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Storage Growth

Enter used and total capacity and the growth rate (TB/month or %/month) and I compute when you hit the alert threshold and 100%, with the month-by-month projection.

Capacity
TB
TB

Used capacity today and the pool's total capacity.

Growth model
TB/mo

How many TB usage grows each month (constant).

Occupancy level that triggers the alert. Usually set to 8090 %.

Examples
redzilla.cl — growth
 

Current occupancy

40 % 40 / 100 TB
To threshold
To 100 %
Projected at 12 months
Threshold
100 %
6 months

Month-by-month projection

MonthUsedOccupancyState
How it is computed · linear vs. compound

Linear. Usage grows a fixed amount of TB each month. Months to a target: months = (target − used) / rate.

Compound. Usage grows a percentage r over the previous level: used × (1 + r)ⁿ = target, so n = ln(target / used) / ln(1 + r).

Threshold. The threshold target is target = total × threshold / 100. 100% is simply the total.

Projection. Capacity at N months: linear used + rate × N; compound used × (1 + r)ᴺ.

! This is an estimate that assumes a steady rate. Real growth varies with retention, compression, deduplication and project spikes. Plan the expansion before hitting the threshold, not at 100%.

Runs locally in your browser · no sign-up · nothing leaves your browser

How it works

The calculator projects when a storage pool will fill up from the capacity used today, the total capacity and the growth rate, with two models: linear (usage grows a fixed amount of TB each month) and compound (it grows a percentage over the previous month's level, like compound interest). It returns the months until the alert threshold you define (50–99 %, typically 80–90 %), the months until 100 %, the 6 and 12 month projections and a month-by-month table with approximate dates.

The formulas are direct. Linear: months = (target − used) / rate. Compound: from used × (1 + r)^n = target you solve n = ln(target / used) / ln(1 + r). The threshold target is total × threshold / 100. It is an estimate that assumes a stable rate: real growth varies with retention, compression, deduplication and project spikes.

Example: a 100 TB pool with 40 TB used, growing 5 TB/month

  1. Alert threshold at 80 %: target 100 × 0.8 = 80 TB; months (80 − 40) / 5 = 8 months.
  2. Until 100 %: (100 − 40) / 5 = 12 months, when the linear projection reaches 40 + 5 × 12 = 100 TB.
  3. With the compound model at 10 %/month the same pool hits 80 % sooner: n = ln(80/40) / ln(1.1) ≈ 7.3 months, because each month grows on a larger base.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between linear and compound growth?
Linear adds a fixed amount (for example 5 TB every month) and fits stable data sources: cameras, backups with fixed retention, constant logs. Compound grows a percentage over the previous level and better models data that grows with the business (more users generate more data). At the same initial rate, compound always fills the pool sooner.
Why plan the expansion at 80 % instead of 100 %?
Because performance and operations degrade well before hitting the top: many file systems and arrays slow down above 80–90 % occupancy, and disk procurement and installation cycles take weeks or months. The alert threshold exists so you start the expansion with that margin, not so you exhaust it.
What if my growth rate is not constant?
The projection loses accuracy: migrations, new projects or retention changes produce jumps that no simple model captures. A reasonable practice is to recalculate every month with the average rate of the last 3 to 6 months and treat the result as an order of magnitude, not an exact date.
Do the capacity figures I enter leave my browser?
No. All the math and the projection table are generated locally in your browser: nothing is sent to any server, so you can use real figures from your infrastructure without exposing them.
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