--- title: "What Is Video Storage in Streaming? Definition and Examples" description: "Video storage is the space a streaming catalog occupies: source files plus every encoded rendition. See how to estimate it and what it costs per month." url: "https://www.rentanott.com/glossary/video-storage" markdown_url: "https://www.rentanott.com/glossary/video-storage.md" category: "Streaming technology" updated: "2026-10-05" --- # What is video storage in streaming? Video storage is the disk space a streaming service uses to hold its catalog. It includes the original files that were uploaded and every encoded version made from them, and it is billed by the gigabyte for each month the files are kept. ## What is stored - Source or mezzanine files: the high-quality originals, often the largest items - Renditions: each rung of the bitrate ladder, for each codec - Audio tracks and subtitles in each language - Artwork, trailers and thumbnails - Recordings of live streams ## Estimating storage The size of the renditions is the sum of the ladder's bitrates multiplied by the duration. A ladder of 5, 3, 1.5, 0.8 and 0.4 Mbps totals 10.7 Mbps, which is about 4.8 GB per hour of content. A 500-hour catalog would need roughly 2.4 TB for renditions. Sources are extra. A high-quality master can be 10 to 50 GB per hour or more, so decide whether to keep them. You need the source to re-encode later, for example to add a new codec. ## Storage vs delivery cost Storage grows with the size of the catalog and is paid every month whether or not anything is watched. Delivery grows with viewing. For a popular service delivery is the much larger bill; for a large archive with a small audience, storage can be. ## Keeping it under control - Remove titles whose license has ended, along with their renditions - Move rarely needed source files to cheaper archive storage - Avoid extra ladder rungs and codecs for titles that are seldom watched - Set a retention period for live recordings ## Video storage on RentAnOTT RentAnOTT tiers include 250 GB of storage on Launch, 1 TB on Growth and 5 TB on Scale. Storage above the allowance is $0.03 per GB a month. [See pricing](https://www.rentanott.com/pricing). ## Related terms - [Egress cost](https://www.rentanott.com/glossary/egress-cost) — Egress cost is the charge for data leaving a cloud provider's or CDN's network, billed per gigabyte transferred. For a streaming service it is the cost of delivering video to viewers, and it is usually the largest variable cost of the service. - [Transcoding](https://www.rentanott.com/glossary/transcoding) — Transcoding is converting a video from one encoded format into another. On a streaming platform it means taking an uploaded file or a live feed and producing the several resolutions and bitrates needed for adaptive playback on every device. - [Bitrate ladder](https://www.rentanott.com/glossary/bitrate-ladder) — A bitrate ladder, or encoding ladder, is the list of versions a video is encoded into for adaptive streaming. Each rung pairs a resolution with a bitrate, and the player moves up and down the rungs as the viewer's connection changes. - [CDN](https://www.rentanott.com/glossary/cdn) — A CDN (content delivery network) is a network of servers spread across many locations that stores copies of content and delivers each request from a server near the viewer. For streaming, it is what carries the video segments from the platform to the audience. - [Bitrate](https://www.rentanott.com/glossary/bitrate) — Bitrate is the amount of data used to represent one second of video or audio, measured in kilobits or megabits per second (kbps or Mbps). A higher bitrate carries more detail and produces larger files and higher delivery costs. - [Live-to-VOD](https://www.rentanott.com/glossary/live-to-vod) — Live-to-VOD is converting a live stream into an on-demand video, either while the event is still running or as soon as it ends, so that viewers who missed it or joined late can watch from the start. ## Further reading - [Video bitrate calculator](https://www.rentanott.com/tools/video-bitrate-calculator) - [Streaming bandwidth cost calculator](https://www.rentanott.com/tools/streaming-bandwidth-cost-calculator) - [Matroska vs MP4](https://www.rentanott.com/blogs/matroska-vs-mp4) ## Frequently asked questions ### How much storage does one hour of video need? For a typical HD ladder, roughly 4 to 6 GB for all renditions together, plus the source file if you keep it. 4K ladders need several times more. ### Is storage billed once or monthly? Monthly, for as long as the files are held. A title that stays in the catalog for a year is paid for twelve times. ### Should source files be kept after encoding? Keep them somewhere, since re-encoding from a rendition loses quality. They need not sit in the same, more expensive storage as the streaming files. All 163 terms: [Streaming and OTT glossary](https://www.rentanott.com/glossary). ## Book a demo Tell RentAnOTT what you are launching. The team walks through the platform and maps the path to go-live around your catalog, markets and revenue model. Book a demo: https://www.rentanott.com/contact ## More from RentAnOTT - [Home](https://www.rentanott.com/index.md) — What RentAnOTT is, what every plan includes, and how launch works - [Features](https://www.rentanott.com/features.md) — Every core feature and optional add-on - [Pricing](https://www.rentanott.com/pricing.md) — Platform tiers, apps, add-ons, usage rates and example bills in INR and USD - [Free tools](https://www.rentanott.com/tools.md) — OTT app builder and calculators for streaming revenue, bandwidth, bitrate and pricing - [Insights](https://www.rentanott.com/blogs.md) — All streaming business articles - [Glossary](https://www.rentanott.com/glossary.md) — Definitions of streaming and OTT terms - [Book a demo](https://www.rentanott.com/contact.md) — Talk to RentAnOTT about your launch Full site in one file: https://www.rentanott.com/llms-full.txt