Setting up automatic cloud backup for your camera system
I wanted to share a method I discovered for backing up surveillance footage to popular cloud platforms like Google Drive, OneDrive, or Dropbox. This has been really useful for keeping my recordings safe.
Here’s the step-by-step process:
Launch your Protect application
Navigate to Settings → System → Archiving
Change the Archiving mode to ‘Continuous’
Choose your preferred cloud service (Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox, or local NAS)
Configure which cameras or footage types you want to include or exclude
Save your settings
Once configured, the system will automatically create a new folder each day in your chosen cloud storage with all the archived footage. This gives you an offsite backup of your important security recordings without having to manually transfer files.
Has anyone else tried this feature? I’m curious about other people’s experiences with cloud archiving for camera systems.
Everyone’s obsessing over manual configs and storage limits - you’re overcomplicating this.
I’ve got a similar setup but dropped all the native camera software nonsense. No more wrestling with bandwidth caps or storage tiers.
Built a workflow that handles everything automatically. It pulls footage from different camera brands, compresses based on motion detection, then routes to various cloud services by priority. Important stuff hits fast storage, routine footage gets compressed harder and goes to cheaper options.
Best part? Rules that auto-manage retention, handle failed uploads, and alert me when important footage gets archived. Done with manual folder cleanup and surprise storage overages.
Takes maybe 30 minutes to build vs dealing with platform BS. Way better than being stuck with whatever your camera maker supports.
Been running this Dropbox setup for six months - heads up on storage costs since no one mentioned it. Motion-only recording still burns through the free tier fast with multiple cameras. Had to upgrade to paid after three weeks. The daily folders are super handy for finding footage, but you need a retention policy or you’ll fill up and stop getting new backups (learned that one the hard way). I auto-delete anything past 90 days now - keeps costs down while covering recent stuff.
Been running something similar with OneDrive for 8 months - works great. Heads up though: check your upload bandwidth first. I made the mistake of backing up everything at full res and it killed my internet during the day. Now I drop the quality and run uploads overnight when nobody’s using the network. Also, watch out for daily upload limits. If you’ve got several high-res cameras doing continuous backup, you’ll hit those caps quick. The folder setup they mentioned is clutch - way better than digging through one huge folder to find what you need.