Video surveillance

[Zanga]

I need to set up a cheap surveillance system. There should be a number of about 4 cameras. Initially i looked at some CCTV systems, but video quality at a low price is pretty crappy, also you need a good PC to be able to do some mpeg encoding, or a stand alone dvr solution or a high end and expensive capture card.

I'm thinking of altering the system a bit. Use instead of CCTV cameras a few good resolution and cheap web cams. I also want to run motion detection and have a decent compression, as the system should be able to record "actions" for about 1-2 months being in a completely remote area.

Searching the net i found a lot of software but it isn't free or is not that great as it should be (active webcam, webcam xp are decent but not free). Beside this does anybody have an idea about the system specs ? I'm thinking of trowing in a pentium 530 (3 Ghz, 1MB, 800 FSB) 1GB Ram, and a BIG HDD. Also in that remote location power failures (including spikes) are normal and can last several hours. I'm thinking of "moding" a UPS to use instead of the internal 5-7 Ah battery a 65 Ah one and a couple of surge suppressors.

I'm also considering alternatives to windows OS, i need it to be reliable, can't afford to run a blue screen for 2 months

So any suggestions about software, hardware and reliability are welcomed.