Local video / NVR — role and deferral boundaries (farm stack)¶

Purpose¶

Explicit stance on IP camera + NVR software (e.g. Frigate) in the two-site smart farm architecture: what it is good for, what it must not replace, and why full deployment is deferred until Phase 1 field and power baselines exist.

Source grounding: Frigate intro + configuration captures in Inbox batch — Frigate, SOPS, Prometheus, TN811, NRCS/UT (2026-04-18); upstream docs.frigate.video.

See also (woodland specialty): American ginseng — woodlot maintenance, pathology, and remote security — trail-camera Phase 0 before IP video on ginseng plots.

What video is good for (when justified)¶

Use	Notes
Perimeter / gate awareness	Reduces nuisance trips for ambiguous events—not a substitute for physical locks and livestock checks.
Workshop / equipment yards	Theft and misuse deterrence supporting evidence—policy and insurance still primary.
Calving / handling areas (where installed)	Observation aid—does not replace hands-on welfare protocols.

Frigate’s design (motion → detect, MQTT, Home Assistant integration) fits homelab integration patterns described in the capture—if LAN and storage budget exist.

What video must not be used for (operationally)¶

Anti-pattern	Why
Sole proof of animal welfare	Cameras miss blind spots, night conditions, and non-visual distress.
Replacement for water / weather telemetry	Sensors and manual rounds remain authoritative for drought and freeze risk (`Farm sensor architecture — Demory farm site`).
WAN-dependent “peace of mind”	Violates local survivability doctrine when Starlink / LTE fade—align with `Automation stop rules — two-site smart farm` CS-*.

Power, storage, and network implications¶

Continuous encode + retention consume disk and CPU/GPU budget—compete with k3s, DB, and backup windows (Platform decision memo).
Remote viewing increases egress and attack surface—route through Network segmentation, site-to-site connectivity, and internet exposure and Remote access and operational security model — two-site smart farm.

Deferral decision (canonical)¶

Phase 0–1 default: Defer Frigate (or any NVR) production scope until:

Secrets and certificates — edge cluster standard and Monitoring and logging expectations — edge cluster standard are met for the edge cluster (or consciously scoped-down non-k8s stack with equivalent controls).
Demory power and network degraded modes are documented per Off-grid systems doctrine package — Demory—video must not expand fragility before water / fence MVP.

Pilot exception: Single camera + short retention on SITE_HOME only for learning MQTT / storage load—not farm production dependence.

Observability, secrets, and trust bar — homelab / farm edge
Reference architecture — 5-acre home base + 120-acre farm (video called out in layered view notes)