The video surveillance industry has evolved dramatically over the last 50 years. From the days of whirring VCRs, where individuals were literally, “caught on [VHS] tape”, to the introduction of digital video recorders and spinning hard disks – and now, an era of network-based video surveillance and associated IT infrastructure. During this transition, the hard disk drive displaced VHS tape as the typical media for storing video surveillance footage. However, with the number of higher megapixel cameras on the rise and longer retention requirements end-users are struggling to deal with the data and cost requirements associated with storing this amount of footage. In systems with long-term data retention, end-users can now use le-based tape storage such as LTO (Linear Tape Open) technology in combination with disk, to e ectively meet their requirements in a cost e ective manner without compromising on the quality of the video stored or the length of time the video footage is retained.