Back when video surveillance relied on tape-based VCRs for recording, deploying these systems was fairly straightforward. You simply connected the camera or cameras directly to the VCR and — voila — everything was captured on tape. Retention depended on how often you wanted to switch out the tape and how much cabinet space you had to store tapes.
Today’s video surveillance systems are much, much more complex, offering an array of functionality that was unheard of just a couple of decades ago. Deploying and configuring NVRs — and to some extent DVRs — requires not only a certain degree of networking know-how but also a number of other factors, including careful calculation to determine how much storage is required.