UniFi Protect & Frigate Storage & PoE Power Sizer [4K & 2K Cameras]
Calculate NVR storage retention in Terabytes and 802.3af/at PoE switch headroom across 4K and 2K camera streams.
UniFi Protect & Frigate Storage & PoE Power Sizer
Calculate NVR storage retention in Terabytes and 802.3af/at PoE switch headroom across 4K and 2K camera streams.
Engineered for 24/7 AllFrame streaming, low write-jitter, and high endurance in UDM Pro or Frigate ZFS pools.
Delivers reliable 802.3at PoE+ power delivery with per-port telemetry and 10G SFP+ uplink capability.
Engineering Methodology & Mathematical Proof
Surveillance Network Engineering: Storage Retention & PoE Power Budgets
Designing a high-reliability smart home surveillance infrastructure requires calculating two critical constraints: storage capacity for target retention days and PoE power budgets on network switches.
1. Daily Video Storage Math
The raw daily ingest rate per camera stream is calculated via:
Daily_Ingest_GB = (Bitrate_Mbps * 3600 * 24) / (8 * 1000)
Total_Retention_TB = [(Daily_Ingest_GB * Camera_Count * Retention_Days) / 1000] * 1.15
The 1.15 factor reserves 15% free space required by ZFS pools or standard ext4 filesystems to prevent fragmentation and write cliff slowdowns.
2. H.265 vs H.264 Efficiency
- H.264 (AVC): Standard surveillance format. Requires ~14-16 Mbps for crisp 4K30 footage without macroblocking.
- H.265 (HEVC): Advanced compression supported by modern IP cameras. Delivers equivalent visual clarity at 9-10 Mbps, yielding a 35% to 40% reduction in disk storage requirements.
3. Switch PoE Power Budgeting & Peak Draw
PoE cameras draw variable current based on environmental conditions. A camera idling at 6W during daylight will spike to 12.5W when the IR-cut filter engages, infrared LEDs illuminate, and optical zoom motors activate. Always size PoE switches with at least a 20% overhead margin above cumulative peak ratings.
Lab Tested Hardware for this Profile
Verified BenchmarksUbiquiti UniFi Protect G4 Pro 4K PoE Camera
Our primary optical test camera in the lab, delivering uncompromising 4K clarity and zero-friction RTSPS integration.
Ubiquiti UniFi Dream Machine Pro (UDM Pro)
The core gateway powering our entire lab test facility, handling dual 10GbE routing, VLAN isolation, and camera recording flawlessly.
Ubiquiti UniFi 10G Aggregation Switch (USW-Aggregation)
The silent heart of our 10GbE lab, providing 160 Gbps non-blocking switching between NAS pools and Proxmox compute nodes.
Reolink ColorX CX410 PoE Camera
The definitive camera sensor for local Frigate AI NVRs - eliminates black & white infrared blur and insect false alarms.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q:How much hard drive storage do 4K surveillance cameras consume per day?
A 4K camera (such as the UniFi Protect G4 Pro or Reolink CX810) streaming at 14 Mbps consumes approximately 145 GB per 24 hours under continuous H.264 recording. Utilizing H.265 compression reduces this to ~95 GB per day. For 6 cameras recording 24/7 with 30 days retention, you need at least 18TB of usable storage.
Q:What PoE power budget do I need for UniFi Protect 4K cameras?
UniFi G4 Pro cameras require 802.3at PoE+ power, consuming up to 12.5W during cold night operation when infrared illumination and optical zoom motors engage. A 6-camera rig requires a PoE budget of at least 75W, making a 24-port switch like the USW-Pro-24-PoE (400W budget) ideal.
Q:Can I stream UniFi Protect G4 Pro cameras into Frigate NVR simultaneously?
Yes. UniFi Protect provides native RTSPS/RTSP feeds for each camera. You can configure Frigate NVR to ingest the high-resolution RTSP stream for local object detection and 24/7 continuous archiving while still utilizing the UniFi Protect mobile app for instant notifications.
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