CCTV cloud storage in India: what it is, what drives the cost and when on-site recording is better

With cloud storage, video goes over the internet to a provider's servers, and you watch it through an app or a web page. The point, as EZVIZ puts it on its CloudPlay page, is that you do not lose video when a storage card fails or a camera is stolen.

The name covers different products. Some camera makers sell a plan for their own cameras. Lorex sells one for its Connect app. Hikvision sells cloud storage through installers, for devices that support it. In every case, ask what actually goes up.

A DVR or NVR is different. It stores video on hard disks at your site, with no per-camera subscription. You can use a recorder for everything and add a cloud plan, if you want one, for a few key cameras. Our DVR vs NVR guide explains the recorder side.

Most cloud plans do not keep a full day-and-night copy. They save the moments that matter.

• Lorex says its Connect Cloud+ saves smart motion events, not continuous 24/7 footage, and records up to 2K even from 4K cameras. The camera still records locally at its full resolution.
• EZVIZ calls its plans event-based video history, kept for 7 or 30 days, and says CloudPlay can save motion-triggered videos automatically.
• Hikvision's cloud storage terms say that when the service is on, the device starts cloud recording when it detects activity in its view. You can view the last 7 days on a 7-day plan and the last 30 days on a 30-day plan.
• So a cloud plan is usually a store of clips. It is not your recorder moved to the internet. If you need every hour of every camera, ask the provider in writing whether it keeps continuous video.

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We do not quote prices. EZVIZ says plan pricing and details may vary among countries and regions, and tells you to check the subscription page in its app for the final figure. What you can do is know what moves the number, so that quotes can be compared. Ask for the monthly price per camera in rupees, including GST, for your number of cameras and days kept, in writing.

• How many cameras. EZVIZ lists plans that cover one camera, four cameras or ten cameras. Lorex has a Single-Camera Plan and a Multi-Camera Plan for up to 10 cameras at one location. Hikvision's terms say its cloud storage is subscribed per device, so three devices need three subscriptions.
• How many days are kept. EZVIZ lists 7-day and 30-day plans, and in its own price table the 30-day plan costs more than the 7-day plan.
• Monthly or yearly. EZVIZ and Lorex both sell monthly and yearly plans.
• What kind of camera. EZVIZ lists dual-lens cameras on separate plans with their own prices, and Lorex says a dual-lens device needs a Multi-Camera Plan.
• Which cameras are covered. Lorex's Connect Cloud+ covers a short list of cameras and does not cover recorders or wired cameras. Hikvision's terms say you need hardware that supports the service and that you subscribe through your installer.
• A trial first. EZVIZ says every camera purchase comes with a free trial of up to 30 days. After the trial you pay.
• Your internet. You pay your provider for the data you send. The next section shows how much that can be.
• Contract terms. Hikvision's terms say the subscription period starts as soon as the service is activated and does not stop if you stop recording. Lorex says returning a device does not cancel the subscription, so you cancel it separately, and that access to cloud recordings stops when the paid period ends, so download what you want to keep first.
• Business use. Hikvision's cloud storage terms, updated in October 2022, say the service is for non-commercial use unless Hikvision agrees in writing. If you run a shop or a factory, ask your installer or the maker whether a business can use the plan.

Cloud storage sends video out of your building, so upload speed is what matters, not download speed.

First work out what your cameras send. Each camera stream has a bitrate, in megabits per second (Mb/s), shown in the camera's or recorder's settings. Axis explains that the bitrate depends on the codec, resolution, frame rate, compression level and the scene, and that motion can raise it significantly. CP Plus has an HDD & Bandwidth Calculator on cpplusworld.com, under Support and Tools, where you enter channels, resolution, frame rate and bitrate to see the bandwidth in Mbps and the storage in GB.

A worked example. One camera sending 2 Mb/s, day and night, sends about 21.6 GB a day. Eight such cameras send about 173 GB a day, which is about 5.2 TB in 30 days, and need 16 Mb/s of upload all the time. The 2 Mb/s is only an example, so use your own cameras' numbers.

Now check your plan. Upload and download speeds are not always equal. Jio says its High Speed Internet fibre has symmetric upload and download speeds, while its Business Broadband Max page says its speeds are asymmetric, with upload not equal to download. Ask for the upload figure on your own plan, in writing.

Then check for a data limit. Airtel's broadband terms say its plan is subject to a fair usage policy, imposed after 3333 GB of use in a billing cycle, after which the speed is reduced to 1 Mbps. They also say Airtel can change the policy. Eight cameras sending 2 Mb/s all day would send about 5.2 TB in 30 days, which is more than that limit. Check the limit on your own plan.

Plans that save only event clips use far less. Ask the provider how many GB a day your cameras will send.

Cloud storage also needs the internet to be up. A camera that records only to the cloud cannot send while the connection is down. Lorex says every Connect Cloud+ plan records to the SD card as well as to the cloud.

None of these is best for everyone. Here is a fair summary of each. Our guide to cloud video surveillance goes into more detail.

• Recording on site suits many cameras at one site, video kept all day and night for weeks, and a connection that is slow, capped or unreliable. You pay for the recorder and the hard disks, and you replace a disk when it fails. Our CCTV hard disk guide shows how many days a disk holds. The weakness is that if the recorder is stolen, burnt or damaged, the video goes with it.
• Cloud storage suits a few cameras at one site with nobody to look after a recorder, and anyone who wants an off-site copy of the key moments. Watch out for the monthly cost per camera, the upload it needs and the limits on which cameras are covered.
• Both suits sites that keep full video on site and put a copy of key events in the cloud. The word hybrid is used loosely, so ask what exactly goes up, in what quality and for how long.

Video of people is personal data in many places. Rules depend on where you are, so ask a lawyer about your own site. These questions are worth asking any provider before you subscribe.

• Where is my video stored?
• Is it encrypted while it travels and while it is stored?
• Who at the provider can see it, and when?
• How long is it kept, and can I choose a shorter time?
• Can I delete it, and can I download it before I leave?
• Does the account offer two-step sign-in?
• What happens to my video if I stop paying? Lorex says access to cloud recordings stops when the paid period ends.

We are not a cloud storage service. Your recorder keeps recording as usual, and your recordings stay on site, on the recorder you already have.

Our software runs on a Windows PC at your site and watches the cameras you already have. Our own AI models, trained in-house, watch every camera for smoke and fire, people after hours in zones you mark, and a camera that has been covered. When something is found, a photo and a short clip of that event go to us, where a second, larger model double-checks it before you are alerted on WhatsApp, Telegram or the Foreman app. Event clips are encrypted and deleted after 30 days, and we never train on your footage. So the heavy video stays on your network, and there is no all-day upload to plan for. See alerts from the cameras you have.

Here is the limit. We do not keep your full recordings. If you want an off-site copy of all your video, you need a cloud recording service or a second recorder somewhere else. We also do not provide guards or a monitoring centre, and where we watch for smoke and fire, we do not replace certified fire alarms or life-safety systems.