Hikvision DS-9632NI-M8 - 32 Channel 8 Bay RAID 8K NVR

The Hikvision DS-9632NI-M8 is a 32-channel Ultra Series network video recorder in a 2U rack chassis, with eight hot-swap SATA bays, full RAID support and 320 Mbps of incoming bandwidth.

What makes this different from the 7-series recorders

Two things, and they are the reason to spend the extra: RAID and hot-swap drives.

Every recorder below this one writes to independent disks. When a disk dies, the footage on it is gone — and you usually find out when you go looking for an incident. With RAID 5 or 6 the array survives a failed disk and rebuilds onto a replacement, and because the bays are hot-swap you change it without powering the recorder down or losing a minute of recording. On a site where the footage is the point — an insurance requirement, a licensed premises, evidence for a live claim — that difference is the whole argument.

Eight bays at up to 20 TB each is 160 TB raw, so retention is measured in months across a full 32 cameras.

Who is it for?

Larger commercial and multi-building sites: distribution centres, schools and colleges, retail parks, licensed premises. Anywhere losing footage is a real consequence rather than an inconvenience.

Note there is no PoE on this model — cameras are powered by switches, which is the normal architecture at this scale.

Specification

• Channels: 32-ch IP video input, up to 32 MP (up to 8-ch at 32/24/16 MP; all channels below 16 MP)
• Bandwidth: 320 Mbps incoming / 400 Mbps outgoing
• Storage: 8 SATA bays with hot-plug support, up to 20 TB per disk, plus 1 eSATA. Drives are not included.
• RAID: RAID 0, 1, 5, 6 and 10
• PoE: none — cameras powered separately
• Compression: H.265+/H.265/H.264+/H.264
• Video out — main: HDMI 1 up to 8K (7680 × 4320)/30 Hz with VGA 1 simultaneous
• Video out — auxiliary: HDMI 2 up to 4K/60 Hz with VGA 2 simultaneous, an independent second display. Note: when HDMI 1 runs at 8K, HDMI 2 is limited to 1080p
• CVBS: 1-ch BNC
• Decoding: 2-ch@32MP, 4-ch@16MP, 10-ch@8MP, 16-ch@5MP or 32-ch@2MP (30 fps)
• Playback: 16-ch synchronous
• Cameras: Hikvision and third-party ONVIF 2.5
• Audio: 2-ch RCA out, 1-ch two-way audio
• Alarm I/O: 16 in / 9 out, plus controllable 12 VDC 1 A output and a 12 VDC 1 A supply
• Serial: 1 × RS-485 full-duplex, 1 × RS-232
• Network: 2 × RJ-45 10/100/1000 Mbps, supports iSCSI and NFS
• USB: 2 × USB 2.0 front, 2 × USB 3.0 rear
• Security: EN 303645, secure boot, signed firmware, stream encryption, IEEE 802.1X, HTTPS, IP/MAC filtering, centralised certificate management
• Power: 100 to 240 VAC 50–60 Hz, ≤50 W without drives
• Environment: −10 °C to 55 °C, 10% to 90% humidity
• Chassis: 2U, 442 × 462 × 88 mm

What you'll need with it

• Hard drives — none are supplied. Eight bays at up to 20 TB. If you are running RAID 5, remember one disk's worth of capacity goes to parity; RAID 6 costs two. Size it with our CCTV storage calculator and allow for that.
• PoE switches for the cameras — tell us the models and we will size them.
• 2U of rack space and sensible airflow. Eight spinning disks generate real heat.

Frequently asked questions

Which RAID level should I use?

RAID 5 is the usual choice — good capacity with one disk of redundancy. RAID 6 survives two simultaneous failures and is worth it on long retention where a rebuild takes days. RAID 0 offers no protection at all; avoid it for evidence.

Can I change a failed disk without stopping recording?

Yes. The bays are hot-swap, so the array rebuilds while the recorder keeps running.

Does it come with drives?

No. Eight SATA drives up to 20 TB each, supplied separately. Use surveillance-rated drives — in an eight-bay array running continuously, desktop drives fail early and take the rebuild with them.

Does it power cameras?

No. There is no PoE on this model; use switches.

How does it differ from the DS-9632NI-M8-R?

The R version adds a redundant power supply. This model has a single supply — otherwise the specification matches.

Browse the full NVR range, IP cameras, PoE switches or surveillance hard drives. Specifying a large system? Contact us, call 01902 902251, or visit the Wolverhampton trade counter.