5 Reasons Why Smart Video Surveillance HDDs are Needed for CCTV

(By Mr. Jaganathan Chelliah, Senior Director - Marketing, India & Middle East and Africa, Western Digital)

New cutting-edge technology and innovative solutions continue to drive the growth of the smart video CCTV industry. According to a report, the video surveillance market is projected to grow from USD 48.7 billion in 2022 to USD 76.4 billion by 2027.

The market demand clearly shows a surge in the deployment of CCTVs across verticals and industries to improve the way we live and work. Today, best practices and guidelines are available to help industries like retail, manufacturing, smart cities, and more implement CCTV to effectively manage and control their operations. CCTV systems capture and record video footage continuously, which can quickly lead to large amounts of data being generated.

As a result, it is important to use a CCTV or smart video-grade storage solution instead of standard hard disk drives (HDDs) for 24/7 monitoring. A smart video surveillance HDD, specifically designed to handle multiple streams and the demand of continuous recording provides reliable and consistent performance for the demands of a CCTV system.

Here's why smart video surveillance HDDs are needed for CCTV usage:

24x7 monitoring: Surveillance HDDs are designed to run continuously, helping ensure that the videos are consistently recorded 24/7. This can help improve operational efficiency by capturing video footage round the clock, as these HDDs allow for real-time issue detection. Any anomalies, malfunctions, or deviations from standard operating procedures can be immediately identified, triggering alerts or notifications. Surveillance HDDs such as WD PurpleTM Pro feature a workload rating of up to 180TB/year [2]– up to three times that of desktop drives, specifically designed to operate in surveillance systems, where the need is to continuously record and store large amounts of video data.

Crystal clear video: Due to their fast-writing speeds, smart video surveillance HDDs allow for quick capture of multiple streams and high-capacity storage of very high-quality video. The WD Purple HDDs also feature AllFrameTM technology so CCTV cameras can record videos with less frame loss and produce high-quality, sharp-edged 4K videos, compared to videos stored on PC drives.

Ability to process heavy workloads: Smart video surveillance HDDs are intended for 24x7 storage workloads, as they function on a 90-10 ratio– 90% storage and 10% of review and replay data. Smart video surveillance HDDs are optimized for scalability, enabling the addition of more cameras to the system. For instance, some surveillance HDDs like WD Purple drives can support up to 64 single-stream HD cameras[3] (6TB[4] and beyond), as well as many of the most recent cameras that send multiple streams to provide basic AI capability. Additionally, certain Western Digital drives like WD Purple Surveillance HDD (up to 10TB) are engineered for mainstream surveillance DVRs and NVRs that operate 24/7 and are able to process heavy workloads as they have a mean time between failures (MTBF) of up to 1 million hours. [5] 

Sustainable solution: Smart video surveillance HDDs consume less power than traditional HDDs or general-purpose computer drives because of their low-power profiles. This helps in producing less heat, which results in cooler overall operating temperatures. Even while working 24x7x365, these HDDs can function smoothly without breaking down.

Consolidated footage: Smart video surveillance HDDs offer a decent amount of storage – up to 22TB4. The 22TB4 WD Purple Pro HDDs can be used to consolidate footage from multiple cameras into a central video server or storage system, which makes it easier to manage and analyze the data. For instance, surveillance HDDs such as the WD Purple Pro comes equipped with field-proven OptiNANDTM technology that delivers trusted high-capacity performance and offers storage of up to 22TB1 for the massive storage needs of AI-driven smart video and deep learning analytics.

Overall, smart video surveillance HDDs are important for CCTV systems that record continuously and require better reliability, durability, and storage capacity for 24/7 streaming. Specialised storage solutions can help handle high workloads, retain data for long periods, and consume less power, making the most out of a CCTV system.