How Much NAS Storage for 8K Video?

The short answer: 8K video can consume hundreds of gigabytes per hour

There is no single storage requirement for 8K video. The correct estimate comes from the recording bitrate and the number of hours you retain.

Use this formula:

Storage per hour (GB) = Bitrate (Mbps) × 0.45

Examples using decimal gigabytes:

Video bitrate	Approximate storage per hour	Approximate storage for 10 hours
200 Mbps	90 GB	900 GB
500 Mbps	225 GB	2.25 TB
800 Mbps	360 GB	3.6 TB
1,000 Mbps	450 GB	4.5 TB
2,000 Mbps	900 GB	9 TB

These are estimates for the video stream alone. Audio tracks, metadata, multiple camera angles, editing exports, proxies, project files, and duplicate versions require additional capacity.

For a serious 8K workflow, size the NAS for usable capacity, not the total capacity printed on the drives. Then account for RAID or parity, filesystem overhead, snapshots, free-space headroom, future growth, and backups.

How much storage does your 8K footage need?

Start with bitrate, not resolution

“8K” describes image dimensions, but it does not define file size. Two 8K cameras may produce dramatically different storage requirements because of differences in:

• Codec
• Compression level
• Color depth
• Chroma subsampling
• Frame rate
• Intra-frame versus long-GOP recording
• RAW versus compressed output
• Audio and metadata

If you know the camera’s bitrate, use it directly. If the camera records variable-bitrate footage, use a conservative sustained or maximum bitrate when sizing storage.

Use the recording-hours formula

Storage (GB) = Bitrate (Mbps) × Recording hours × 0.45

For larger projects:

Storage (TB) = Bitrate (Mbps) × Recording hours × 0.45 / 1,000

Worked examples:

• 500 Mbps for 10 hours: 500 × 10 × 0.45 = 2,250 GB, or about 2.25 TB
• 800 Mbps for 25 hours: 800 × 25 × 0.45 = 9,000 GB, or about 9 TB
• 1,000 Mbps for 60 hours: 1,000 × 60 × 0.45 = 27,000 GB, or about 27 TB

These figures represent original camera media only. Do not treat them as the final NAS requirement.

Separate the storage layers

A reliable NAS estimate should keep these capacity layers separate.

1. Raw media capacity

Raw media is the footage copied from cameras, recorders, or removable drives.

Raw media = bitrate × recording hours

Include all retained material if you do not immediately delete unusable clips. For multi-camera shoots, calculate each source separately and add the results:

Total raw media = Camera A + Camera B + Camera C + ...

For example, three cameras each recording 500 Mbps for 10 hours produce:

3 × 500 × 10 × 0.45 = 6,750 GB, or about 6.75 TB

2. Working files and production copies

Editing can require more than one copy of the same material. Your NAS may hold:

• Original camera files
• Transcodes or optimized media
• Proxy files
• Audio files
• Project files
• Render caches
• Review exports
• Master exports
• Alternate cuts and deliverables

There is no universal percentage for this layer because workflows vary. Measure an existing project if possible. If you do not have historical data, estimate each category separately rather than adding an arbitrary multiplier.

For example:

Raw camera media: 9 TB
Proxy media: 0.5 TB
Project and audio files: 0.2 TB
Exports and masters: 2 TB
Current working set: 11.7 TB

The working set is the amount that must be available for active production. It is not the same as the backup requirement.

3. RAID or parity reduction

RAID protects availability when a drive fails, but it reduces usable capacity and is not a backup.

Approximate raw-to-usable formulas are:

• RAID 1: usable capacity is roughly the capacity of one drive in a mirror
• RAID 5 or RAID Z1: usable capacity is roughly the total capacity of all drives minus one drive
• RAID 6 or RAID Z2: usable capacity is roughly the total capacity of all drives minus two drives
• RAID 10: usable capacity is roughly half of the total raw drive capacity

Actual usable space depends on the array layout, drive sizes, filesystem, pool configuration, and vendor conventions. Use the NAS manufacturer’s calculator for the final figure.

A simplified example with six equal-capacity drives:

Layout	Approximate raw capacity available	Approximate capacity before filesystem overhead
RAID 5 / RAID Z1	5 drive-equivalents	83% of raw
RAID 6 / RAID Z2	4 drive-equivalents	67% of raw
RAID 10	3 drive-equivalents	50% of raw

The exact drive capacity is intentionally not assumed here. “Drive-equivalents” shows the capacity trade-off without pretending that a particular drive model or NAS supports every layout.

