How do I calculate hard drive capacity for CCTV?
William Smith
Published Feb 24, 2026
How do I calculate hard drive capacity for CCTV?
Storage Space (GB) = Bitrate (Kbps) * 1000/8 * 3600 * 24 * Cameras * Days/1000 000 000
- *1000/8 = to convert kbps to Bytes.
- *3600 = to convert from seconds to hour.
- *24 = to convert from hour to day.
- Cameras = total number of cameras.
- Days = total number of days you want to record.
What kind of hard drive do I need for DVR?
All DVRs store their footage on an internal hard drive. Most use a SATA hard drive, this stands for Serial Advanced Technology Attachment and is the method by which the hard drive connects to a device.
How many days a 4TB HDD DVR can record?
How many days a 4TB HDD NVR can record?
| Recording Resolution | Recording channels/Number of IPC | 4TB |
|---|---|---|
| 1.0 Megapixel (720p) | 8 channels | 24 days |
| 16 channels | 12 days | |
| 2.0 Megapixel (1080p) | 4 channels | 24 days |
| 8 channels | 12 days |
How to determine if your CCTV DVR hard drive hard failed?
CCTV Camera Pros created this page to show customers the steps taken when determining if a hard drive failure has occurred on iDVR-PRO surveillance DVRs. These same steps can be used for iDVR-E and other brand security camera DVRs as well. Here are a few examples of situations that may indicate your hard drive has failed.
How big of hard drive do I need for DVR?
Most of the CCTV systems (DVR, NVR) support hard drives up to 4TB, the newer one can support 10TB per hard drive. How many hard drives do you need? Let’s say you can install 2 hard drives, 4TB each. How long do you want to record? This is correlated to the number of installed security cameras.
Which is the best hard drive for surveillance DVR?
Western Digital WD10PURZ, WD Purple 1TB Surveillance Hard Drive – Best Hard Drive for Surveillance DVR (Best hard drive for security camera) 3. MaxDigitalData MD2000GSA3272DVR, 2TB Internal Surveillance CCTV DVR Hard Drive (Best hdd for cctv)
Where is the hard drive on a DVR?
When the DVR is powered down, Remove the cover from the DVR. Inside the DVR you will find 2 main components, One is the Motherboard, the other is the SATA Hard drive.
Is there a hard drive for a DVR?
Security NVR and DVR Hard Drive Calculator Each Network Video Recorder (NVR) or Digital Video Recorder (DVR) manufactured by Lorex includes a built-in security certified hard drive. This type of hard drive is designed specifically for security systems.
What to look for in a surveillance hard drive?
These are the technical features you need to look for in a hard drive that will be used on an NVR or DVR security system. RPM: This is the speed at which the disk spins and it’s the biggest advantage on a surveillance hard drive. You are supposed to buy only those hard drives which have RPM range 3500-5900 RPMs.
What kind of hard drive do I need for a security camera?
The safety of your security system recordings comes down to one simple thing: the hard drives you choose for your NVR, DVR, IP security system, or NAS. Security camera systems require special hard drives rated for surveillance and it’s very important to select the right hard drive for your recorder.
Is there a DVR system for security cameras?
Like others on our list, the DVR system works with a mobile app that lets you view what the cameras are seeing in real-time, though we found in our testing that the app occasionally forgot cameras which then needed to be re-added. 5. OHWOAI Home Security Camera System
