Planning storage capacity

Begin with the number of files and their average size. Use the Backup Storage Calculator to multiply these values by the total number of copies. The result uses decimal units: 1 GB equals 1,000 MB. Growth Measure how much new data arrives each month. Project current usage plus incoming data over your planning horizon, subtracting only data your retention policy actually removes. Keep room for temporary imports and unexpected bursts. Copies and versions A second full backup approximately doubles the uncompressed capacity requirement. Version history can add more than one extra copy for frequently changed files. Provider-managed redundancy may be included in the advertised rate, while backups across accounts or regions may be billed separately. Avoid counting included redundancy twice. Practical checks Sample real file sizes instead of guessing. Document compression assumptions, metadata overhead, and retention rules. Review actual usage after deployment and update estimates as the workload changes.