3 Ways to Increase Hard Drive Capacity on a Reolink NVR (Cool Hack!)

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Hey Guys,
Today we are going to check out 3 ways to increase the hard drive storage capacity on a Reolink NVR, depending on which model you have.

Why you would want to add more space to the NVR?
1. To add additional hard drive room if you’re running out of space too quickly.
2. Secondly, to upgrade the HDD
3. Lastly, to replace the HDD

Reolink has 3 NVR models that I’ll touch on. An 8 channel, 16 channel and 36 channel. Before proceeding, make sure to manually check if your NVR has the latest firmware.

The first method to expand storage capacity, and the easiest is to add an external hard drive. Just to clarify, a USB external hard drive cannot be used.
1. Plug in the drive and get the NVR booted up.
2. Right click and go to settings.
3. Now go to Storage here on the left.
4. The NVR’s operating system recognizes it but it needs to be mounted and formatted.

Fun fact. If the internal hard drive has failed or is unplugged, you can use an eSata drive. No internal drive is required.
Another fun fact, or a bit of a hack. Using a USB powered eSata to sata cable does not provide enough electricity to power a mechanical drive. But, I can use this cable to connect an SSD to the NVR and now the USB port does provide sufficient power.

Second method: We are going to swap out the internal hard drive with something better and bigger. You can also do this if your drive has malfunctioned. This method is also a little complex because certain NVR hardware numbers have different maximum capacities.
Installing and configuring a new internal hard drive:
1.Remove cover screws
2.Slide the cover off.
3.Swap the drive
We now need to mount and format the drive in the operating system. Same as before, go to settings and click the format link.

Our third method to increase the NVR’s storage capacity is to add another internal hard drive. No surprise, but some NVR exceptions apply here too; some allow 1 or 2 or even 3 drives in total. The 8-channel NVR taps out at 1 internal hard drive. The 16-channel device holds 2 and the 36, 3.
Adding addition drives is very similar to replacing a drive. Open the cover and connect the cables to the new hard drive and secure the drive to the case. You’ll need to jump into the operating system to format the drive, and that’s it.

Here is another fun hack. My 8-channel NVR only allows one internal drive, but if remove the power to the internal hard drive I can add this power splitter. I can plug one end back into the installed drive. Since the eSata port to the motherboard, is actually a Sata connector on the other end, I am able to add another regular internal hard drive to this unit. Connect them to the drive and we’re all set. Well kinda, there is nowhere to secure the drive, so you might need to be creative, like feeding the wires out the back and laying the drive on some rubber or foam on the cover.

I hope you found this information helpful, if so, give me a thumbs up. As mentioned, the links for everything seen here today are in the description. Also, please show me your support and help my channel grow by subscribing. It’s free and that way you won’t miss out on my future home tech diy projects that you can do yourself.

Chapters:
00:00 Intro
00:15 Why add storage
01:42 Method 1 - eSata
05:09 Method 2 - HDD Swap
06:57 Method 3 - Additional HDD
08:11 Final Thoughts

[DairyNZ]

I've just recently installed a reolink ten camera system, two of the cameras are duo's . I used the RLN16-410 and it takes two 6TB drives, so 12TB in total, so that's what I installed in it from day one. I get about 6 weeks + of storage before it overwrites. Very happy with it so far.

[Cspr]

Very useful, clear and detailed - thanks for uploading this - it will come in useful for me in the future as I plan to add additional storage capacity 👍

[huo]

Awesome video! even the hack at the end

[Johnjohn-uj]

great help thank you so much, you sort of make it fun at the same time lol

[jasonbadler]

Great video. It was a very clean explanation. Thank you!

[herry]

For the third method, after installing an additional HDD, how could you install the cover and screws?

[jeffsand]

Greatful for your help. Fantastic review and steps.

[commexcellis]

awesome video. Did have a question. If I swap out the internal HDD but want to use the old one as an external does it still have to be formatted and/or does it see one as primary and other as secondary based on connection to motherbord or sata external?

[ErossaanBooming]

nice hack at the end for adding the secondary HDD

[JohnyKnox]

I added a drive and now I can not access older footage. Seems like I will need to remove the old one to get access again.

[larryf.]

I just bought a RLN12W is it possible to add a 2rd internal hard drive to it with just 1 SATA interface .
I understand how to connect the power splitter to both hard drives but i don't understand how to connect the sata port from the nvr to both internal hard drives. Do i use a splitter sata connector?

[nker]

Is there enough power to supply both hdds in the last hack?

[bg]

The last hack the esata cable that you used in video doesn’t look like the link you have on description??? Is it esata to esata that you used in video?

[skullandcrossbones]

G'dayI have noticed that my 5MP cameras use more data storage than my 8MP units. I suspect the frame rate to be the reason for more/less data.

[policedog]

Good video. I didn't know we could not see the security camera files on a Windows Computer when plugging in the drive containing Reolink Cam footage that came from the NVR into a desktop computer. I presume one would be able to see those files if we were running the correct flavor and version of Linux? That's a question because I know nothing about Linux..

I did order an external drive enclosure that had eSata capability and put a 4TB high duty cycle drive into it, but it would only format as a two TB drive - probably had to do with the firmware in the external drive. I cannot recall if I formatted the drive first with a computer or with the NVR as you showed - I'll have to check now.

On another topic I still suspect that Reolink PoE only setups with NO Internet connection and DNS turned off can be accessed by third parties remotely. In other words there is a way to hack the system from nearby _ I think it needs line of sight and IR initially but then once they have the camera and NVR info they can just access the entire system remotely even if the user has no internet features turned on. It may be that the US requires such access for any devices sold in the US to have a back door for law enforcement

[marcomelucci]

Can I connect my external hdd using micro b to usb cable rather than eSATA port?

[AadilOsman-yi]

Is it possible to replace with a SSD hard drive?

[HEAVENLYTUNESDJANGEL]

I have an external eSATA 4tb hdd that I installed to my NVR but it only shows 1tb.
Any idea why? Do I need to format to NTFS or Fat 32?

[mihauu]

Hi, what happened when both internal and external drives will be full? Does system automatically switch to store into internal drive again?

[malcolden]

The N7MB01 can now be upgraded to 8TB.