Stream Recording & DVR: Complete Storage Management Guide

How Recording Works in StreamDev

StreamDev includes a built-in stream recording and DVR system that captures live streams directly on the server. When recording is enabled for a stream, the server saves the incoming audio and video data to disk in real time, creating a playable video file that can be reviewed, downloaded, or used for catch-up TV and time-shifted viewing.

Recordings are stored in standard video formats (typically MPEG-TS or MP4) and are accessible through the StreamDev dashboard. The recording system works with all stream types — whether the source is RTMP Push, HLS pull, RTSP, SRT, or any other supported input protocol. There is no separate encoding step required; the server records the stream as it passes through the processing pipeline.

Starting and Stopping Recordings

You can control recordings in two ways:

• Manual Control: Start and stop recording at any time from the StreamDev dashboard. Each stream has a record button that toggles recording on or off. This is useful for recording specific events or shows on demand.
• Automatic Recording: Configure a stream to record automatically whenever it goes live. This ensures that every broadcast is captured without manual intervention — ideal for compliance, archival, or catch-up TV services.

When a recording starts, the dashboard shows a recording indicator with the elapsed time. When stopped, the recording file is finalized and appears in the recordings list within seconds.

Disk Usage Monitoring

The StreamDev dashboard includes a disk usage monitor that shows real-time storage consumption. You can see total disk space, used space, available space, and the percentage used. This information is critical for operators recording multiple streams simultaneously, as video files consume significant storage over time.

The dashboard also displays storage usage per stream, so you can identify which streams are consuming the most disk space and make informed decisions about retention and cleanup.

Search and Filter Recordings

As your recording library grows, finding specific recordings becomes important. StreamDev provides search and filter capabilities that let you locate recordings by:

• Stream name
• Recording date and time range
• File size
• Duration

Results can be sorted by date, size, or duration, making it easy to find the recording you need even in a library of thousands of files.

Browser Playback and Download

Recordings can be played back directly in the browser through the StreamDev dashboard — no additional software or plugins required. The built-in player supports seeking, playback speed control, and full-screen viewing. This makes it easy to quickly review a recording without downloading it first.

For archival or distribution purposes, recordings can be downloaded as standard video files. Downloaded files are compatible with all major video players (VLC, mpv, Windows Media Player) and video editing software.

Storage Calculations

Understanding how much storage your recordings will consume is essential for capacity planning. Storage usage depends on the stream's bitrate — higher quality streams produce larger files. Here are the calculations for common resolutions:

1080p Full HD (5 Mbps)

• Per hour: ~2.25 GB
• Per day (24h continuous): ~54 GB
• Per week: ~378 GB
• Per month (30 days): ~1.62 TB

720p HD (3 Mbps)

• Per hour: ~1.35 GB
• Per day (24h continuous): ~32.4 GB
• Per week: ~226.8 GB
• Per month (30 days): ~972 GB

480p SD (1.5 Mbps)

• Per hour: ~675 MB
• Per day (24h continuous): ~16.2 GB
• Per week: ~113.4 GB
• Per month (30 days): ~486 GB

These figures are based on constant bitrate (CBR) encoding. Variable bitrate (VBR) streams may use slightly less storage on average, as the encoder allocates fewer bits to low-motion scenes. However, for planning purposes, it is safer to use CBR estimates as your baseline.

If you are recording multiple streams simultaneously, multiply the per-stream figures by the number of concurrent recordings. For example, recording 10 streams at 1080p/5 Mbps continuously would require approximately 540 GB per day.

Backup & Restore

StreamDev includes a backup and restore feature that lets you export and import your stream configurations as JSON files. This is invaluable for disaster recovery, migrating to a new server, or duplicating your setup across multiple servers.

What's Included in a Backup

The JSON configuration backup includes all of your stream settings:

• Stream names and display settings
• Source URLs — the input URLs for each stream
• Transcoding settings — codec, resolution, bitrate, and quality presets
• RTMP Push URLs — configured push destinations for each stream
• SRT settings — SRT listener/caller configuration and encryption keys
• Watermark configurations — image paths, position, size, opacity, and margin settings
• Restream destinations — all configured restreaming targets (YouTube, Twitch, Facebook, custom RTMP)

To create a backup, go to the StreamDev dashboard settings and click Export Configuration. To restore, upload the JSON file using Import Configuration. The system will recreate all streams with their original settings.

Manual Backup

For a complete server backup beyond just stream configurations, you should also back up these files and directories:

• iptv.db — The main database file containing all stream data, user accounts, and settings.
• .env — The environment configuration file with server settings, ports, and API keys.
• ssl/ directory — Your SSL certificates and private keys for HTTPS.
• watermarks/ directory — All uploaded watermark and logo overlay images.

Back up these files regularly using standard tools like rsync, scp, or your cloud provider's snapshot feature. A complete backup ensures you can restore your entire StreamDev installation — not just the stream configurations — in the event of a hardware failure or server migration.

Storage Planning Recommendations

Based on common deployment scenarios, here are our storage recommendations:

• Small deployment (1-5 streams, event recording only): 100-500 GB is sufficient. Most events are a few hours long, and you only need to retain recordings for a limited period.
• Medium deployment (5-20 streams, daily recording): 1-4 TB recommended. Set up a retention policy to automatically delete recordings older than 7-30 days.
• Large deployment (20+ streams, 24/7 recording): 10+ TB with RAID or distributed storage. Consider offloading older recordings to cheaper cold storage (S3, Backblaze B2) and keeping only recent recordings on fast local storage.

Regardless of deployment size, always maintain at least 20% free disk space as a buffer. When disk space runs critically low, recording reliability can degrade, and the operating system may experience issues. Monitor disk usage through the StreamDev dashboard and set up alerts to notify you when storage reaches 80% capacity.