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Camera Storage Calculator
Size an NVR or VMS from camera count, resolution, frame rate, codec, retention window, and how much of the day actually records. Returns raw storage, a RAID-adjusted figure, and per-camera daily volume.
100 for continuous; 30–50 is typical for motion-triggered.
Filesystem overhead and growth. 10–20% is sane.
Retention presets
67.584 TBRaw capacity to buy61.467 TiB as the OS will report it
4 × 18 TBSuggested arrayRAID 5 (one parity)
50.688 TBUsable neededFootage + headroom
45.619 TBFootage onlyBefore headroom or parity
95.04 GBPer camera / day
140.8 MbpsAggregate stream load8.8 Mbps per camera
Method & assumptions
- Base bitrates are typical H.264 figures at 15 fps for a medium-complexity scene. A busy street or heavy foliage runs higher; a still corridor runs lower.
- Bitrate scales with the square root of frame rate, not linearly — inter-frame compression means 30 fps costs well under double 15 fps.
- Capacity is quoted in decimal TB (1012 bytes) as drives are sold, with the binary TiB figure alongside because that is what the OS will show you.
- RAID figures assume equal-size drives; parity capacity is deducted before headroom.
- Variable-bitrate encoding means any estimate is a planning figure. Buy the next size up if retention is contractual.
Plate —Other tools
More on the bench
- 01Switch Config AuditorPaste a running-config, get the findings.
- 02Drive Health ReaderPaste smartctl output, get a straight answer.
- 03Traceroute ReaderPaste a trace, find out whose problem it is.
- 04Subnet CalculatorCIDR in, everything else out.
- 05PoE Budget PlannerWill the switch actually carry the load?
- 06Transfer Time CalculatorHow long the migration window really needs to be.
Free diagnosticsSame-day dispatchNo outsourcingDone or free
Need it done, not calculatedWe do this work
We do this work
as well as the maths
Anyone quoting a surveillance system and needing a defensible storage number.