Log Retention Storage Calculator
This estimate converts average log volume and retention duration into an approximate storage footprint. It is useful for observability budgets and retention design.
How to use this calculator
- Use average event rate and stored event size from your log pipeline rather than an estimate of application requests.
- Check that the input values use the same units and reporting period before comparing scenarios.
- Change one assumption at a time to see which input drives the result.
Formula and method
Bytes retained = events/second × bytes/event × seconds/day × retention days × storage-copy multiplier.
- 45 × 900 × 86,400 × 30 × 1.5 bytes, converted to GiB.
- Actual ingestion can be bursty; compression, indexing, replicas, hot/warm tiers, metadata and delete delays change storage and cost.
Worked examples
Worked example
45 events per second at 900 bytes for 30 days, with a 1.5× storage multiplier.
45 × 900 × 86,400 × 30 × 1.5 bytes, converted to GiB.
The result estimates the retained footprint under those traffic and replication assumptions.
Understanding the result
The result estimates the retained footprint under those traffic and replication assumptions.
Actual ingestion can be bursty; compression, indexing, replicas, hot/warm tiers, metadata and delete delays change storage and cost.
Important notes
Use average event rate and stored event size from your log pipeline rather than an estimate of application requests.
The displayed result uses the entered assumptions; validate important estimates against source measurements, specifications or qualified guidance.
Frequently asked questions
Does this estimate log-provider charges?
No. It estimates footprint; ingestion fees and query/indexing charges may be billed separately.
Should compressed size be used?
Use stored bytes per event after compression if estimating physical storage; use uncompressed size for a raw ingest scenario.
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This page provides a calculation tool plus explanatory information so you can understand what the result means and when the underlying method may not fit your situation.