What is POE ?

Power over Ethernet. Makes it so you only run one cable to your camera which does the data plus the DC power.

In the old days, you'd run a data cable and then another power cable which was a pain. I love PoE and have 6 devices on POE full time.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_over_Ethernet

Didn't see it posted but I read Hikvision has been put on a bad list by some US Govt agency. Having said that, I have 6 of their cameras and they have worked flawlessly for the few years they have been running.

Sounds like you are off to a good start. I have used Blue Iris for several years with my cameras and have been quite happy.

As far as cameras, stay away from wireless cameras and Chinese firmware.

US supplied cameras and firmware are a must. Duhua and Hikvision as well as their clones are what I would consider. I have been using Hikvision clone (LTS) cameras for several years and have had zero issues.

I work with only AXIS for my job and they are more expensive than most but are top of the line.

POE, and more recently wireless, has changed the whole CCTV game forever.

Current setup with my alarm panel. Ignore the dangling Ethernet, that's the temporary tie in to the home network. The green one hanging is for initial bench testing.

I use axis exclusively... not the cheapest but totally reliable.

I finally got my security camera system on a UPS, APC brand. (Blue Iris setup)

I'm ready for the winter power outages, but realistically I only get about 45 minutes with the UPS. My computer takes a lot of power.

But if nothing else, the computer will cleanly hibernate for extended power outages, and it should start back up again cleanly when power is restored. Even if the outage goes way past the 45 minute capability of the UPS.

For those without a UPS, it's a pretty simple and inexpensive addition.