Video Surveillance Retention: Storage, Compliance, and Cost Tradeoffs

How long should you keep surveillance footage? The answer depends on industry requirements, risk tolerance, and budget. Here's how to make the right call.

Video surveillance generates enormous amounts of data. A single 1080p camera recording continuously can produce over 10GB per day. Multiply that by dozens or hundreds of cameras across multiple locations, and storage requirements quickly become a significant infrastructure consideration.

Retention policies determine how long that footage must be kept—and therefore how much storage you need. Understanding industry requirements and calculating storage needs accurately prevents both compliance violations and overspending on unnecessary capacity.

Industry-Specific Retention Requirements

Different industries have different retention requirements, often driven by regulation or insurance requirements. Healthcare facilities may need to retain footage for years to support potential litigation. Retail operations typically retain 30-90 days unless an incident requires longer preservation. Financial services often have specific requirements for footage covering cash handling areas.

Your compliance team should define retention requirements; your low voltage contractor should design storage systems that meet those requirements reliably.

Calculating Storage Requirements

Storage calculations depend on camera resolution, frame rate, compression settings, and how motion detection affects recording. A camera recording only on motion uses far less storage than continuous recording—but may miss critical footage if motion detection isn't tuned correctly.

Most surveillance systems provide storage calculators, but these estimates should be validated against actual usage after deployment. Building in headroom for growth and unexpected requirements prevents emergency storage expansions.

Cloud vs. On-Premise Storage

Cloud-based video storage eliminates on-site hardware management and provides off-site backup automatically. However, bandwidth requirements for uploading video can be substantial, and ongoing subscription costs may exceed on-premise storage over time.

On-premise NVRs provide more control and often lower long-term costs, but require local management and don't inherently provide off-site backup. Many organizations use hybrid approaches—local storage with cloud backup for critical footage.

Contractor Considerations

Your low voltage contractor installs surveillance infrastructure to your specifications—they don't typically define retention policies. However, a knowledgeable contractor can help you right-size storage systems, configure recording schedules, and ensure your infrastructure supports your retention requirements. For multi-location enterprises, a national contractor ensures consistent surveillance standards across all sites.

Industry Retention Requirements

• Healthcare: Typically 30-90 days; longer for pharmacy areas
• Financial services: 90 days minimum; some require 1 year
• Retail: 30-60 days standard; longer for high-shrink locations
• General commercial: 30 days typical minimum

Storage Calculations

A single 4MP camera recording continuously at 15fps requires approximately 1TB per month. Multiply by camera count and retention days to size your NVR. Motion-based recording can reduce storage by 50-70%.

Cloud vs. On-Premise

• On-premise NVR: Higher upfront cost, lower ongoing expense, requires maintenance
• Cloud storage: Lower upfront cost, predictable monthly expense, managed infrastructure
• Hybrid: Local recording with cloud backup for critical cameras

Working with Your Contractor

A national low voltage installer should help you calculate storage requirements based on your specific camera counts, resolution, and retention needs—not just sell you oversized equipment.