I have been running XProtect for a couple of years (their free Essentials version) and I find it quite good - had a mobile version, works fine with my Dahua cameras, easy to watch back over footage across multiple cameras at the same time, and can integrate with HomeKit using HomeBridge. However the one issue with it is the lack of true mobile notifications (only email notifications in the free product), so I have been trying cameras that do smart notifications themselves AND record the footage into XProtect.

First was a Reolink 4K camera from Amazon. Great price, however the 4K footage is in some weird format that only the app and Reolink NVR's can read, RTSP / ONVIF can only read stream 2 which is low res.  But the smart notifications work very well. So sent that back.

Next was the Eufy Indoor 2K camera (I also have a Eufy Wireless doorbell and love it).  Set it up for NAS (which is basically turning on RTSP), smart notifications work well (it also integrates with HomeKit which is nice), but I cannot get any picture in XProtect (the camera is found as a generic device, but just says NO VIDEO). 

So, I am thinking, is XProtect the problem here?  Should I just move to Shinobi, or BlueIris (which I have stayed away from due to its high hardware requirements).  Or do I just go with Ubiquity, expensive but seems to be the only 'plug and play' system that just works out the box?

Or change approach to just the Eufy and the existing HomeBase 2 and their cameras?

What I want:

Recording and playback of footgage (obviously)
Ideally use of existing Dahua cameras
Ideally PoE, but the Eufy can take USB power from a PoE to USB splitter, so that's OK.
Smart notifications (i.e. not email, snapshot of event, ability to playback from notification)
Accessible from anywhere (I have a VPN to home so easily done no matter the hardware)
Ideally can be VLAN-ed
Ideally HomeKit integration, notifications to trigger events, etc.

I have a couple of devices I could use, a couple of NUC's (i5 and a Celeron) and 2 Supermicro servers (8GB RAM, quad core I3, 4 x HHD + boot SSD). Plus the Eufy Homebase 2 already.