IP cameras with recording in the Cloud: Advantages and disadvantages

In recent years, the main manufacturers of domestic IP cameras have incorporated the functionality of recording everything that happens and storing it in the manufacturer’s own cloud that we are using, automatically uploading video clips when it detects movement and/or sound. This will allow us to always have all the recordings available in the cloud, however, this recording in the Cloud has its advantages but also its disadvantages. Today we are going to explain all the strengths and weaknesses of recording in the cloud, so that you can decide if it is worth having a home IP camera with this option or not.

Strengths of cloud recording

IP cameras with recording in the Cloud

The possibility of recording in the cloud or Cloud everything that is happening is something quite interesting, because it allows us to access the manufacturer’s cloud from anywhere, without the need to connect remotely to the camera, making use of VPN services or accessing an NVR device that we have, both installed individually and through a NAS server that has software compatible with the NVR functions.

Next, we are going to show you all the strengths that recording in the cloud of domestic IP cameras has.

Anywhere access to recordings

When a domestic IP camera uploads the video clips in the cloud, that means that they will be available to all users of the application or the manufacturer’s cloud service, of course, these recordings will only be accessed by those who have permission to do so. With just having an Internet connection we will have access to all the recordings, and also to a history of all the recordings that the camera has made in the last hours, days and even weeks. Depending on the characteristics of the manufacturer’s cloud, we can have more or less history.

For the IP camera to upload everything to the manufacturer’s cloud, it is absolutely essential to have an Internet connection, if you have a network where video surveillance does not have Internet access, this feature will not work for you, because it is essential that the cameras have access with your Cloud. There are IP cameras that allow local and remote access through the Cloud, but the vast majority of cameras always use the Cloud even if you are on the same local network.

Theft protection

If we have a Cloud IP camera installed in our house and they enter to rob, most likely they will also take the video surveillance camera, or at least, the micro SD card for local storage. In these situations the IP camera will not have been of any use to us, we will only receive a notification indicating that movement has been detected, but we will not see any video clip or absolutely anything else.

For this reason, having an automatic recording in the cloud, it does not matter that the camera is taken because the video clip will have already been uploaded to the manufacturer’s Cloud, so there is no type of local storage to steal. Thanks to these recordings, we will be able to know everything that has happened in our home.

In the event of a fire or natural disaster, the Cloud also plays in our favor because we can see everything that has happened in our home, and we can see in detail what has happened. If we only had local storage, surely that IP camera would have been so damaged that we will not be able to see absolutely anything that it had recorded.

Recorded Clip Safety

Local recording on a micro SD card has no guarantee of privacy and security. If we store the video clips on the micro SD card, anyone could see these clips when removing the micro SD card, they just need to have physical access to the camera, so they could spy on us and we will put our privacy and security at risk.

If these videos are uploaded to the manufacturer’s Cloud, they will be safe from prying eyes, all videos in the cloud are stored encrypted, and we can only access them through the manufacturer’s service and by logging in with our user credentials. In this way, all recordings will be protected with user credentials to access them, not as in local storage that this is not possible.

migración rápida a la nube

You don’t need a NAS or NVR

If you want to store video clips or all the recording from IP cameras, it is necessary to have a NAS server or a dedicated NVR. This has a significant additional cost, because a NAS server is around € 400 with hard drives included, although an NVR is cheaper but can only do the functions of NVR, and not many others as with NAS. In case you want to store the recordings locally, we recommend using a NAS server that has software dedicated exclusively to video surveillance.

By having recording in the cloud, we do not need to store the recordings on a NAS or NVR, because the important thing is already uploaded in the cloud, so we save both the purchase of equipment as well as maintenance and electricity costs. A very important detail is that some IP Cloud cameras when we are controlling them with an NVR or a NAS, do not allow access to them through the Cloud, so we will not have recording either.

Ease of installation and configuration

When we buy a Cloud IP camera, all we have to do is install it by following the application’s step-by-step setup wizard, and then activate the manufacturer’s cloud recording. Everything is very easy to do and does not have any complexity. If you decide to install a micro SD card locally, the process is also very simple but it has the drawbacks that we have discussed above.

However, if you decide to store the recordings in your own Cloud (private cloud) either on a NAS or NVR, you will need the necessary knowledge to correctly configure the recording server and also the communication with the IP camera, so it is clearly more complicated than simply activating the cloud recording function of the different manufacturers, which is suitable for anyone.

Disadvantages of the Cloud

Although using cloud storage has many strengths, not everything is as beautiful as it seems, it also has its weaknesses that we must take into account before buying a video surveillance IP camera with this functionality.

Internet connection always

The first drawback is obvious, for cloud recording to work it is absolutely necessary to always have an Internet connection. All IP cameras are generally connected via WiFi in the 2.4GHz band, so we have to have a good router capable of providing great coverage and WiFi speed in this frequency band. There are camera models that also support the 5GHz band, ideal for uploading recorded videos quickly and without interference, and there are even more advanced models that have Ethernet connectivity to avoid having to use WiFi.

Regardless of the way of connection, it is necessary to have a good Internet bandwidth so that the videos are uploaded at the maximum possible speed, and that we have a stability of the Internet connection, otherwise the videos could be uploaded corrupt, for what we could not see them correctly. It is also very important to equip our router and IP camera with a UPS, with the aim that if a thief enters the house and accesses the electrical panel, we do not run out of power in these two important devices.

Video clips beyond our control

If we store the video clips on a micro SD card, on a locally managed NAS server where we have installed video surveillance software, and even an NVR device, all the videos and video clips are under our control, because we have them physically with us.

In the case of uploading the videos to the cloud, we lose this control because they will be on the manufacturer’s servers. If you don’t trust manufacturers too much to store your video clips, then cloud recording is not for you. Another negative aspect is that if there is a security problem in your systems, our video clips could be compromised if they are not properly encrypted or encrypted, so it is something that we must bear in mind if we are going to use cloud recording. .

Pay to use the cloud

Some IP camera manufacturers like D-Link initially provided cloud recording completely free of charge, but with limitations compared to premium modes. Most manufacturers that provide recording in the cloud do so under a monthly or annual subscription, depending on the manufacturer we will have a period of one month or one year (such as D-Link) to test the service, but finally we will always have to pay to use this functionality.

Is it worth recording in the Cloud for our camera? In our opinion we believe that yes, there are manufacturers like D-Link that subscribe to account level, so we can add from 3 to 10 cameras to the cloud recording, however, other manufacturers such as EZVIZ have subscription level camera, so it is more expensive. Depending on the manufacturer, we will have some rates or others, and we must pay close attention to long-term prices.

Conclusions.

As you have seen, recording in the cloud is not always good, you should think about whether it is really worth it or not, assessing both the strengths and weaknesses of this interesting functionality that most domestic IP Cloud cameras incorporate. In our opinion, we think that it is worth it in most home scenarios, because it is very easy to configure and works really well.

In the case that you are a more advanced user, it is possible that you have already set up your own video surveillance system with a NAS server that automatically replicates the video clips to a cloud storage such as Google Drive or Dropbox. NAS servers such as QNAP’s have QVR Pro / QVR Elite that allow us to view in real time everything that happens with the camera, in addition, it also allows us to store continuous or event-triggered recording. Thanks to this system, you can remotely access the cameras using the apps for smartphones and tablets. In these cases, recording in the cloud is not for you, because you already have the entire system mounted and it will not be worth it to upload the video clips to the manufacturer’s servers, and also pay for this service.