What this tool does
Work out how much disk space you need to keep camera recordings for a chosen number of days. Use it when buying a recording drive or adding cameras to an existing system.
How to use it
- Enter your camera count and average bitrate. Bitrate is how much video data a camera produces each second; look for the bitrate in Mbps in its recording settings.
- Choose how many hours are saved each day and how many days you want to keep. Use 24 hours for continuous recording.
- Leave some disk space spare using the reserve percentage, then calculate.
Reading your result
“Minimum nominal disk capacity” is the drive size to plan for, including the space you chose to leave spare. Longer retention, more cameras or a higher bitrate all need more storage.
Example: four cameras at 4 Mbps, recording all day for 30 days, need about 5.76 TB with 10% of the disk reserved.
Keep in mind
For motion recording, count the time actually saved, including seconds before and after each event. Include audio in the bitrate if it is recorded.
Real usage changes with activity and recording settings. Check actual retention after installation; image resolution alone does not tell you how much storage you need.
Use Download results or Print to keep your inputs and estimate. The tool uses the values you enter; it does not read your equipment’s settings.
Reference: Axis camera documentation: bitrate, storage and pixel counting