CCTVPLAN / ONE PROJECT. EVERY CAPACITY CHECK.
Plan your security camera system correctly.
Calculate CCTV storage, NVR requirements, bandwidth, PoE budget and UPS requirements together. Describe your installation once and check the whole system.
Built for installers.
Useful before the first cable.
Installation planner
The recording plan
Start with your streams and how long you need to keep them.
All cameras use the bitrate and maximum watts below.
Use a measured or configured average. Resolution alone does not determine bitrate.
Use 24 for continuous recording; motion recording duration is an estimate.
How long recordings should be kept.
Extra capacity above calculated footage. Set to 0 to omit.
Capacity available for footage after RAID, formatting and other reservations.
Check the recorder's separate incoming bandwidth limit too.
Bitrate is manual. Codec, frame rate, scene activity and noise all matter; resolution alone is not enough.
Your system, sized.
- Storage with margin
- 12.442 TB
- Camera traffic
- 32 Mbps
- Recommended PoE
- 145 W
- Estimated UPS runtime
- 73 min
10.368 TB footage + 20% allowance
40 Mbps with 25% headroom
116 W devices + 25% headroom
151 W estimated load
Recording capacity
WARNING345.6 GB/day · 2 TB usable. Estimated retention with margin: 4.8 days (4 complete days); target 30.
Network uplink
PASS40 Mbps minimum planned capacity. 100 Mbps nominal link suggested. 1,000 Mbps available.
PoE power budget
PASS96 W cameras + 20 W other devices. 145 W recommended / 150 W available. 34 W above device load.
Powered switch ports
PASS10 required / 16 available. 6 spare powered ports. Uplinks are separate.
Recorder channels
PASS8 channels required / 16 available. 8 spare channels. Verify recorder incoming bandwidth separately.
UPS output capacity
PASS151 W estimated load / 600 W output capacity. Includes 35 W for recorder, switch and losses.
UPS battery energy
PASS183.6 Wh usable gives approximately 73 minutes; target 30 minutes. Required: 75.5 Wh usable / 88.8 Wh nominal at 85% usable. Validate against the UPS runtime curve.
Decimal GB/TB · Unrounded calculations, rounded display · All results are planning estimates
View plain-text project summary
CCTVPlan — CCTV project estimate 8 cameras · 4 Mbps/camera · 24 recording hours/day · 30 days target retention Storage: 345.6 GB/day; 10.368 TB footage; 12.442 TB including 20% margin. WARNING Available: 2 TB usable; estimated retention with margin: 4.8 days. Network: 32 Mbps streams; 40 Mbps minimum with 25% headroom; 100 Mbps nominal uplink suggested; 1000 Mbps available. PASS PoE: 96 W cameras + 20 W other devices; 145 W recommended with 25% headroom; 150 W available. PASS Ports: 10 powered ports required; 16 available. PASS NVR: 8 channels required; 16 available; 8 spare (negative = shortfall). PASS UPS: 151 W estimated load, including 35 W recorder/switch/loss allowance; 600 W capacity. PASS Battery: 216 Wh nominal at 85% estimated usable fraction; 73 min estimated runtime vs 30 min target. PASS Required battery: 75.5 Wh usable AC energy / 88.8 Wh nominal at 85%. Decimal units: 1 GB = 10^9 bytes; 1 TB = 1,000 GB. Estimates use a constant average bitrate and maximum device power. Verify VBR peaks, recorder throughput, per-port PoE standards and UPS manufacturer runtime curves. No equipment compatibility guarantee.
CCTVPlan · Project summary
CCTVPlan — CCTV project estimate 8 cameras · 4 Mbps/camera · 24 recording hours/day · 30 days target retention Storage: 345.6 GB/day; 10.368 TB footage; 12.442 TB including 20% margin. WARNING Available: 2 TB usable; estimated retention with margin: 4.8 days. Network: 32 Mbps streams; 40 Mbps minimum with 25% headroom; 100 Mbps nominal uplink suggested; 1000 Mbps available. PASS PoE: 96 W cameras + 20 W other devices; 145 W recommended with 25% headroom; 150 W available. PASS Ports: 10 powered ports required; 16 available. PASS NVR: 8 channels required; 16 available; 8 spare (negative = shortfall). PASS UPS: 151 W estimated load, including 35 W recorder/switch/loss allowance; 600 W capacity. PASS Battery: 216 Wh nominal at 85% estimated usable fraction; 73 min estimated runtime vs 30 min target. PASS Required battery: 75.5 Wh usable AC energy / 88.8 Wh nominal at 85%. Decimal units: 1 GB = 10^9 bytes; 1 TB = 1,000 GB. Estimates use a constant average bitrate and maximum device power. Verify VBR peaks, recorder throughput, per-port PoE standards and UPS manufacturer runtime curves. No equipment compatibility guarantee.
Transparent assumptions.
Practical estimates.
From camera count to a complete system plan
A camera installation is a connected system. More cameras change disk capacity, network traffic, powered ports and backup load at the same time. CCTVPlan keeps those calculations in one project. Start with the sample eight-camera installation, replace it with your numbers and move through the three input sections. Your plan stays in this browser, and every specialist tool uses the same inputs.
Formula / method
Storage = cameras × Mbps × 3,600 × recording hours/day ÷ 8 ÷ 1,000 × days (GB)
PoE load = cameras × maximum watts/camera + other PoE watts
Backup minutes ≈ usable battery Wh ÷ estimated load W × 60
Units: Mbps = 1,000,000 bits/second; 8 bits = 1 byte. 1 GB = 1,000,000,000 bytes; 1 TB = 1,000 GB. W measures power; Wh measures energy. Values are calculated without intermediate rounding. A displayed estimate is not a guarantee.
Eight cameras at 4 Mbps, recording continuously for 30 days, generate 345.6 GB/day and need 10.368 TB of footage capacity. A 20% storage margin raises that to 12.442 TB. At 12 W per camera plus 20 W of other PoE devices, a 25% power allowance calls for 145 W of PoE budget.
Before you specify.
Is CCTVPlan free, and where is my project stored?
All calculations run in your browser. No account, database or paid API is used. Valid inputs are saved in localStorage on this device. A shared plan link includes those inputs in its URL fragment; share it only with people who should see your project.
Can I size a system from resolution alone?
No. Bitrate also depends on codec settings, frame rate, scene motion, noise and compression. Enter a measured or configured average bitrate, add an appropriate margin and check peak throughput separately.
Does a PASS confirm that my equipment is compatible?
A PASS means the entered capacity meets the selected numerical target. It does not verify a particular product, per-port PoE standard, recorder compatibility, cable quality or manufacturer runtime rating.