Western Digital WD Purple WD30PURZ 3TB 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 WD30PURZ is the 3TB model in the range, a good middle-ground size for a 4-camera domestic or small commercial system.

Who this is for

As a rough guide, four 4MP cameras recording continuously use around 168GB per day between them, so 3TB gives roughly two and a half weeks of continuous recording from four cameras, or considerably longer on motion or AcuSense event recording. 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.