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thender
Screen tycoon
Premium Member
join:2009-01-01
Brooklyn, NY

thender

Premium Member

Secure method of storing a DVR computer.

I have a business with no private storage area. It's a railroad setup, my office is accessible to everyone as there's a bathroom inside that employees need to access. I have a computer based DVR. The obvious problem is, if someone wanted to steal or shoot the place up, they could simply steal a hard drive out of the computer on their way out. If they're too stupid to do that, they can follow camera wire to the computer, then steal the computer. Either way, the video evidence would be gone.

Recording to an offsite DVR would be lovely, but that puts me at the mercy of the internet... I trust timewarner less than the good will of my fellow man!

So, I figured the best way to do this would be

a) A UPS that powers the DVR computer incase it is unplugged, so it can at least send me an SMS if some idiot is unplugging cameras or cutting wire that alerts me to it.

b) A case that holds both the computer, and the UPS.

c) Bolt this case to floor. It would only be accessible by a key that I have.

I was curious if there were any computer cases created for this purpose.

dib22
join:2002-01-27
Kansas City, MO

dib22

Member

could get you a smaller job site toolbox. might need to add ventilation.

John Galt6
Forward, March
Premium Member
join:2004-09-30
Happy Camp

John Galt6

Premium Member

said by dib22:

could get you a smaller job site toolbox. might need to add ventilation.

Roger this. Only way to get anything out of that is with a torch.

Don't lose your keys.

Hayward0
K A R - 1 2 0 C
Premium Member
join:2000-07-13
Key West, FL

Hayward0 to thender

Premium Member

to thender
At first I though you were just overly paranoid... but that is an interesting security concern.

Just a secondary WiFi site in another room wouldn't work?

thender
Screen tycoon
Premium Member
join:2009-01-01
Brooklyn, NY

1 edit

thender

Premium Member

Everyone here thinks I am paranoid. Think about it. You'd have to be a pretty stupid thief to shoot the receptionist and not walk out with the DVR after seeing 9 cameras pointed at you. It is very obvious you are being watched. What kind of person is not scared enough to rob and shoot you, but too scared to steal a DVR?

My first order of business after a triple homicide or a theft at a business would be to close the blinds, lock the door, follow the camera wires to the DVR and take it with me. Why would I want to be on tape after killing three people or stealing a register filled with cash?

Every room is accessible, so I do not see how wi-fi would help.

It sounds paranoid, but when someone DOES quit with no notice - and three items worth $1000 go missing, you may find yourself a little more cautious than you were before.

kontos
xyzzy
join:2001-10-04
West Henrietta, NY

kontos

Member

said by thender:

Everyone here thinks I am paranoid. Think about it. You'd have to be a pretty stupid thief to shoot the receptionist and not walk out with the DVR after seeing 9 cameras pointed everywhere.

Every room is accessible, so I do not see how wi-fi would help.

I think a thief that is worried about video cameras is more likely to wear a mask than to try and steal the recording media. If that thief is going to shoot people that try to interfere with him, I don't think he will worry too much about how the mask will make his intent obvious.

thender
Screen tycoon
Premium Member
join:2009-01-01
Brooklyn, NY

1 edit

thender

Premium Member

This doesn't take into account employee theft as well. The best way for an employee to get off scott free is to steal the DVR. You may know it had to be 1 of them, but the police do absolutely nothing without proof, and the proof will be on the DVR they walked out with.

Xioden
Premium Member
join:2008-06-10
Monticello, NY

Xioden to thender

Premium Member

to thender
Depending on how much data you're storing at a time just running a couple of external hard drives back through the wall could work, then just have them mounted securely above the ceiling (assuming some sort of drop ceiling with tiles) that you can get to pretty easily if the situation arises.

If everyone else is unaware of them existing chances are they'll grab the tower and run thinking they got everything.
askinder
join:2010-07-08
Kansas City, MO

askinder to thender

Member

to thender
They do make DVR lock boxes

»www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh ··· =details

thender
Screen tycoon
Premium Member
join:2009-01-01
Brooklyn, NY

thender to Xioden

Premium Member

to Xioden
said by Xioden:

Depending on how much data you're storing at a time just running a couple of external hard drives back through the wall could work, then just have them mounted securely above the ceiling (assuming some sort of drop ceiling with tiles) that you can get to pretty easily if the situation arises.

If everyone else is unaware of them existing chances are they'll grab the tower and run thinking they got everything.

I don't have a drop ceiling that is easy to remove tiles from. If the tiles could be removed easily, than so can the drives..I feel like following a firewire cable isn't tough. My biggest issue would be theft from within, and ina computer repair shop, I think someone could deduce the firewire drive hiding in the wall from the DVR is the recording drive.

Xioden
Premium Member
join:2008-06-10
Monticello, NY

Xioden

Premium Member

Wireless external drives could still be an option. I have never used them so I can't comment if it would actually work well or not. In theory you would just need a power outlet somewhere you could stash it.

A Dual-WAN router/modem could work, get local DSL service so you aren't solely in the hands of Time Warner.

