What 'cloud CCTV' actually means
Pure cloud CCTV streams every camera's footage directly to a hosted service over the internet, with no on-site recorder. You pay a per-camera monthly subscription and can view footage from anywhere.
It sounds clean — until you look at upload bandwidth requirements. A typical 4K camera at 24/7 high-quality recording can consume 6-10 Mbps of upload, per camera. Multiply by 16 cameras on a typical warehouse and you're well past what most Australian commercial NBN connections can sustain.
The hybrid model we actually recommend
Run a local NVR (UniFi Protect, Hikvision, or similar) for primary recording. All cameras record at full resolution to local storage, with no internet dependency. Then push event clips and lower-resolution previews to cloud backup for off-site redundancy and remote viewing.
This gives you the resilience of a local system (the cameras keep recording if the internet drops), the convenience of cloud access (live view from anywhere), and the tamper-resistance of off-site backups (a thief who takes the NVR can't take the cloud).
When pure cloud does make sense
Very small sites with 1-4 cameras (a single retail tenancy, a home office) — the upload load is manageable and the simplicity is worth it.
Sites with no permanent IT presence and unreliable on-site security (a remote depot, a building site) — cloud removes the local-NVR-as-target problem.
Multi-site retail chains where central monitoring matters more than per-site resolution.
FAQ
How long is footage retained in a typical install?+
We typically size local storage for 30 days of continuous 4K recording. Cloud backup retention is usually 7-30 days depending on the plan.
Is cloud CCTV more secure?+
It depends on the provider. A reputable cloud service with strong encryption can be more secure than a poorly-configured local NVR — but a well-built hybrid is the most resilient option.
What happens if the internet drops?+
With a hybrid setup, local recording continues uninterrupted. The cloud component catches up once the link is restored.