Guide to Building the Most Affordable Video Cloud Surveillance for Property

In today's world, securing your villa, mansion, or property with reliable video surveillance doesn't have to break the bank. In this guide, we'll walk you through building an affordable cloud-based video surveillance system that offers robust security without compromising on quality.

Whether you're protecting a luxurious mansion or a cozy villa, you'll learn how to set up an efficient, cost effective system using budget friendly security cameras and cloud services. Let's dive in and ensure your property stays safe on a budget.

Choosing the Right Video Surveillance Hardware

In this guide, our goal is to build the most budget-friendly system possible. To keep costs low, we'll focus solely on selecting the essential hardware - security cameras without adding unnecessary extras.

Choice of Security Cameras

For the security camera hardware, we'll select six mid-range security cameras that support RTSP/FTP protocols for seamless cloud surveillance.

Two cameras will be positioned in the garden/pool area. Two will be placed at the entrance of the house. Two will be installed on the sides of the house for full coverage.

When choosing a security camera, there are numerous options available. For our budget range of $25 - $75, we need a camera that supports 1080p resolution and records at 30 FPS.

For this guide, we'll opt for the Hikvision DS-2CD1023G0-I, a reliable model that offers both 1080p resolution and night vision capabilities, ensuring clear footage day and night.

You can buy this camera around $30 online.

So for security camera hardware we will around spend $30 * 6 = $180

Ethernet Cables and Power Cables

Once your cameras are mounted, you'll need to ensure both power and data connectivity. For installation, we assume you have a drill to create holes for wall mounting. The cameras come with screws for easy attachment to the walls. If you prefer not to mount them directly on the walls, you can opt for poles or towers to place the cameras in your garden or around the property.

In addition to mounting, you'll need to extend the power cables and ensure the Ethernet cables are long enough to connect each camera to the switch, ensuring seamless operation.

For Ethernet cables, we recommend getting six 50ft long cables to ensure you have enough reach for each camera. These can be purchased from Amazon or local retailers for approximately $20 each.

Total cost for Ethernet cables: $20 * 6 = $120

To power the cameras, you'll need to extend the power cables. Simply connect one end of the cable to the camera and the other to a nearby power outlet. These power extension cables are typically priced around $10 each.

Total cost for power cables: $10 * 6 = $60

Switch

We need a network switch to connect all the Ethernet cables from our cameras. The switch will then be connected to the router using another Ethernet cable, which doesn’t need to be long - a standard $10 cable will suffice. You can get a 6 port switch for 25$ online.

Once the cameras are connected to the switch and the switch is linked to the router, each camera will be assigned a local IP address by the router. You can find assigned camera ip addresses by installing hikvision camera finder software to your local computer. We’ll use these IP addresses to access the cameras firmware panels, where we can configure FTP frame uploads for cloud recording and enable live view.

Total hardware cost = 6 Security Cameras(180$) + 6 Long Ethernet Cables (120$) +1 Short Ethernet Cable(10$) + 6 Long Power Cables(60$) + 6 Port Network Switch(25$) = 395$

Cloud Surveillance Service: IP Camera Master

To live stream security camera feeds and store footage in the cloud without relying on DVR or NVR hardware, we need a software based solution like IP Camera Master.

Since our goal is to build the simplest and most affordable cloud surveillance system, we will configure our IP cameras to upload a frame to the cloud only when motion is detected using FTP instead of continuously streaming video with RTSP. This method saves both bandwidth and storage costs. In short, login to your cameras firmware panel by typing ip address to your computer browser. Then locate the recording settings and enable motion detection. At this point you should also configure FTP so that your camera sends frames to ip camera master. To learn how to configure your cameras with FTP using IP Camera Master checkout this guide.

For this setup, we will need an IP Camera Master subscription that supports 6 IP cameras and provides at least 250GB of monthly cloud storage.

Estimated Data Usage

We assume the following:

Each camera captures a 1080p frame every 3 seconds when motion is detected.

Motion detection is active 20% of the time (approximately 4.8 hours per day).

Each 1080p frame is around 150 KB in size.

Daily Storage Consumption

Frames per camera per day: (4.8 hours x 60 x 60) / 3=5,760 frames Total storage per camera per day: 5,760 x 150 KB=864 MB( around 0.86GB) Total for 6 cameras per day: 0.86 x 6=5.18 GB

Monthly Storage Consumption

5.18 x 30=155.4 GB per month

Since 155 GB per month is required, a 250 GB plan will be sufficient, allowing for extra storage in case of increased motion activity.

You can subscribe to the 6 camera plan with 250GB of cloud storage for $115 per month.

Conclusion: Affordable and Effective Video Surveillance

Setting up a reliable cloud-based surveillance system for your property doesn't have to be expensive. By carefully selecting budget friendly security cameras, essential networking hardware, and cloud storage services, we’ve created a system that provides 24/7 monitoring, motion-based cloud recording, and remote access all without the need for complex DVR or NVR setups.

After the initial setup, your only recurring cost will be the cloud storage subscription ($115/month).

This setup offers an efficient, cost-effective surveillance system that ensures your home, villa, or property remains secure at all times - without investing in bulky, expensive recording hardware.

If you’re looking for an easy, modern, and budget-friendly security solution, this guide provides everything you need to get started. Stay safe and secure!