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Multiple Storage Profiles

VibeNVR allows you to map different cameras to different storage locations on your host system. This enables flexible storage strategies, such as manually separating recordings based on performance needs: - SSD: Use for cameras requiring fast access or high-res snapshots. - NAS/HDD: Use for cameras with high-volume, long-term recordings.

Concepts

Default Storage

By default, all recordings are stored in /var/lib/vibe/recordings (mapped to ./data/recordings or similar in docker-compose).

Storage Profile

A Storage Profile defines: - Name: A friendly label (e.g., "NAS Primary"). - Path: An absolute path inside the VibeNVR containers (e.g., /storage/nas). - Quota: A maximum capacity in GB. When exceeded, the oldest events across all cameras using this profile are purged first.

Setup Guide

1. Mount the External Volume

Before creating a profile in the UI, you must ensure the external storage is mounted into the VibeNVR containers in your docker-compose.yml.

Example: 

services:
  backend:
    volumes:
      - /mnt/synology/nvr:/storage/nas
  engine:
    volumes:
      - /mnt/synology/nvr:/storage/nas

2. Create the Profile

  1. Navigate to Settings -> Storage Management.
  2. Click Add Profile.
  3. Enter the name and the absolute container path (e.g., /storage/nas).
  4. Set an optional quota (GB).

3. Assign Cameras

  1. Edit a Camera configuration.
  2. In the General tab, select the desired Storage Profile.
  3. Save the camera settings. The engine will automatically begin saving new recordings to the new path.

How Quotas Work

VibeNVR employs a hierarchical, reactive cleanup strategy. The system automatically calculates the Effective Limit for each camera to ensure compliance with both local and global policies:

  1. Effective Limit Calculation: The UI and Backend prioritize the most restrictive value between the individual camera setting and the global quota.
  2. Example: If a Camera is set to 10GB but the Global Quota is 5GB, the Effective Limit is 5GB.
  3. Camera-Level Controls: Users can define specific Max Storage (GB) and Retention (Preset intervals like 1 week, or a Custom number of days) per camera.
  4. Profile/Global Limit: The system ensures the total disk usage across all cameras remains within the defined profile or global quota, purging the oldest events from any camera as needed.

Storage Maintenance & Breakdown

The Storage Management section in Settings provides a detailed breakdown of space usage: - Real-time Metrics: See exactly how many GBs of Video and Snapshots each camera is consuming. - Granular Cleanup: Use the dedicated Cleanup buttons (Trash icons) in the breakdown table to manually purge only videos or only snapshots for a specific camera. - Action Targets: Maintenance buttons are optimized with large (44x44px) hit targets for high precision on both Desktop and Mobile.

[!TIP] Use the Breakdown Table to identify "storage-hungry" cameras and adjust their individual retention settings or assign them to a dedicated Storage Profile.

[!NOTE] Reactive Monitoring: Cleanup tasks run every 10 minutes for quota violations and emergency disk space checks. This is independent of the full retention cycle (Every Hour/Day), ensuring the system remains responsive to rapid disk usage spikes.

Disk Safety

If the total free space on the /data volume falls below 5%, VibeNVR triggers an Emergency Cleanup. It will purge the oldest events from the system regardless of quotas or retention settings until at least 10% free space is recovered. This protects the database and OS from filesystem exhaustion.

Technical Notes

  • Path Traversal: For security, paths cannot contain .. and must start with /.
  • Engine Sync: When a camera's profile is changed, a new configuration is pushed to the VibeEngine, which immediately redirects its write streams.
  • Backups: Storage profiles are included in system backups. If you restore a backup to a new system, ensure the same paths are mounted in Docker.