Or possibly just a cellular based security camera to watch the backroom/DVR unit.

thender
Screen tycoon
Premium Member
join:2009-01-01
Brooklyn, NY

thender

Premium Member

At the risk of sounding rude, I was curious if there was simply a computer case that was made to be bolted to a floor/wall instead of wifi systems/networking stuff/hidden wall slots for hard drives. All of that would be far more complicated and far less secure than simply bolting a locked case to the floor.

John Galt6
Forward, March
Premium Member
join:2004-09-30
Happy Camp

John Galt6 to thender

Premium Member

to thender
How much room do you have for this case?

Allocate space...

kontos
xyzzy
join:2001-10-04
West Henrietta, NY

kontos to thender

Member

to thender
how do you secure the power cord to the locked case? to the building?

vaxvms
ferroequine fan
Premium Member
join:2005-03-01
Polar Park

vaxvms to thender

Premium Member

to thender
said by thender:

My first order of business after a triple homicide or a theft at a business would be to close the blinds, lock the door, follow the camera wires to the DVR and take it with me.

Unless the business was in an isolated location mine would be to get the hell away before law enforcement folks arrived. Making time to trace wires would give them more time to arrive before I casually walked out the door with a DVR. What's the purpose of locking the door if you're going to walk out it in a minute?

John Galt6
Forward, March
Premium Member
join:2004-09-30
Happy Camp

John Galt6 to kontos

Premium Member

to kontos
said by kontos:

how do you secure the power cord to the locked case? to the building?

Mount the lock box over a recp...no access.

kontos
xyzzy
join:2001-10-04
West Henrietta, NY

kontos

Member

said by John Galt6:

said by kontos:

how do you secure the power cord to the locked case? to the building?

Mount the lock box over a recp...no access.

What happens when they short the next plug on the circuit?

Xioden
Premium Member
join:2008-06-10
Monticello, NY

Xioden to thender

Premium Member

to thender
Tower tie down brackets.

John Galt6
Forward, March
Premium Member
join:2004-09-30
Happy Camp

John Galt6 to kontos

Premium Member

to kontos
said by kontos:

What happens when they short the next plug on the circuit?

Dedicated circuit...

JRW2
R.I.P. Mom, Brian, Gary, Ziggy, Max.
Premium Member
join:2004-12-20
La La Land

JRW2 to dib22

Premium Member

to dib22
said by dib22:

could get you a smaller job site toolbox. might need to add ventilation.

That was my thinking, and it can be bolted to the floor...

tp0d
yabbazooie
Premium Member
join:2001-02-13
Bulger, PA

1 recommendation

tp0d

Premium Member

I`m going with the consensus of a job box with a hole in the bottom for plug access, and a cooling fan, bolted to the floor.

Make the dang thing into a table if you dont have room

Its the cover-all, nuke it from orbit option..

You dont want someone stealing or shooting the dvr, right? Nothing else will _completely_ secure the dvr, other than this.

do it once, do it right.

small one for 199...

»www.homedepot.com/p/RIDG ··· 00189569

hmmm you made me think.. i need a new (bigger) gun safe, was tryin to find one cheap.. this is the ticket.. thanks for the idea.

-j

kontos
xyzzy
join:2001-10-04
West Henrietta, NY

kontos to John Galt6

Member

to John Galt6
This is sure getting expensive, kinda like they got robbed without anybody taking anything. Wouldn't insurance be cheaper pretty soon?

fruhead
join:2002-01-29
Mosquito,NJ

fruhead to thender

Member

to thender
said by thender:

At the risk of sounding rude, I was curious if there was simply a computer case that was made to be bolted to a floor/wall instead of wifi systems/networking stuff/hidden wall slots for hard drives. All of that would be far more complicated and far less secure than simply bolting a locked case to the floor.

Tether your cat to it. After all, he doesn't want to get left in that tree again, right?

John Galt6
Forward, March
Premium Member
join:2004-09-30
Happy Camp

John Galt6 to kontos

Premium Member

to kontos
said by kontos:

This is sure getting expensive, kinda like they got robbed without anybody taking anything. Wouldn't insurance be cheaper pretty soon?

That's for the OP to decide...

mackey
Premium Member
join:2007-08-20

mackey to kontos

Premium Member

to kontos
said by kontos:

said by John Galt6:

said by kontos:

how do you secure the power cord to the locked case? to the building?

Mount the lock box over a recp...no access.

What happens when they short the next plug on the circuit?

Doesn't matter. The video of them stealing whatever and starting to short out or unplug things has already been committed to the hard drive. Throw a UPS in the lockbox with the computer if you really want to.

/M
coma9
join:2013-02-05
United State

coma9 to John Galt6

Member

to John Galt6
said by John Galt6:

said by kontos:

What happens when they short the next plug on the circuit?

Dedicated circuit...

Or, just use a UPS!

John Galt6
Forward, March
Premium Member
join:2004-09-30
Happy Camp

John Galt6

Premium Member

said by coma9:

Or, just use a UPS!

That too!

Belt AND suspenders, plus glued, screwed and tattoo'd.