or Suse should be easy installs. Debian will have fewer and more stable updates, so once you get it up, there will be less maintainance.

For the remote controll of the system, you could go with TightVNC (http://www.tightvnc.com/) (windows, linux or unix) or other remote VNC software.

For security cameras, motion activation, remote monitoring, email alerts, etc. you can run ZoneMinder (http://www.zoneminder.com/). I believe it has support for many IP cameras, video capture cards (for regular cameras), and USB cameras too.

You can just set these to automatically start on power up, and set the mobo to power up after a power failure, and you should be set.