Blue Iris

Has anyone tried or know if we can link BI to a camera that is not on the BI network and use BI as a "cloud". Most cameras today can run without a DVR and they allow a micro SD card to be inserted into the camera that can be used to record video. The new cameras can also record to a cloud. One of the issues I have is that I have cameras installed on multiple buildings that have their own network/internet connection. I could use the app that comes with the cameras and an SD card to view them all on my phone. However; I like the BI DVR interface and would prefer to be able to use BI as a cloud DVR. Just FYI I am currently running 40 cameras on my BI server.

BI relies upon connectivity to the cam so that it can pull the stream direct so the only way I can think of right now is to setup routing so that BI can talk to the remote cams direct.

Most cloud based solutions and cams that write to the cloud are proprietary and won’t typically allow anything else to access the streams in the way that you want.

From my experience, BI usually works best when all the cameras are on the same network, but there are a couple of ways you could make it work. One option is to set up port forwarding or a VPN, which can connect your remote cameras to your BI server, but that can get a bit tricky.

If your cameras support RTSP streams, that could be a game changer. Many modern cameras do, and you might be able to add them to BI even if they’re on different networks.

Also, if you’re considering cloud storage for your footage, check out some google cloud discounts that could help with costs if you decide to go that route.

Depending on a ton of possible variables,( skillset being the main one), OBS could possibly be used on (for?) the camera end to push a RTSP stream to a remote Blue Iris server for decoding and processing like any other IP camera.

Not exactly a current issue, but occurred to me as a possible solution for anyone who may be interested in giving it a spin. Reading a little about it seems to indicate viability by simply creating a 'virtual camera' of the remote device, creating an associated RTSP link via OBS, plugging it into Blue Iris as normal and go.