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My mother is looking for a surveillance system for her office, and also wants to buy a server for file sharing/storage (shared folders/drives primarily). I am wondering if there is any surveillance system that includes a web server capable of handling the cameras and the file sharing.

This is for a small office only 2-4 computers sharing files. And the number of video cameras would be 8, and they need to be able to stream via the internet. The video cameras need to have good resolution. Most likely 4 video cameras outdoors, and 4 indoors.

If no such system exists, I am curious to know if having 8 cameras would require a very expensive server to keep them up with the file sharing at the same time.

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  • You'll need to look at individual cameras instead of "camera systems" to find something that will fit here. This would mean you're looking for two different things now: security cameras and a server.
    – Adam
    Commented Oct 6, 2015 at 22:10

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I've helped to install an Amcrest system in the past. I can't remember if it was the 8-Channel or 16-Channel one, as both come with 8 cameras.

We installed 3 cameras outside1 and 5 inside. The outside ones have withstood two mid-western United States winters.

Installation of the cameras took time, but there wasn't much that was difficult about it. You need to keep track of what camera (and associated wires) you have plugged in. It'll make your life easier during set up.

The system I installed had 4 TB of space. The specs say this is good for 6 days of continuous monitoring. However, we set up this system to record based on motion and scheduled times when the system doesn't need to be recording, so there is more than 6 days of footage. Plus...do you really want to stare at 8 hours of night vision where nothing moves when you are looking for something that occurred?

The system has an Android app. It works well on both a phone and a tablet. You can use either to view live footage or archived footage. (Caution...watching video over the cell network will eat through a data plan quickly)

1If you go with this system, figure out where you are going to put the DVR and the cameras prior to purchasing the system. Then, measure how much cable you are going to need. What came with the system wasn't long enough for a few of the cameras we installed initially.

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