For instance, a 24/7 intelligent video stream using MPEG-4 compression at 30 fps/1280 × 1024 resolution will fill a 6TB drive in just 48 days. Add to that intelligent video (video streams that are enhanced, high resolution, and offer perks like facial recognition, which matches the images captured on your footage against a databank of suspected perpetrators, and then notifies law enforcement when there’s a match), and suddenly your storage needs blossom out of control. A 24/7 video stream at 20 fps/704 × 480 image resolution can fill a 1TB drive in only 42 days with MPEG-4 compression.

But if that video is of an enhanced resolution, then that increases your need for storage. How much video would you keep (and why)? If you’re only keeping eight hours of video a day, it can take a while to fill a high-capacity drive. There are many situations that affect the amount of video you may keep. This chart shows the approximate amount of data that a hard drive holds (although individual usage may vary), so if you’re thinking of purchasing a surveillance system with limited drive space, you’re ultimately doing yourself a disservice. After all, the amount of data that you need to store from surveillance can quickly fill a 4TB hard drive. WD learned that a great opportunity exists between surveillance-kit manufacturers and its line of hard drives. You’ve got to have storage.īuying a surveillance system doesn’t have to be a shady deal, as long as you know what you need. Surveillance system without a hard drive? That’s like buying a car with no engine. Just so happens, I got a surveillance system for you.

What is best nas for home 2016