Nx Witness Server Hardware Specs

What are the recommended hardware specifications for Nx Server? 

The Nx Witness Server application can be installed on most modern computers with a 64-bit architecture. That being said, Nx Witness, and all software in general, is only as stable as the hardware it is installed upon.

Although Nx Server is an extremely lightweight application that uses a minimum amount of hardware resources, we do recommend using the following hardware specifications for most situations. 

Prerequisites

In order to use the Nx Server application, the system needs to have at least the following prerequisites: 

• A supported 64-bit Operating System
• An Intel or AMD CPU 

Hardware Recommendations

We recommend using the following specifications and prerequisites mentioned to have good performance for the Nx Server application:

For Servers with less than 50 connected devices
(HD IP Cameras/IO/Encoders/HD Streams): 

For Servers with more than 50 connected devices and max of 128 devices
(HD IP Cameras/IO/Encoders/HD Streams): 

When considering using an ARM-based device, the hardware should comply with the requirements described in this article.

* = you can use the Nx System calculator to estimate the number of servers and storage required for your system. 

Why no minimum hardware requirements? 

Although Nx Server is a very lightweight application that can run on an ARM-based device like the Raspberry Pi, there are too many variables and use cases to determine viable minimum requirements. 

For example, a System with one camera, no saved layouts, few rules, and a single user on lightweight hardware will work just fine. A System with 100 cameras per server, dozens or hundreds of layouts, numerous rules, and hundreds of concurrently connected users would require much more substantial hardware based on our recommendations below. 

For large system deployments, we suggest users refer to the Large Systems Deployments support article or consult your reseller to support you with the design of your system. 

What about ARM-based devices? 

ARM is gaining popularity - Microsoft uses ARM in some of their Surface devices and Apple has recently released Macbooks utilizing their new ARM-based M1 chip.

Network Optix also has an ARM-based Nx Server application for Linux powered devices like the Nvidia Jetson Nano, Raspberry Pi, and other single board computers. However, users considering ARM-based devices should be aware that using such devices for production systems requires specific knowledge and experience.

Check out the Building Arm-based NVRs support article to learn more about building an ARM-based device capable of supporting the Nx Server application. 

In general, if you are looking for low-powered affordable devices, the use of a bare-bone device with 64-bit architecture is recommended as it is easier to set up, more flexible, and more reliable to use in a production environment.   

For guidance on how to install Nx Witness on an ARM-based Single Board Computer, suitable for prototyping and experimental use, please refer to this support article. To create your own ARM-based Linux NVR, please refer to this support article. More on our ARM Support Policy can be read here. 

Questions

If you have any questions related to this topic, or you want to share your experience with other community members or our team, please visit and engage in the Nx Support Community Forum or reach out to your local Nx Reseller Partner.