Best practice for disk space management on my Hikvision NVR?

[Slepmog]

Just wondering what would be considered the right way to
- Optimise the use of disk space via video settings
- Manage the space that each camera uses.

Feels like there should be a setting that says "let this camera use x MB of space"
Using the web interface and not seeing any settings that really let you manage the disks or know what each camera is using.
The disk is now full and not sure how to get it back to having some space

Many thanks for your help. Had a look around the forums and could not see anything that answered the question. I am sure it is there.....

Setup
DS-7732NI-I4 / 16P, firmware 4.4
Running 30 cameras and a 4TB drive
Cameras set to record on motion with 8fps and medium quality, H264+ off

 

[Dan]

Hi @Slepmog

There are no controls for the exact amount of storage each camera uses

To make space for more recording you will need to enable the overwrite function so that the NVR will continuously record over the oldest footage on the HDD. How to enable this is explained in this earlier post:

Clearing Space on my Hikvision DS-7716NI-I4 / 16P NVR?

It appears today my device is indicating the storage is full. Is there a way through the admin console in the web browser that I can set the video to overwrite? I see there are ways to do it from the actual unit admin but currently I can't get my mouse to respond to let me log in. Model...

www.use-ip.co.uk

 

[Slepmog]

Thank you.
Is there a way of seeing what each camera is using in terms of space ?
Just trying to get a balance between the cameras that have different resolutions.

 

[David]

@Slepmog my NVR hard drives are set to overwrite, that gives about 30 days of recordings. where possible enable H264+ better still use H265 or H265+.

 

[Dan]

Thank you.
Is there a way of seeing what each camera is using in terms of space ?
Just trying to get a balance between the cameras that have different resolutions.

I'm afraid not, NVRs are not designed this way for the very reason you are talking about.

With so many variables in how the NVR records (number of cameras, resolution, fps, type of recording [continuous, motion, event]) each camera will use a different amount of storage.

If you want an idea of how much storage a specific camera will use you can use a storage calculator:

WD Surveillance Capacity Calculator | Western Digital

Western Digital provides data storage solutions, including systems, HDD, Flash SSD, memory and personal data solutions to help customers capture and preserve their most valued data.

shop.westerndigital.com

 

[wardie]

I believe that, depending on your NVR model, you can allocate disks into different groups and assign cameras to those different groups. At least one way to split up what records where versus one big data pool. I've not tried it myself.

 

[fullboogie]

That's an awfully small HD for 30 cameras. Storage is cheap. Have you thought about getting at least a 12TB drive and upping your resolution and frame rate? I'd hate for you to need some footage and it's not very good due to the resolution you set.

 

[Phil]

Best practice would be to 'Record & Review'.
e.g. make adjustments and try to optimise your camera, recording, and playback performance under all conditions.
It is vital to check playback performance BEFORE you need 'evidence'.
Check playback under varied lighting conditions.
All cameras are exposed to different lighting morning, afternoon, and night.

We see no detriment using THE most efficient h.265+ CODEC.
Hikvision's h.265+ CODEC

Then, when it performs as you wish - see whether you are retaining as long a period as you need.
If not, if you need the ability to go back further (to earlier dates), then you'll need to add more storage (additional or bigger hard drives).

We recommend WD Purple hard drives - they are made for CCTV; writing images per second forever is a very different duty cyscle for a hard drive to any other.
We have lived-with Purple drives for years, and they have proven to be reliable and durable

 

[wardie]

I've been super-impressed with the compression using H265+ codec. To give you an idea, I've got a new system with 8x 8MP AcuSense cameras. Default video settings (so full frame rate, medium quality, 2160p) . They are all pointing outdoors so pick up movement of wind on things, occasional people, vehicles etc but not a huge amount of continuous motion (domestic scene not commercial). Nevertheless I'm currently finding that I retain (verified) a whole month's worth of 24x7 recording history with an 8TB WD Purple drive (with a 2nd drive as redundant backup). Super efficient and way more than I had expected TBH.