Camera Storage Calculator
Work out exactly how much NVR or DVR storage your CCTV system needs — by resolution, codec, frame rate, camera count and retention window. Real math, no guesswork.
- 100% client-side, zero data uploaded
- Supports H.264 & H.265
- RAID / redundancy aware
Storage Calculator
Enter your camera specs below. All calculations run instantly in your browser.
Your Storage Requirement
Calculation Breakdown
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Built for Real Deployments
Retention-Accurate Math
Calculates by seconds recorded per day, not rough averages — accounting for scheduled hours and motion-triggered activity levels.
Codec-Aware
Built-in H.264, H.265 and H.266 compression multipliers so estimates reflect real-world file sizes, not raw bitrate alone.
RAID & Redundancy Modeling
Factor in mirrored or parity RAID overhead so the number you get is the usable capacity you actually need to purchase.
Full Breakdown
See per-camera, per-day and total figures with every intermediate step shown — no black-box output.
Runs Locally
All computation happens in your browser. Nothing you enter is uploaded, logged, or stored on any server.
Export & Share
Copy results, download a plain-text report for procurement, or share a direct link to this tool with your team.
How It Works
- 1
Enter camera count & resolution
Choose a resolution preset or enter your camera's actual bitrate straight from its datasheet.
- 2
Set codec & recording behavior
Select H.264/H.265/H.266, and whether cameras record continuously, on a schedule, or only on motion.
- 3
Choose retention & redundancy
Pick how many days of footage you must keep, and whether you'll mirror or parity-protect the array.
- 4
Get exact capacity
Instantly see total TB required, per-camera daily usage, and a recommended commercial drive size.
Understanding Camera Storage Calculators
A camera storage calculator answers a question every installer eventually runs into: how big does the hard drive actually need to be? Security camera footage is not a fixed-size file — it grows with resolution, frame rate, motion in the scene, and the codec doing the compressing. Two four-camera systems can differ in storage needs by a factor of five depending on those settings alone, which is why guessing at drive size so often ends in either wasted budget or footage that gets overwritten too soon.
For NVR storage specifically, the math starts with bitrate: how many megabits of video data the camera streams every second. Multiply that by the number of seconds in a day, then by how many days you need to retain footage, and you get raw data volume per camera. Multiply again by camera count and you have the array total. What complicates this in practice is that most cameras don't record at a flat rate — motion-triggered recording, variable bitrate compression, and scheduled recording windows all change how much data actually lands on disk each day.
Codec choice matters more than people expect. H.264 has been the default for over a decade, but H.265 (HEVC) routinely cuts the same footage down by 40-50% at equivalent visual quality, and newer H.266 (VVC) pushes further still. For a sixteen-camera 4K install, switching codecs alone can be the difference between a 12TB array and a 24TB one — a real cost, not a rounding error.
How to size storage correctly, in practice: start from the camera's actual datasheet bitrate rather than a resolution guess, apply the codec's compression factor, multiply by your real recording schedule (not "24/7" by default if most cameras only trigger on motion), add your required retention window, and finally add RAID overhead if the footage needs redundancy for compliance or insurance reasons. A worked example: eight 1080p cameras at 4 Mbps in H.265, recording continuously, with 30-day retention, land at roughly 5.8TB raw — before RAID and before the recommended 10-20% free-space headroom that keeps a disk from running at 100% capacity, which can cause dropped frames or recording failures.
This calculator runs that exact chain of math in your browser, using the same formulas video management system vendors publish in their own sizing guides, so the number you get is one you can actually take to a supplier.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much storage does a security camera need?
It depends on resolution, frame rate, codec, and hours recorded per day. A single 1080p camera recording continuously in H.265 typically needs 15-30 GB per day, while a 4K camera can need 60-100 GB per day.
What is NVR storage calculation?
NVR storage calculation multiplies the video bitrate by the recording duration and number of cameras, then adds retention days to estimate total capacity in GB or TB needed on the NVR's hard drives.
Does H.265 reduce camera storage requirements?
Yes. H.265 (HEVC) typically reduces file size by 40-50% compared to H.264 at the same resolution and quality, significantly lowering storage needs.
How many days of footage can a 4TB hard drive store?
This depends entirely on your camera settings. For example, four 1080p cameras in H.265 recording continuously may store roughly 25-30 days on a 4TB drive, while 4K cameras will store far fewer days.
Should I use continuous or motion-triggered recording?
Motion-triggered recording can reduce storage needs by 60-90% depending on scene activity, but continuous recording guarantees no gaps in footage, which matters for compliance and evidentiary use.
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