How do I figure out what size hard drive I need to hold a weeks worth of recordings?

[rufunky]

How do I figure out what size hard drive I need to hold a weeks worth of recordings for my 4 IP cameras? I have put this off for some time and once again I needed to go back to review an incident and I couldn't.

Also, I am running my cameras at 1080 what should my recordings bit-rate and other settings be to get HQ video without over processing and using more HDD space than necessary. Any tips are greatly appreciated.

 

[spixel]

Re: How do I figure out what size hard drive I need to hold a weeks worth of recordin

I'd recommend 1080p, 4k variable bit rate, 12-15fps. Motion recordings during day and continuous at night. Motion always goes crazy at night due to bugs/rain etc.

 

[Kawboy12R]

Re: How do I figure out what size hard drive I need to hold a weeks worth of recordin

At 1080p, 4k constant bit rate, 10fps, and best video quality, the Hik storage calculator says 357 gigs for 7 days of storage at 24/7 recording of one cam. Using VBR will drop this by at least a bit but will depend on the scene, amount of motion, etc. Sooo, 4 cams is 1.428 TB if you're at 10fps. I'd go motion recordings day and night if you're trying to save space. Recording on motion makes storage calculations useless though without know what percentage of time you'll be recording. That'll be a crapshoot for outdoor cameras because of wind, precip, bugs, etc. Turning off built-in IR and using enough white light or mounting IR illuminators a few feet or maybe a bit more from the camera will minimize falsing at night and as a bonus maximize storage and minimize time searching for real events. To be 100% sure of getting everything, you'd need that 1.428 gigs even on motion recording but odds are that you'd need quite a bit less. How much less is a wild guess for anybody but you with your system and scenes. I'd bet a dollar that half of the constant recording requirement would be quite safe 9 weeks out of 10 but you never know. You may live in a windy rainy area with lots of blowing trees and shadows moving around and have your motion sensitivity cranked up to catch squirrels at 50 feet. I take PayPal if I win.

 

[rufunky]

Re: How do I figure out what size hard drive I need to hold a weeks worth of recordin

Thanks so much for the responses.

Kawboy12R, I should have mentioned these cameras are being used indoor for my business. I'm not sure I want to depend on motion detection. I feel it just adds to the "what if" factor. I run a computer business so I have lots of HDD's laying around. What I originally set up as a temporary NVR ( i5 laptop with a 250gb hdd) has become more of a permanent due to the fact that it has worked great besides running out of space. I'm wondering if ACTI's NVR3 software supports recording to a network drive? If so it may be as simple as adding another HDD to my NAS.

 

[Kawboy12R]

Re: How do I figure out what size hard drive I need to hold a weeks worth of recordin

I've never done ACTi stuff but I assume they do. Ghosting that baby drive onto a bigger drive on the laptop would keep the storage fast, local, and roomier.

 

[zero-degrees]

Re: How do I figure out what size hard drive I need to hold a weeks worth of recordin

@rufunky consider picking up a secondary drive for the PC you're running to store all your video to. Look at one of the WD Purple 4TB drives for $150. You can then look to have about 3 weeks of 24/7 recording, and I would recommend at least 15fps, not 10. However that is simply my opinion - personally I run 20 or 30FPS and nothing less. Here is a great example of FPS

 

[rufunky]

Re: How do I figure out what size hard drive I need to hold a weeks worth of recordin

@rufunky consider picking up a secondary drive for the PC you're running to store all your video to. Look at one of the WD Purple 4TB drives for $150. You can then look to have about 3 weeks of 24/7 recording, and I would recommend at least 15fps, not 10. However that is simply my opinion - personally I run 20 or 30FPS and nothing less. Here is a great example of FPS

Thanks, yeah I had all my cameras set at 30fps but honestly for my type of business its overkill. If I were a retail shop I guess it would make more sense to be able to more accurately grab a specific frame for theft of an item etc. In looking at the NVR3 software I am using I didn't see a way to save to a network drive. It may be that I am accessing remotely and that feature is only available locally. I'll have to take a look when I get back to work.