Many a DIY enthusiast has discovered the joy of rack mount servers. Rack mount NVRs are great for all the same reasons:
- rack mounting your NVR saves valuable space,
- you will appreciate the unrivaled ease of adding and removing Ethernet PoE cables,
- rack mount inside a lockable cabinet for extra security,
- rack mounting provides improved ventilation, which should prolong the life of your NVR considerably.
Rack Mounting sizes and heights
The rack that you will mount your NVR on comes in standard 19″ or 23″ sizes. Manufacturers typically denote the height of their NVRs in Rack Units. A 1U NVR is 1 3⁄4 inches or 44.45 mm high. A 2U NVR will be twice as high. A typical full size rack is 42U, or just over 6 feet tall.
The 5 Best Rack Mount NVRs for your DIY Home Security Camera System
Qnap VS-8132U-RP Pro+ Viostar 32-channel Rack Mount NVR
The QNAP VS-8132U-RP Pro+ Viostar is a feature packed enterprise-grade 32-channel NVR that can record up to 10 MP. That’s more than 4K resolution! The high-end 2U RAID chassis houses a dual-core Intel Core i3 processor and 4GB of RAM. Out of the box, it supports up to 32 IP cameras with max throughput of 400 Mbps. You can purchase additional licenses to take this up to 48 channels. No PC required but if you must, you can use the free QSCM Lite app to pool QNAP NAS and NVRs into a single software interface.
Full specs:
– Dual Core Intel® Core™ i3 3.3GHz Processor
– 4GB DDR3 RAM
– 8 x 3.5” SATA 6Gb/s, SATA 3Gb/s hard drive
– 8 x hot-swappable and lockable tray
– 4 x Gigabit RJ-45 Ethernet port
– 10 GbE(reserved), Status, LAN, eSATA(reserved), hard drives
– 2 x USB 3.0 port (rear), 4 x USB 2.0 port (rear)
– Support USB pen drive, USB hub, and USB UPS etc.
– Mono-LCD display with backlight
– 32 IP camera channel licenses included, 48 channels max supported
– 2U, Rackmount NVR
– Dimensions: 88(H) x 439(W) x 520(D) mm, 3.46(H) x 17.28(W) x 20.47(D) inch
– Gross weight: 23.42 kg (51.63 lb)
– Temperature 0~40˚C/ 32~104˚F, Humidity 5~95% RH non-condensing, wet bulb: 27˚C.
– Power consumption: 130W Write/Read (with 8 x 1TB HDD installed)
– HDMI, VGA ports
– 3 x 6 cm smart cooling fan
Synology Rackstation RS816 16-channel Rack Mount NVR
The Synology RackStation RS816 is a 4-bay rackmount NAS NVR that can record up to 16 channels. The maximum resolution supported is 5MP or 2591×1944, and 54 fps. The NAS NVR comes in a 1U rack mount chassis and can be deployed in a 2-post or wall-mount rack. The Marvell Armada 385 chipset that powers the NVR is dual-core and has 1 GB of DDR3 RAM. Note that this NAS comes with only 2x free IP channel licences.
Full specs:
– Dual Core Marvell Armada 385 88F6820 CPU
– 1GB DDR3 RAM
– 3.5″ SATA HDD, 2.5″ SATA HDD / SSD supported
– 4 x hot-swappable tray
– 2 x Gigabit RJ-45 Ethernet port with Link Aggregation & Failover support
– 1U, Rackmount
– Dimensions: 44 mm x 478 mm x 327.5 mm
– System fans: 40 mm x 40 mm x 3 pcs
– Power consumption: 27.9 W (Access), 12.4 W (HDD Hibernation)
Alibi 5200 Series 32-Channel Rack Mount NVR
The Alibi 5200 series rack mount NVR is a dedicated NVR supporting 32 IP cameras of up to 12 Megapixel resolution. It has 4 hard drive bays that can take a max 8TB drive each. Max incoming bandwidth is 256 Mbps. If you are looking for 4K HDMI display, this is the right NVR for you. H.265, H.264 and H.264 encoding is supported to reduce disk space required for CCTV footage. An interestign feature of this NVR is the integrated 16 PoE ports that are 802.3af and 802.3at compliant. Management is accomplished through the free Alibi CMS software.
