Storage Calculator
Estimate disk space requirements for your project
Application Files
Database Storage
Media Files
Backup & Growth Planning
Storage Requirements
Storage Breakdown
Hosting Suggestions
When to Use Storage Calculator
E-commerce Launch
10,000 products with 5 images each, customer data, order history. That's not a small hosting plan. Calculate before your store goes live and runs out of space during Black Friday.
LMS Platform
Video courses eat storage fast. 100 hours of HD video = 780GB minimum. Plus student uploads, assignments, certificates. Plan for 2-3 years of content growth upfront.
SaaS Application
Multi-tenant apps multiply storage by customer count. 500 customers × 2GB each = 1TB. Add logs, backups, and growth. Your "small" SaaS needs enterprise storage planning.
Media Website
Publishing 20 articles daily with images? That's 600/month, 7200/year. At 2MB average, you're adding 14GB yearly just in images. Don't forget thumbnails and responsive versions.
Cloud Migration
Moving to AWS/Azure/GCP? Storage costs are per-GB. Know exactly what you're moving before you get the first bill. Include database exports, file archives, and backup retention.
Compliance Archiving
GDPR, HIPAA, SOX require data retention. 7 years of logs, emails, transactions. Calculate archive storage separately—it grows forever and can't be deleted until retention expires.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a storage calculator?
It estimates disk space needs based on your files, database, and media. Input your current data and growth expectations, get back storage requirements. Helps you pick the right hosting plan without overpaying or running out of space.
How do I calculate database storage?
Row size × record count × index overhead. A 500-byte row with 1M records = 500MB base. Add 40% for indexes = 700MB. Don't forget transaction logs—they can double your database size during heavy writes.
How much storage for images/videos?
JPEG: 200KB-2MB. PNG: 500KB-5MB. Video: 130MB per minute at 1080p. Multiply by count. A site with 5000 images at 500KB = 2.5GB. 100 videos at 100MB = 10GB. Simple math, big numbers.
Should I include backup storage?
Always. 2-3 backup copies is standard. Incremental backups save space (50% of full). 100GB primary data with 2 incremental copies = 200GB backup storage. That's 300GB total, not 100GB.
How do I plan for growth?
Track monthly additions. Growing 5GB/month? That's 60GB/year. Plan 12-24 months ahead. Cloud storage scales easily; physical servers need upfront planning. Always add 20% buffer for surprises.
SSD vs HDD—which do I need?
SSD for databases and active files (2-4x cost but 10x speed). HDD for backups and archives (cheap, slow, fine for cold storage). Most setups: SSD for primary, HDD for backups.
How accurate are these estimates?
Within 20% for most cases. File system overhead, compression, and actual file sizes vary. Add the safety buffer we recommend. Monitor real usage after deployment and adjust your plan.
Can I download the calculation?
Yes. Click download for a text report with all inputs and results. Useful for documentation, sharing with your team, or comparing different scenarios before committing to a hosting plan.
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