For large 8K media pools, RAID 6 or RAID Z2 may provide more fault tolerance than single-parity layouts, but it costs an additional drive-equivalent of capacity. RAID 10 can offer useful write behavior and rebuild characteristics for some workloads, but it sacrifices about half of raw capacity. Choose based on fault tolerance, workload, rebuild risk, and budget—not capacity alone.

4. Filesystem overhead, snapshots, and reserved space

Filesystem overhead is normally much smaller than RAID overhead, but it still reduces the number shown as usable. The amount varies by filesystem and NAS implementation.

Also account for:

• Filesystem metadata
• RAID or pool metadata
• Snapshots
• Snapshot retention
• Recycle bins
• Version history
• Reserved or system space
• Temporary files
• Deduplication or compression behavior, if used

ZFS-based systems can make snapshots and copy-on-write behavior especially useful for protecting project files from accidental changes or ransomware. However, snapshots consume space as data changes. They are not a substitute for an independent backup.

5. Free-space headroom

Do not plan to fill a NAS to its displayed maximum. Leave working headroom for editing, imports, temporary files, snapshots, RAID operations, and future projects.

The correct headroom percentage depends on the workload and platform. A video-editing NAS that is regularly near full can become difficult to manage even when files technically still fit. Define a warning threshold before purchase, such as a capacity level at which you will archive or expand the system.

A practical formula is:

Required usable capacity = Current working set / (1 - headroom fraction)

If the current working set is 20 TB and you choose 20% headroom:

20 / (1 - 0.20) = 25 TB

That 25 TB is usable capacity after RAID and filesystem effects. It is not 25 TB of raw drive capacity.

Worked example: sizing a NAS for an 8K production workflow

Assume a production team needs to retain:

• 25 hours of 8K footage
• A sustained bitrate of 800 Mbps
• Proxy files and project data totaling 2 TB
• Finished masters and review exports totaling 3 TB
• One year of active projects
• 25% free-space headroom
• A separate backup copy of the retained data

Step 1: Calculate original 8K media

800 Mbps × 25 hours × 0.45 = 9,000 GB

Original footage requires about:

9 TB

Step 2: Add working files and deliverables

Original footage: 9 TB
Proxies and project data: 2 TB
Masters and review exports: 3 TB
Current working set: 14 TB

Step 3: Add free-space headroom

With 25% headroom:

14 / (1 - 0.25) = 18.67 TB

The NAS should therefore provide approximately 18.7 TB of usable space after RAID and filesystem overhead for this working set.

Step 4: Translate usable capacity into raw capacity

Suppose the selected layout provides roughly 70% usable capacity after its parity and practical overhead. This is only an illustration; the actual ratio must come from the selected NAS and drives.

18.67 TB / 0.70 = 26.67 TB raw capacity

You would then select a drive arrangement with more than this raw capacity, while checking the vendor’s actual usable-capacity calculator.

Step 5: Size the backup separately

If the backup must contain the same 14 TB of retained data, it needs at least 14 TB of usable backup capacity before backup-side headroom, versioning, and future growth. If the backup uses RAID, its raw capacity will also be higher than its usable target.

The backup does not need to use the same RAID level or even the same type of system, but it must be large enough for the data and retention policy. A second NAS, external disks, removable media, or cloud storage may all be appropriate depending on restore time and budget.

Account for growth and retention

A NAS that fits this month’s footage may be undersized next year. Forecast capacity using your actual production pattern:

Annual media growth = Projects per month × Hours per project × Bitrate × 0.45 × 12

Then add:

• The percentage of footage you retain permanently
• Projects that remain online for client revisions
• New cameras or higher bitrates
• More cameras per shoot
• Higher frame rates
• Longer recording days
• Additional editors
• More export versions
• Snapshot and backup retention

Example growth calculation

If a team adds 10 hours of 800 Mbps footage per month:

10 × 800 × 0.45 × 12 = 43,200 GB

That is approximately 43.2 TB of new original media per year, before proxies, exports, RAID overhead, free-space headroom, and backups.

If only half of the source footage is retained, the retained original-media growth would be approximately 21.6 TB per year. Make the retention assumption explicit; it has a major effect on the NAS size.

