The Three Factors that Impact Your Surveillance Storage

In the surveillance world, just like everywhere else, data is growing rapidly. This stands to reason, since in the US alone the surveillance marketplace is expected to grow to $68 billion by 2023.

Technological and market forces are conspiring to create larger and larger data sets. In surveillance, there are three main ingredients that go into determining how much storage an operation will require: number of cameras, resolution, and retention period. Increasing any of these factors dramatically increases the amount of data that needs to be stored.

Depending on the use case, there may be anywhere from a dozen to thousands of cameras generating data; a bank may only need a handful while a major airport like JFK needs upwards of 600 in a single terminal, and a city like Calgary has over 1,800 in its employ. Naturally, more cameras create more data, which is why large organizations in particular need to be aware of the storage burden they are taking on and how best to manage it.

Camera resolution also plays a major role in storage amount. Cameras with higher image quality packs more pixels into each frame, increasing the size of files, and shooting at higher speeds captures more frames every second. For example, a single camera running at 15 frames per second in 4K captures four times the amount of data than a camera capturing 15 FPS at 1080p. Increasingly, new cameras are capturing in 4K and even beyond into 8K and 10K ranges. These extreme resolutions are necessary for facial recognition software to operate, a practice that will become more common in the near future.

An organization’s data retention needs greatly affect its storage requirements. A surveillance operation’s retention policy will vary from case to case: industries and governments may establish mandatory minimum retention rates ranging from days to years with 31 days being a common threshold under GDPR. It is essential for an organization to be aware of their retention requirements and budget storage accordingly.

All of these factors multiply on each other to contribute to an organization’s overall surveillance storage needs. Increasing in even one of these three areas—camera count, resolution, or retention period—compounds the storage requirement. For a surveillance enterprise, a cloud object storage solution would be the optimal method for storing large data sets and accessing them quickly. A scalable solution that can accommodate sudden changes in storage volume without service-disrupting hardware updates is essential for any modern surveillance outfit. In the cloud, this is simple; when you need more storage you simply buy more storage. There’s no new equipment to order or any worry of running out of space.

Freeing your surveillance enterprise from the oppression of other storage methods will allow you to grow in new ways. Surveillance video storage often exceeds 30% of the cost of the entire solution with traditional methods. Cloud object storage’s low cost allows for greater freedom for expansion. With the money you save on storage, you could buy a few additional cameras, or upgrade your fleet to 4K. The savings provided by cloud object storage not only allow for this growth but support it by effortlessly scaling to accommodate the spike in data.

The golden rule of storage is that you’ll always need more, never less, and this is especially true in surveillance. And by using cloud object storage as your video surveillance destination, you’re ensuring that your enterprise will stay ahead of whatever data comes your way.