A business with several offices or outlets usually wants one thing from CCTV: to see and search every site from one place. The tempting design is to send every camera's video to a big recorder at head office. It rarely works well, because it depends on each branch's internet upload speed around the clock, and any outage means no recording at all. The design that holds up is to record at each site on a local recorder, and centralise the management: one console at head office to view live and recorded video from every site on demand, with copies of only the important cameras or events pulled to central storage. You get one place to look, without betting the recordings on the links between offices.
What are the options?
| Fully central recording | Fully local, unmanaged | Local recording, central management | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Where footage is stored | Head office only | Each site | Each site, with selected copies at head office |
| Bandwidth needed from branches | Constant, high | None | Low; used when viewing or copying |
| If the branch link fails | Recording stops | Keeps recording | Keeps recording |
| One place to view all sites | Yes | No | Yes |
| If a branch recorder is stolen or destroyed | Footage is safe centrally | Footage is lost | Copied cameras and events are safe |
| Hardware at each branch | Cameras and switch only | Recorder | Recorder |
| Suits | Sites joined by fast private links | Independent outlets | Most multi-site businesses |
Why is streaming everything to head office a problem?
CALC. Three branches with 8 cameras each, recording at 4 Mbps per camera.
- Upload needed from each branch: 8 x 4 = 32 Mbps, continuously.
- Download arriving at head office: 3 x 32 = 96 Mbps, continuously.
- Data moved per branch per day: 32 x 10.8 = 345.6GB.
That upload competes with everything else the branch does online, all day. Many business broadband plans can carry it on paper, but any congestion or outage becomes missing footage, and usage-capped or mobile-backup links cannot. Recording locally uses none of it. The bitrate is an example; use your cameras' actual figures.
What does the recommended design look like?
- A recorder at every site. A NAS or NVR sized for that site's cameras and retention. See how much storage for 30, 60 or 90 days.
- Secure links between sites. Site-to-site VPN between each branch firewall and head office. Do not publish recorders or cameras to the internet.
- Central management. Software at head office that lists every site's cameras, shows live and recorded video on demand, pushes settings and reports health.
- Selective central copies. Entrances, cash handling and server rooms, or event clips only, copied to central storage on a schedule, ideally outside business hours.
- Consistent settings. The same retention, time synchronisation, naming and user roles everywhere.
- Health monitoring. Alerts when a camera goes offline, a drive fails or a recorder stops recording.
Synology's Surveillance Station supports this pattern, with a central management function for multiple recording servers. Other vendors offer similar arrangements within their own product ranges. See Synology Surveillance Station with AI cameras and Synology NAS vs traditional NVR.
How much central storage is needed?
Only for what you copy. CALC. If 2 cameras per branch are copied in full from 3 branches at 4 Mbps for 30 days: 43.2GB x 2 x 3 x 30 = 7,776GB, about 7.8TB. Copying all 24 cameras would need 43.2 x 24 x 30 = 31,104GB, about 31.1TB, and the bandwidth to move it. Copying event clips only is smaller again and depends on how often events fire.
Centralise the control, not the cables. Each site should be able to record on its worst internet day, and head office should be able to look in on its best.
What do AI cameras change?
They make the selective design work better. Cameras that classify people and vehicles produce meaningful events, so head office can receive a short clip and a notification when someone enters a branch after hours, instead of a continuous stream nobody watches. Searching across sites by event type also becomes practical. See AI cameras vs traditional CCTV.
What needs deciding before installation?
| Decision | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Retention period, per site or company-wide | Drives storage size and data protection compliance |
| Which cameras are copied centrally | Drives bandwidth and central storage |
| Who may view which sites | A branch manager should see their branch, not all of them |
| Who may export footage, and how requests are logged | Accountability |
| One camera and recorder platform, or mixed | Central management is simplest on one platform |
| Who responds to health alerts | A dead camera is often discovered only after an incident |
What about security and privacy across sites?
- Cameras and recorders on their own network segment at every site.
- VPN between sites; strong, unique administrator accounts with two-factor sign-in.
- Firmware kept current everywhere, which central management makes easier.
- A UPS for each recorder and its switch.
- CCTV notices at every site, a written retention period and controlled access. Central access to video of staff and customers at many locations is a significant concentration of personal data and should be limited to those who need it.
This is general information, not legal advice. See office CCTV and PDPA and who is guarding your network.
Buying in Singapore
Branch recorders: the Synology DS425+ (S$853.20) or Synology DS925+ (S$1,260). Head-office storage: the Synology DS1825+ (S$2,148) or RackStation RS2423+ (S$4,002). Cameras: the Synology BC510 and TC510 (S$276 each). Drives: Seagate SkyHawk from S$158. Site-to-site VPN: the Fortinet FortiGate 70G (S$1,668) (listed 12 Nov 2026; prices change; ask for a current quotation). TP-Link VIGI recorders and cameras, including the VIGI NVR2016H-16MP, are price on request. To start, use Request for Quotation on the product page, call (65) 6978 3502, email Sales@sourceit.com.sg or use our contact page.
Frequently asked questions
Should CCTV from several offices be recorded at one central location? Usually not entirely. Recording at each site and managing centrally is more reliable, because recording does not depend on the internet link between offices.
How much bandwidth does central CCTV recording need? Each site needs continuous upload equal to its cameras' combined bitrate. Eight cameras at 4 Mbps need 32 Mbps of constant upload, which is why full central recording suits only well-connected sites.
Can head office view cameras at all branches? Yes. With central management software and secure links between sites, head office can view live and recorded video from every site on demand without storing all of it centrally.
How should branch CCTV systems be connected securely? Through site-to-site VPN between firewalls, with cameras and recorders on their own network segment and never exposed directly to the internet.
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