Storage Class Comparison Calculator

Work out storage class comparison instantly with clear inputs, formula shown and shareable results.

About Storage Class Comparison Calculator

Colder storage classes trade a lower per-gigabyte rate for retrieval charges and a minimum storage duration. Deep archive at a twentieth of standard pricing is compelling until you retrieve, and the minimum duration means deleting after two months is billed as six. The break-even depends entirely on how often the data is actually read.

Formula

Class cost

storage = TB x 1000 x per-GB rate x months; retrieval = retrieved TB x 1000 x retrieval rate x months; early deletion is billed to the minimum duration

Worked example

With the default values below, Storage Class Comparison Calculator returns Total cost over the period of $60,960.00. Change any input above and every figure here is recalculated in your browser.

Inputs used

Data volumeminimum 0.001 TB: 200 TB
Storage classone of Standard, Infrequent access, Archive instant retrieval, Deep archive: Infrequent access
Data retrieved per monthminimum 0 TB: 4 TB
Months storedminimum 0.1 months: 24 months

Results

Total cost over the period: $60,960.00
Storage cost: $60,000.00
Retrieval cost: $960.00
Minimum duration check: Meets the minimum storage duration

Step by step

1Values used
2Class cost
3Total cost over the period= 60,960.00
4Storage cost= 60,000.00
5Retrieval cost= 960.00
6Minimum duration check= Meets the minimum storage duration

Assumptions and limits

The result is derived only from the 4 inputs listed above. Anything not among them is not part of the calculation.
In particular, this calculator does not take inflation, tax, fees or charges or compounding frequency into account.
Figures are rounded for display to 2 decimal places, so totals built from several rounded parts can differ slightly from the unrounded arithmetic.

How these calculators are built and tested is described on the Methodology page. If a figure looks wrong, please report it.

Frequently Asked Questions

When is infrequent access not worth it?

When more than about 3 to 5 percent of the data is retrieved monthly. Retrieval charges then exceed the storage saving.

Does intelligent tiering avoid these decisions?

It moves objects automatically based on access, for a small monitoring fee per object. That fee makes it uneconomic for very large numbers of tiny objects.