Storage has traditionally been one of the most rigid parts of video surveillance. For many integrators, legacy architectures forced a choice between local retention or centralized storage - a decision that often led to oversizing, unnecessary cost, or systems that were harder to manage than they needed to be. Hybrid storage strategies change that. In modern edge‑to‑cloud architectures, storage becomes policy‑driven rather than fixed. Local storage at the edge provides immediate resilience and fast access, ensuring continuous recording even during network disruptions. Cloud storage then supports long‑term retention, centralized visibility, and regulatory compliance - without the burden of oversized [...]