Our 5 node cluster lab setup is the basis of this sizing example. The details are:

• 12 x Recorders
• 70 cameras @4 Mb/s per recorder (840 cameras in total, 12 X 70)
• Retain all data for60 days

It is necessary to size both the vSAN and Extended storage to meet the above requirements.

vSAN Sizing

The max available space for the vSAN live storage in our environment is4 TB. This configuration can support up to 32 hours of data storage on vSAN. This total storage size is essential when planning for a potential cloud provider outage. When the video buffer is full, in the event of an outage lasting morethat32 hours video will be lost.

Expansion drive sizing

The expansion drive for 840 cameras will be calculated based on the formula above:

daily_size = (4 * 0.000125) * 840 * 86400 
           = 36,288 GB per day 
 
total_size = 36288 * 60 
           = 2,177,280 GB 
           = 2.07 PB 
 
-   4 Mb/s camera stream 
-   0.000125 GB/s in a Mb/s 
-   840 Cameras 
-   86400 Seconds in a Day (24hrs) 
-   60 Day Retention 

In addition to the storage considerations it is also important to factor in egress and ingress which typically incurs a cost in a cloud scenario.