Work out device fleet storage instantly with clear inputs, formula shown and shareable results.
Fleet storage is devices times records times record size times retention, with about 30% added for indexes, replication metadata and columnar padding. The retention period is the biggest lever: halving it halves the bill, which is why downsampling old data is standard practice.
Fleet storage
daily bytes = devices x records x size x overhead; total = daily x 30.44 x retention months
Time-series databases store indexes, tags and replication copies alongside the values. Compression can offset this, often heavily for slowly changing sensor data.
Downsample: keep raw data for weeks, then roll up to minute and hour aggregates. That typically cuts long-term storage by 90% or more.