Network Video Recording
How IP cameras stream video over a local network using RTSP, and how an NVR captures and stores that footage on your own hardware.
Network video recording is the practice of capturing and storing footage from IP cameras on a local device rather than in the cloud. Two pieces make it work: a camera that broadcasts its feed over an open protocol, and software that pulls in that feed and records it.
How RTSP works
IP cameras broadcast their video feed using RTSP, an open streaming protocol. Any compatible software can pull that stream directly over the local network, without going through the manufacturer's app or servers. A camera that supports it can work with any software you choose. One that does not is locked to the vendor's ecosystem.
What the NVR does
An NVR, or Network Video Recorder, is the software that connects to one or more RTSP streams and does something useful with them: recording clips, storing footage to disk, detecting motion, and making everything accessible through an interface or API.
In a self hosted setup, the NVR runs as software on your own hardware: a Raspberry Pi, a NAS, or a home server. The footage stays on your network. Nothing leaves unless you send it somewhere deliberately.
Frigate is an NVR with AI object detection built in. It connects to the Reolink 2K+ Video Doorbell via RTSP, records locally, and analyses every frame for people, vehicles, packages, and more. That combination of an open camera, a local NVR, and AI on your own hardware is what makes a self hosted home security setup viable without a subscription.