How to Store Video from CCTV Cameras

How often do you need a video archive? For real-time video surveillance, archives are often not necessary as an employee is always in front of the monitors and watching the footage from cameras there and then. However, if some kind of force majeure occurs, for example, a robbery of a store or a workplace accident, in the absence of archive records, one can only rely on the witness’s testimony. Trying to figure out what happened, finding the suspects, and writing an accurate incident report will be nearly impossible. On top of that, full-fledged analytics of face recognition or license plate recognition becomes impossible too. Therefore, without a doubt, archiving is necessary.

So, what is the best way to store video footage from the cameras? Let’s take a look at several methods, their pros, and cons, and figure out which one will suit you the best.

• DVR (Digital Video Recorder)
• Flash Drives
• Cloud Storage
• Is cloud storage safer than local storage?
• What to Choose?

DVR (Digital Video Recorder)

Historically, this is the first and perhaps the most common way to store video. The DVR is like a VHS player with a hard disk inside. Such video recorders can be analog or IP. There is also an NVR (Network Video Recorder) which provides the additional ability to access the video over the Internet.

Flash Drives

This is the most convenient way to store video for Wi-Fi camera users. Such cameras are usually used for home video surveillance, which the user can configure themself. A wireless Wi-Fi camera can be bought and installed anywhere in the house, office, etc.

Cloud Storage

Cloud storage is a must for a complete, modern, and reliable video surveillance service (VSaaS) that provides everything that users will need.

Is cloud storage safer than local storage?

Different types of security camera storage have different benefits and drawbacks. In general, cloud storage is more reliable. Once the data is in the cloud, it will remain there even if a natural disaster or fire destroys the cameras, for example. Professional cloud storage providers also are on the cutting edge of cybersecurity and rarely suffer the data breaches that so often hit individual corporate networks. Physical tampering is also never a risk in the cloud. On the other hand, local storage is not subject to connectivity issues and in many cases — especially when no inbound connections are prohibited — cameras employ very strong data security strategies of their own.

What to Choose?

Nowadays, hybrid storage systems are gaining popularity, where the video is recorded locally on DVRs and is either completely copied to the cloud, or only by events or certain triggers (for example, by motion). Thus, communication channels are not overloaded and the most important data is preserved. If internet access is lost, it remains possible to watch the video locally, like a back-up for when forces of nature or forces of man disrupt the connection to the cloud. Flussonic, in particular, has the ability to write to a flash drive in the absence of the Internet. As soon as internet access reappears, the records from the drive are uploaded to the cloud, thus ensuring the continuity of the video surveillance.

This storage method has no visible drawbacks. It is beneficial and convenient for everyone, however, not everyone currently provides it. Now, a number of our clients use the hybrid method, which includes all the advantages of both local storage and cloud services.

You can also test the capabilities of our service with no commitment - just send us a request at info@flussonic.com, and we will contact you.