Western Digital WD Purple WD20PURZ 2TB Surveillance Hard Drive

WD Purple drives are built specifically for CCTV recorders: unlike a standard desktop drive, they are designed to write continuously, 24 hours a day, from multiple camera streams at once. The WD20PURZ is the 2TB model in the range, a good fit for a small system with a moderate retention period.

Who this is for

As a rough guide, one 4MP camera recording continuously uses around 42GB per day, so 2TB gives roughly six weeks of continuous recording from a single camera, or around three weeks from two cameras. Recording on motion or AcuSense events rather than continuously stretches this considerably further. See our full surveillance hard drive sizing table for other camera counts and resolutions.

Compatibility

A standard 3.5in SATA drive, compatible with HiLook, Hikvision and Dahua NVRs and DVRs. Fit it before first power-up where possible — the recorder will prompt you to initialise it, and it needs formatting in the recorder itself rather than on a PC.

FAQs

Can I use a desktop hard drive instead? Not recommended — desktop drives are not built for the continuous multi-stream write load a CCTV recorder puts on them, and tend to fail well before a surveillance-rated drive.

Will this work in my recorder? Any HiLook, Hikvision or Dahua NVR or DVR with a free SATA bay will accept this drive, subject to the recorder's maximum supported capacity.