Planning CCTV Storage: Cameras, Resolution and Retention

CCTV storage sizing comes down to three variables working together: how many cameras are recording, how much data each camera generates (driven mainly by resolution, frame rate, and compression), and how long footage needs to be retained before it's overwritten.

Retention period is often the variable businesses underestimate. A facility that wants footage available for a full two weeks needs meaningfully more storage than one that only needs a few days — and that decision should be based on how the business actually intends to use the footage, not a default setting.

Recording mode also matters: continuous recording uses far more storage than motion- or event-triggered recording, though it captures everything rather than relying on detection to catch an event.

In the planning phase of one industrial facility infrastructure project, the CCTV design called for 31 cameras with 15 days of recording retention — a preliminary planning figure from the project's planning phase, not a confirmed final installed count. Specific camera resolution was not part of the confirmed project figures and isn't stated here.