Backups: RAID is not backup

RAID and parity help keep a NAS online after certain drive failures. They do not protect against:

• Accidental deletion
• Ransomware
• File corruption
• Theft
• Fire or flood
• A failed NAS controller or enclosure
• Incorrect synchronization
• An administrator deleting a shared folder
• A disaster affecting the entire location

Use a separate backup system and test restores. A useful planning model is:

• Primary NAS: active editing and shared storage
• Local backup: fast recovery from deleted or corrupted files
• Off-site or cloud copy: protection from site-level disasters
• Archive: long-term retention for completed projects, when required

A synchronized second NAS is not automatically a backup. If deletions and encryption events synchronize immediately, both systems may lose the same files. Use versioned backups, snapshots with controlled retention, or another method that preserves recoverable historical copies.

For large 8K datasets, calculate backup duration and network capacity as well as backup capacity. A first backup can take a long time, and restoring many terabytes may be limited by the link, storage hardware, or both.

Networking and editing implications

Storage capacity answers only whether the files fit. The NAS also needs to deliver the required data to the editors.

A simple network conversion is:

Bandwidth (Gbps) / 8 = theoretical GB/s

For example:

10 Gbps / 8 = 1.25 GB/s theoretical

Real file-transfer performance is lower because of protocol overhead, filesystem behavior, concurrent users, drive performance, RAID layout, and network equipment. Video bitrate also describes the media stream, not necessarily the peak bandwidth needed for smooth editing.

Consider:

• Number of simultaneous editors
• Number of simultaneous streams
• Sequential versus random workload
• Large media files versus many small project files
• Network link speed to each workstation
• Switch uplinks and aggregation
• NAS CPU and memory
• Drive and RAID performance
• Direct-attached scratch storage

A higher network speed cannot compensate for a storage pool or NAS configuration that cannot sustain the workload. Conversely, very fast storage may provide little benefit if client workstations connect over a slower network.

Should you use SSD cache for 8K video?

SSD cache is not a universal solution for large video files.

Sequential 8K footage often benefits more from enough HDD throughput, an appropriate RAID layout, and a fast network than from a small cache. SSD cache may help with metadata, frequently accessed project files, or mixed workloads, but its usefulness depends on:

• Read-heavy versus write-heavy activity
• Number of users
• File size distribution
• Cache policy
• NAS software
• SSD endurance
• Available RAM
• Whether the workload is sequential or random

Do not count cache as additional capacity for your 8K media. Cache devices need their own compatibility and endurance checks, and they do not replace a backup.

NAS sizing checklist for 8K video

Before buying or configuring a NAS, confirm the following:

• [ ] What is the actual bitrate of each camera or recorder?
• [ ] How many hours of footage will be created per project?
• [ ] How many cameras record simultaneously?
• [ ] How much source footage will be retained?
• [ ] Will the NAS store proxies, transcodes, project files, and exports?
• [ ] How many projects must remain online?
• [ ] What is the expected annual growth?
• [ ] How much usable capacity is required after RAID or parity?
• [ ] Which RAID, RAIDZ, or equivalent layout fits the fault-tolerance requirement?
• [ ] Have filesystem overhead, snapshots, recycle bins, and version history been included?
• [ ] What free-space threshold will trigger archiving or expansion?
• [ ] Is the NAS network fast enough for the number of editors and streams?
• [ ] Are the selected drives approved or supported by the NAS vendor?
• [ ] Is the backup capacity separate from the primary NAS capacity?
• [ ] Are backups versioned and stored independently?
• [ ] Has a restore test been completed?
• [ ] Can the NAS expand later, and what are the limits of that expansion method?
• [ ] Is SSD cache actually justified by the workload?
• [ ] Is there a plan for power protection and safe shutdown?

Bottom line

Calculate 8K storage from bitrate and recording hours first. Then add production files, apply RAID and filesystem reductions, preserve free-space headroom, forecast growth, and size backups independently.

For a 500 Mbps stream, plan on roughly 225 GB per hour. For an 800 Mbps stream, plan on roughly 360 GB per hour. Higher-bitrate RAW or lightly compressed workflows can consume storage much faster, so use the camera’s actual bitrate rather than an assumed “8K” average.

When you are ready to compare systems, Browse NAS and review NAS and storage servers based on usable capacity, expansion, network connectivity, drive support, backup features, and your editing workload.