How far back you can access CCTV recordings is one of the most asked questions that CCTV installers are asked. There isn’t one specific answer because there are many different types of CCTV systems and they are being used in a whole host of different circumstances. However, we can talk generally to give you a good, general understanding of how far CCTV can go back.
Hard Drives, Servers and The Cloud
The best way to understand it is to know that these days most CCTV camera systems record straight onto a hard drive. This hard drive may be based at your property or it may be based on a server somewhere else or even in the cloud. On average (although like we said, it all depends upon the exact system and circumstance), you will usually have about a month’s worth of recordings if you are using it in a domestic setting and are recording to your own hard drive. If you are recording it an offsite server or to the cloud, then it really depends upon the storage you have. From our experience, this is often about a week but some may let you have up to about a month’s worth of footage stored.
We Don’t Use Physical Storage Anymore
Some people still think that CCTV footage is recorded straight onto VHS tapes or DVDs but this is incorrect, imagine the physical storage you would need! With modern CCTV systems, everything is recorded to a hard drive and once it is full, the oldest footage is automatically erased and new footage recorded over the top.
If you have any other questions about CCTV and would like to get definitive answers on all of your CCTV questions then don’t hesitate to get in touch and we will be more than happy to help.