By Kieran Byrne, Architect & Engineering Manager at Axis Communications
Storage costs are rising and many organisations are already feeling the impact. As global demand for data accelerates, driven in part by the rapid growth of AI and data centres, hard drive pricing is increasing and putting pressure on storage budgets. What was once a predictable infrastructure cost is now a growing concern.
Simultaneously, organisations are generating and retaining more video than ever. While energy consumption remains vital, bandwidth, storage and memory are becoming increasingly important when designing a modern surveillance system.
This is especially relevant in the context of ongoing pressures on semiconductor supply chains and memory availability. Storage infrastructure is a business-critical resource. The ability to manage video data intelligently, without compromising quality, is a key differentiator.
For organisations deploying or expanding surveillance systems, the challenge is clear. How do you capture more detail, retain footage for longer, and scale without driving up storage costs and network load?
The hidden cost of video data
Video surveillance is inherently data intensive. Higher resolutions, increased frame rates and longer retention periods all place demands on storage and network infrastructure. If not carefully managed, this can quickly lead to rising costs and reduced efficiency.
Traditionally, this meant adding more hardware. More servers, more storage and more bandwidth. While in some cases this may solve the problem, it isn’t always sustainable, particularly as organisations balance performance with cost control and environmental responsibility. Instead, the focus is shifting toward reducing data at the point of capture.
Reducing data at the source
One of the most effective ways to manage storage and bandwidth is to reduce the amount of data generated in the first place, without compromising critical detail. This is where intelligent, dynamic algorithms play a key role. Rather than manually capping bitrate, which can impact image quality and forensic value, technologies such as AXIS Zipstream continuously analyse scenes in real-time. By understanding what is happening within the scene, Zipstream preserves important forensic detail while reducing unnecessary data. Areas of low activity are compressed more efficiently, while key details remain intact.
The result is significantly lower bandwidth and storage requirements, often with no visible impact on image quality. This is especially important in dynamic environments, where traditional compression can struggle to maintain both quality and efficiency. In security applications, detail matters, and reducing data volumes should never come at the expense of usability.
The next evolution: AV1 codec support
As video demands grow, newer compression standards are pushing efficiency even further. AV1 is a key development, offering improved compression compared to previous codecs. With AV1, organisations can achieve the same, or higher, image quality at lower bitrates. This directly reduces storage consumption and network load, making it a strong option for future-ready deployments.
At scale, even small reductions in bitrate can deliver substantial savings across large camera estates, especially when footage is stored for extended periods. By supporting advanced codecs like AV1, surveillance systems are better equipped to handle increasing data demands without expanding infrastructure.
Beyond storage: system-wide impact
Reducing bandwidth and storage has benefits across the entire system. Lower data volumes reduce network strain, minimise bottlenecks and improve overall performance. They can also extend the lifespan of existing infrastructure, supporting long-term investment strategies while reducing the immediate demand for network upgrades.
There are sustainability benefits as well. Less data to store and transmit means lower energy consumption across servers and data centres. Managing data efficiently can therefore deliver both operational and environmental gains.
Planning for real-world requirements
Every deployment is different. Scene complexity, retention policies and analytics requirements all influence storage and bandwidth needs. Accurate planning is essential. Tools such as AXIS Site Designer allow organisations to model their systems in advance and estimate real-world requirements based on specific device selections and configurations. This is not based on assumptions or industry averages, but on precise calculations tailored to the actual system being designed. This supports better decision making and helps avoid over or under provisioning.
By understanding the needs of each camera and scene, organisations can design systems that are both efficient and fit for purpose.
A smarter approach to modern surveillance
As video volumes increase and pressure on storage and infrastructure continues to grow, organisations need to rethink how they approach surveillance. The rise of AI and data-driven technologies is accelerating demand for storage, making efficiency more critical than ever.
Today’s goal is to capture the right data and manage it intelligently. By combining technologies such as AXIS Zipstream, advanced codecs like AV1, and intelligent design tools, it is possible to reduce storage and bandwidth demands without compromising performance. While AV1 is relatively new to the security industry, its efficiency gains are already well proven in other highly demanding, data intensive sectors. As support continues to grow, organisations can move forward with confidence in adopting these technologies as part of future ready system design.
This shift requires moving beyond guesswork and assumptions and adopting accurate, data-driven planning to ensure systems are efficient, scalable and fit for purpose.