Full specs:
– Incoming bandwidth of 256 Mbps supports up to 32 IP cameras
– Up to 12.0 megapixel recording resolution
– Delivers crisp 4K Ultra-High Definition images over HDMI
– Synchronous playback of 16 Channel @ 1080p, 4 Channel @ 4K
– 4 hard drive bays support up to 4 x 8TB hard drives
– 1 x Gigabit RJ-45 self-adaptive Ethernet interface, 16 independent 10 /100 Mbps PoE Ethernet interfaces (200 W max output)
– 1 x RS-485, 1 x RS232 ports
– Local video outputs include HDMI and VGA
– H.265, H.264 and H.264 codec video compression reduces file size, maximizes recording time, and saves hard drive space
– Integrated 16 port PoE switch supports 802.3af and 802.3at 3at reduces the need for additional network – switches and offers plugand-play auto connect feature for compatible Alibi cameras
– 16 alarm inputs and 4 alarm outputs to connect to external devices such as a siren or fire alarm
– Recording modes: Continuous, Motion Detection, POS, Schedule, and Event
– Recording features include event search, event log, and email notification
– Central Management Software helps centrally manage your devices and views up to 64 live cameras
– Free iOS and Android mobile app for remote viewing of live and recorded video
– Dimensions: 15.3 ” x 17.5″ x 2.8″ / 388.6 x 444.5 x 71.1mm
Synology RackStation RS3618xs Rack Mount NVR
The Synology RackStation RS3618xs is a 12-bay rackmount NAS NVR that can record up to 75 channels. The maximum resolution supported is 8MP (3840×2160), at 900 fps using H.265 encoding. The NAS NVR comes in a 2U rack mount chassis. The 64-bit Intel Xeon D-1521 chip that powers the NAS NVR is quasd-core and is supported by the 8 GB of DDR4 ECC UDIMM RAM. Note that this NAS comes with only 2x free IP channel licences.
Full specs:
– Quad-core Intel Xeon D-1521 CPU
– 8 GB DDR4 ECC UDIMM
– 3.5″ SATA HDD, 2.5″ SATA HDD / SSD supported
– 12 x hot-swappable tray
– 4 x Gigabit RJ-45 Ethernet port with Link Aggregation & Failover support
– Optional 10GbE NIC support
– 2U, Rackmount
– Dimensions: 88 mm x 482 mm x 724 mm
– System fans: 80 mm x 80 mm x 4 pcs
– Power consumption: 142.76 W (Access), 55.05 W (HDD Hibernation)
Owltech 32-channel 6MP Rack Mount NVR
The Owltech HD5328HC-L is an 8-bay rack mount NVR that can record up to 32 channels at max 6MP. The NVR supports ONVIF so that you can use any ONVIF-compatible IP camera.
Full specs:
– 32 channels at max incoming bandwidth of 200Mbps
– Decoding: 16ch.D1@30fps / 13ch.720P@30fps / 6ch.1080P@30fps
– ONVIF 2.3 supported
– 1x HDMI 1.3a, supports 1920×1080 output, 1 VGA
– 8x SATA bays ,each bay supports 4TB
– 1x e-SATA port
– Hard disk hibernation technology, HDD faulty alarm & RAID alarm
– Power Consumption : 20W (without HDD)
– 2 x Gigabit RJ-45 Ethernet ports
– 2U, Rackmount
– Dimension(W*D*H) : 2U, 17.32″ x 17.71″ x 3.54″
– Weight : 14.43 lbs (without HDD)
