Free online tool

Storage capacity planner

Size a drive from working photo and video data, independent backup copies, and headroom, with every file-size assumption left visible.

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Plan storage in layers.

Keep working data, copy count, and headroom separate so the recommendation stays auditable.

COMMON WAYS TO ASK

How much storage do I need?
How many photos fit on a drive?
Plan backup capacity

QUICK ANSWER

What this calculator tells you.

Count the working data, the independent copies, and the headroom separately. A drive sized to exactly fit today is full the moment you use it.

WORKED EXAMPLE

A year of photos and video

INPUT20,000 photos · 40 hours of video · 3 copies

RESULTCapacity per copy plus headroom, with every file-size assumption visible

CHECK THE EDGE CASES

Questions people ask next.

Why does a 1 TB drive show less than 1 TB?

Drives are labelled in decimal terabytes while operating systems often report binary tebibytes, so about seven percent appears to vanish. Formatting and reserved space account for a little more.

Do backup copies need the same capacity?

Each independent copy holds the same working data, so plan the same size for each. Versioned backups need more, because they keep history as well as the current state.