Synology Surveillance Station Camera Compatibility
What cameras work with Synology Surveillance Station?
Synology Surveillance Station is a professional video management system (VMS) that businesses can use to keep an eye on things in a safe, scalable, and reliable way. Surveillance Station makes a Synology NAS into a central camera management hub, whether it’s for office security, overseeing a remote site, or compliance surveillance.
When using Surveillance Station, one important thing to think about is whether the cameras will work with it. Not all cameras work the same way or have all of their features available on all platforms. Organizations can lower the risk of deployment and meet their long-term video storage and retrieval needs by knowing which cameras are supported and how compatibility affects performance and security.
Protocols and Standards That Are Supported
Surveillance Station works with standard protocols used in the industry, which makes it compatible with more cameras:
- ONVIF stands for Open Network Video Interface Forum.
- Real-Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP)
- Streaming over HTTP or HTTPS
ONVIF compliance is very important because it makes it possible for IP cameras and the VMS to talk to each other in a standard way, which makes it possible to find, set up, and control them without having to use special drivers.
List of official compatibility
Synology keeps a list of cameras that work with Surveillance Station. This list has:
- Checked camera models
- Supported frame rates and resolutions
PTZ (pan/tilt/zoom) control, audio support, and motion detection are some of the features.
Using verified cameras makes sure that things happen as expected and gives you full access to all of Surveillance Station’s features, such as:
- Recording that starts when something happens
- Smart motion detection
- Alerts and analytics
- Two streams
- Automatic negotiation of firmware
Before buying any devices, always check the most recent compatibility list. This is because manufacturers add new models and firmware updates can change support status.
Important Camera Features and Things to Think About When Getting Support
When checking to see if a camera works with Surveillance Station, think about these features:
Frame Rate and Resolution
Cameras with higher resolutions (4K and up) need more storage space and processing power from the NAS. Surveillance Station can handle streams with different resolutions, but it’s important to plan for disk space and retention policies.
Detection of Motion and Analysis
Some cameras have motion detection built in, while others use the VMS for analytics. Surveillance Station can understand and act on richer event metadata from cameras that have built-in smart detection, such as line crossing, intrusion zones, and object detection.
Support for audio
Not every camera can record sound or let you talk to someone else. If you need audio, make sure that the camera you choose supports the right audio protocols.
Control of PTZ
Make sure that Surveillance Station can control the pan, tilt, and zoom features on cameras that have them. To fully integrate PTZ, the VMS needs commands that work with it and more setup.
Working with storage and backup systems
Because Surveillance Station saves video recordings on the Synology NAS, it’s important to plan for storage. Things to think about are:
- How many cameras
- Frame rates and resolution
- Time to keep
- How well it stores data (for example, H.265 vs H.264 encoding)
For both small and large businesses, adding Surveillance Station recordings to backup and data protection plans makes sure that important footage is kept safe even if hardware breaks down or an incident happens at the site.
Planning for security and networks
If not properly secured, video systems can be targets. When setting up a Surveillance Station, it’s best to follow these best practices:
- Putting camera traffic on different VLANs
- Using HTTPS to get to management
- Using strong passwords and two-factor authentication
- Updating the firmware on your camera
Synology NAS-based deployment allows centralized security controls and consistent policies across storage and monitoring systems.
Performance and Scalability
Surveillance Station can be used in small offices and large businesses. The CPU, memory, and storage I/O of a NAS affect how many camera streams can be processed and stored at the same time.
Organizations should plan for capacity based on:
- Expected highest level of activity
- Schedules for recording
- Demands for analytics processing
Choosing cameras that work well together and are efficient lowers the load and speeds up live view, playback, and smart events.
How to Choose the Best Camera
When picking cameras for Surveillance Station:
- Put ONVIF-compatible models at the top of your list.
- Check the official compatibility list to see what features are supported.
- Find a good balance between storage, bandwidth, and resolution.
- Use PoE (Power over Ethernet) switches to make deployment easier.
- Check that advanced features like smart detection and PTZ control work.
These steps make sure that the video surveillance system is stable, safe, and able to grow with the company’s infrastructure goals.
About Epis Technology
Epis Technology helps businesses set up safe, scalable storage and monitoring systems by providing enterprise IT infrastructure, data protection, and Synology consulting services. The company focuses on helping people with Synology, big storage solutions, and backup plans that work with Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace. Epis Technology makes sure that Surveillance Station deployments work well and help protect business assets by making sure that camera compatibility, network design, and video retention are all in line with broader data protection policies.