On site if you want no monthly fee and have a safe place for the recorder. Cloud if the video has to outlast a break-in, or you run more than one location.
What is the difference?
With on-site recording, your cameras send video to a recorder in your building. The footage stays on your property. You can still watch live and recorded video on your phone or desktop.
With cloud recording, video goes over your internet connection to storage run by a provider. The footage lives off your property. You watch it the same way, from your phone or desktop.
Some businesses use both. The recorder keeps everything on site, and the cloud keeps a copy of the cameras that matter most.
When should I pick on-site recording?
On-site recording fits when:
- You want no monthly storage fee.
- You have a locked room or cabinet where the recorder is hard to find and reach.
- Your internet upload is slow, which is common on rural sites.
- You have many cameras, since uploading all of them to the cloud gets costly.
Footage is typically kept two to four weeks on site. We size the recorder to how far back you want to look.
When should I pick cloud recording?
Cloud recording fits when:
- The footage has to survive a break-in, a fire or a flood.
- You have several sites and want to see them all in one place, say a shop in Winkler and a yard in Carman.
- There is no safe spot for a recorder, like a small storefront or a trailer.
- You don't want to look after any equipment yourself.
What goes wrong with each?
Both have real problems. Here they are side by side.
| Cloud recording | On-site recording |
|---|---|
| There is a monthly fee, often per camera, for as long as you use it. | The recorder can be stolen or smashed in a break-in. |
| It depends on your internet. If the connection drops, cloud recording stops unless the camera can store some locally. | Fire, water or a power surge can damage the recorder and the footage on it. |
| A slow upload forces lower quality or fewer cameras. | You maintain it. Hard drives wear out and need replacing. |
| Your footage lives off your property, with a provider. | If nobody checks it, a failed drive can go unnoticed until you need footage. |
| How long footage is kept depends on the plan you pay for. | How far back you can look depends on the drive size. |
Neither option is safe from every problem. Cloud shifts the risk to your internet and your monthly bill. On site shifts it to the recorder and to you.
What does Foresight usually recommend?
For most single-site businesses we suggest on-site recording with the recorder locked away, because it has no monthly fee and does not depend on a rural internet connection.
Where a break-in would likely take the recorder, or where you run more than one site, we add cloud for the key cameras. A shop yard near Morden might keep everything on site and send the gate camera to the cloud. We work with Videoloft for cloud recording when it fits.
We decide this on the site walk. We look at where a recorder could go, test what your internet can upload, and ask how you'd use the footage.