Set the recording policy
Decide whether cameras record continuously or on motion, and how many days footage must remain available. Use the main stream bitrate, not the low resolution mobile stream.
- Confirm resolution and frame rate
- Choose H.265 or H.264 assumptions
- Set recording hours per day
- Add capacity for overhead and drive replacement
Leave operating room
Do not size the array to exactly the calculated number. Motion-heavy scenes and firmware reserves consume space, while usable disk capacity is lower than the label suggests.