gCMOB Storage Guide: SD Card, Hard Drive and Recording Options Explained

1

Introduction

Every playback question in gCMOB ends at the same place: storage. How many days you can rewind, whether last week's incident still exists, and why the timeline has gaps all depend on how the recorder or camera stores video, and most owners never learn their own retention until the day it matters.

This guide explains the storage options behind gCMOB systems, the simple math of retention, and the warning signs that storage needs attention. Everything covered here ties back to the main gCMOB Download for Android - CCTV Camera Monitoring App Guide page, where the download and the key facts live.

2

Where Footage Actually Lives

In a DVR or NVR system, footage lives on the hard drive inside the recorder, and gCMOB streams it from there during playback. Standalone cameras may record to a microSD card inside the camera instead. The app itself stores nothing except clips and snapshots you deliberately capture.

This is why playback can fail when a recorder is offline even though live view of one camera still works: the archive and the live source are different places:

• Recorder hard drive holds DVR/NVR footage
• Standalone cameras may use microSD
• The app stores only your captures
• Playback needs the recorder online
• Know which storage your system uses

3

Retention Time: The Simple Math

Retention grows with bigger drives and shrinks with more cameras, higher resolution, higher bitrate, and continuous recording. As rough guidance, a typical small system on a 1 TB drive keeps one to three weeks; doubling cameras roughly halves the days.

Check your real retention in gCMOB playback by scrolling to the oldest available day. That observed number, not the installer's estimate, is the one to plan incidents around:

• More cameras means fewer days
• Motion recording stretches retention
• Bitrate is the hidden variable
• Measure real retention in playback
• Write the retention days on the recorder

4

Continuous vs Motion-Only Recording

Continuous recording captures everything and simplifies investigations, because the minutes before an event are recorded too. Motion-only recording saves storage but can miss quiet beginnings and depends entirely on detection being tuned correctly.

Many systems compromise: continuous recording on key channels such as entrances, motion recording on low-value views. Schedules can also switch modes between day and night:

• Continuous captures context before events
• Motion-only depends on detection quality
• Mixed strategies suit most sites
• Schedules can vary by hour
• Test motion triggers after setup

5

What Overwrite Means for Old Footage

When storage fills, recorders overwrite the oldest footage automatically. Nothing warns you on the day last month's video disappears; the retention window simply slides forward.

The practical consequence: incidents must be exported promptly. If an event matters, export the segment from the recorder within days, and treat gCMOB captures as quick copies while the original export is arranged:

• Full storage overwrites oldest first
• No warning when footage expires
• Export important segments promptly
• App captures are quick backups
• Retention window is a deadline

6

Signs Your Storage Is Failing

Hard drives in recorders work constantly and do wear out. Warning signs include playback gaps at random times, the recorder reporting drive errors or abnormal status, channels that stop recording while others continue, and clicking sounds from the recorder case.

gCMOB device health views often surface drive status. A reported drive problem is a same-week repair, because a failing drive takes the entire archive with it when it goes:

• Random playback gaps
• Drive error or abnormal status
• Some channels stop recording
• Unusual recorder noises
• Health screens report drive state

7

SD Card Tips for Standalone Cameras

For cameras recording to microSD, use high-endurance cards made for continuous video; ordinary cards wear out quickly under constant writing. Format the card in the camera when first installed, and check occasionally that the oldest playback day advances as expected.

Cards are also physically accessible with the camera, so for high-risk positions, a recorder-based system keeps storage safely indoors:

• High-endurance cards only
• Format in-camera at setup
• Verify retention monthly
• Cards are reachable with the camera
• Recorder storage is safer for risky spots

8

Planning an Upgrade When Retention Is Too Short

If measured retention falls short of what incidents demand, upgrade in order of value: first confirm bitrates are not wastefully high, then switch low-value channels to motion recording, and only then buy the larger drive. Half of retention problems are settings, not hardware.

When a new drive is fitted, note the date and the new measured retention, and have the work done by the installer if the recorder is under any service agreement:

• Settings before hardware spending
• Motion mode stretches smaller drives
• Measure retention after any change
• Installer help preserves agreements
• Record upgrade dates

9

Backing Up the Clips That Matter Long-Term

Some footage must outlive the retention window by years: incidents under dispute, insurance evidence, and safeguarding records. Export those segments to two places, such as a computer and cloud storage, with the incident note attached.

An export that exists once is a hope, not a backup. The second copy is what makes it evidence with a future:

• Export long-term segments twice
• Attach the incident note
• Computer plus cloud storage
• Verify exports open correctly
• Review stored evidence yearly