Who this is for
When an incident happens, you need footage you can find, play back and hand to an auditor.
You probably need this if…
- Footage is too dark, blurry or poorly placed to be useful when something happens.
- Storage fills up and overwrites footage before anyone reviews it.
- Cameras aren't connected to your access control or alarm systems.
- Insurance, a client or an auditor requires documented retention and access control.
- An incident happened that your current system couldn't properly show.
- You're expanding a site and need coverage planned, not just added ad hoc.
Where it applies
Probably not the right fit when…
- A single shop needing one or two plug-and-play cameras with no retention requirement.
- A well-run existing VMS that just needs a few additional cameras added to it.
Technical overview
A camera is only as useful as the footage you can retrieve when it matters. We design coverage, storage and monitoring together, on ONVIF-compliant IP cameras that integrate with the rest of your security stack.
Technologies we work with
Reference architecture
Design principles
- Specify camera placement and lens selection from the required identification, recognition, observation or detection task for each scene.
- Calculate network and storage requirements from stream bitrates, recording modes, retention periods and concurrent playback demand.
- Isolate cameras and recording systems from general user networks and restrict administrative access to authorised operators.
- Validate day and night image quality, timestamps, recording recovery and evidence export before acceptance.
Specification baseline
| Aspect | Specification | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Image performance | Define the target scene, field of view, illumination and required identification outcome | Camera resolution alone does not guarantee usable evidence. |
| Network | Use a dedicated surveillance VLAN or VRF with controlled access and monitored uplinks | Segmentation reduces exposure and helps isolate video traffic. |
| Recording | Choose continuous, event-based or hybrid recording according to operational and evidential needs | Recording policy affects storage consumption and event completeness. |
| Retention | Set retention by legal, contractual, operational and site-specific requirements | No single retention duration suits every deployment; 30 days is a common starting point for commercial sites, and legal, insurer or contractual requirements may be longer. |
| Interoperability | Validate ONVIF profiles and specific camera, VMS and analytics features before procurement | Protocol support does not guarantee every advanced feature will interoperate. |
| Power and recovery | Document PoE budgets, recording failure behaviour, time synchronisation and recovery procedures | Recorded evidence must remain reliable through expected faults. |
Key design decisions
Recording architecture
A resilient central facility has sufficient network bandwidth and storage for the camera estate.
Remote sites require local recording continuity during WAN interruptions or central bandwidth is constrained.
Recording policy
Complete time coverage is required for critical scenes or evidence requirements.
Validated event detection can reduce storage without compromising required evidence.
Sizing & calculations
Raw video storage in bytes = aggregate recording bitrate in bits/s multiplied by retention seconds and divided by 8; then allow for metadata, overhead, redundancy and reserve.
100 cameras averaging 4 Mb/s for 30 days require approximately 129.6 TB of raw decimal storage before overhead and reserve.
Aggregate camera bandwidth = sum of camera stream bitrates for the streams crossing the network link.
80 cameras averaging 6 Mb/s generate 480 Mb/s of aggregate recording traffic before protocol overhead and secondary streams.
PoE capacity = sum of maximum camera power demand, including heaters, illuminators and PTZ motors where applicable.
24 cameras requiring up to 15 W each need 360 W of endpoint power before growth allowance and switch overhead.
Standards, protocols & references
Handover documentation
- Camera location and field-of-view drawings
- Camera, switch-port and IP address register
- VMS configuration and recording schedules
- Storage and retention calculation
- Image-quality and end-to-end recording test report
- Operator training and evidence-export procedure
What you get
- Footage you can find fast when it matters
- Storage sized correctly from day one, not guessed
- Cameras that feed the same system as access control and alarms
What we deliver
Cameras
- Industrial and enterprise IP cameras
- ONVIF compliant, multi-OEM
- Low-light and wide-dynamic-range models where needed
VMS & storage
- Video management software
- Storage sized to bitrate and retention policy
- Failover and redundant recording
Command & monitoring
- Command and monitoring room fit-out
- Video walls and operator workstations
- Integration with access control and fire alarm
