Where and how to store security camera footage usually depends on the scale of the video surveillance project, the way you are using to record the video and how long you want to keep the recordings.
If there are only few IP cameras, say 2~3 IP cameras for example, and you don’t need to keep the recordings for the month, usually using SD card which is installed in the camera is enough.
Video management software
A VMS provides a unified platform to manage all cameras and record footage onto centralised local storage servers
If there are more than four cameras, even up to 128 cameras, NVR or CVR become the practical choice for managing and storing recordings reliably.
However, if there are hundreds or thousands cameras, which need to managed and recorded, in this way video management software with centralised recording storage becomes essential.
A VMS provides a unified platform to manage all cameras and record footage onto centralised local storage servers.
S3-compatible cloud platforms
Critically, if the VMS supports the S3 object storage protocol, users gain the flexibility to store recordings on S3-compatible cloud platforms (public or private), offering significant hardware cost savings and enhanced scalability.
For such demanding environments, selecting a VMS built on an open platform architecture is strongly advised, ensuring the system can expand infinitely to meet future project growth.
Video surveillance management system
Users can seamlessly add subordinate servers (or disk groups like IPSAN/NAS), disk arrays, and network bandwidth
Take the video surveillance management system SVMS Pro as an example. Its foundation is an open 1+N stackable architecture, enabling unlimited expansion of recording storage servers.
Users can seamlessly add subordinate servers (or disk groups like IPSAN/NAS), disk arrays, and network bandwidth.
This achieves extended recording durations and boosted storage performance while maintaining system stability during sustained operation (assuming environmental requirements are met).
Key architectural advantages
- Each centralised storage module based on a Linux OS, supports up to 200 front-end video channels per server.
- Its N+1 stackable expansion capability utilises a distributed architecture, forming clusters of storage servers.
- Scaling the project involves simply adding subordinate storage modules – no modifications to existing deployments are required.
Seamless S3 object storage integration
Furthermore, SVMS Pro features deep integration of the S3 object storage protocol
Furthermore, SVMS Pro features deep integration of the S3 object storage protocol. This allows seamless connection to major public cloud services like Alibaba Cloud OSS, Tencent Cloud COS, and Amazon S3 cloud, as well as private S3-compatible object storage solutions.
This integration delivers truly limitless capacity expansion, leveraging the inherent elasticity of the cloud to effortlessly accommodate petabyte-scale video growth.
Dual insurance: Multi-layered data protection
The critical value of security data comes with inherent risks; losing video footage can lead to immeasurable losses. To mitigate these risks comprehensively, SVMS Pro innovates with its "Local + Cloud" Dual-Backup mechanism, leveraging S3 features to build multiple security layers:
- Real-Time Dual-Writing: Recordings are first written to the local disk (acting as a cache buffer). Upon local persistence, data is simultaneously replicated to cloud-based S3 storage, guaranteeing instant failover if either node fails.
- Smart Hot/Cold Tiering: Frequently accessed ("hot") data remains on high-performance local storage, while historical footage is automatically archived to low-cost cloud tiers, optimising storage expenses.
- Cross-Regional Disaster Recovery: Utilising the multi-replica and cross-region replication features of carrier-grade S3 storage inherently protects against physical disasters like earthquakes or fires.
Additionally, the platform ensures comprehensive data protection through integrity verification and encrypted transmission, safeguarding data integrity and confidentiality across its entire lifecycle – from storage and transmission to access.
Conclusion
In essence, selecting the optimal storage solution for security footage hinges on a fundamental understanding of scalability requirements, retention needs, and data protection imperatives.
As surveillance deployments grow from a few cameras to enterprise-scale systems, the underlying architecture must evolve:
- Localised storage (SD cards/NVRs) suffices for limited scope and short retention.
- Centralised VMS platforms become essential for unified management at scale, with open, modular architectures providing critical future-proofing for expansion.
- S3 object storage integration represents a paradigm shift, decoupling storage capacity from physical hardware and enabling truly elastic, cost-efficient scaling – both on-premises and in the cloud.
Ultimately, successful large-scale video surveillance storage relies on architecting for flexibility, embedding data protection intrinsically, and strategically leveraging object storage protocols to balance performance, cost, and resilience – principles essential for safeguarding critical security data now and in the future.
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