Log Storage Calculator – Logging Infrastructure Sizing
Calculate storage needed for application and server logs with retention.
About This Calculator
Calculate storage needed for application and server logs with retention. Use the calculator above for instant results.
Worked Examples
- Daily: 10,000 MB | 30-day raw: 293 GB
- Compressed (~90%): ~29 GB
Answer: 293 GB raw / ~29 GB compressed
- Daily: 250 GB | 90-day: 21.97 TB raw | Compressed: ~2.2 TB
Answer: ~2.2 TB compressed 90 days
- Raw: 3.5 GB | Compressed: 350 MB
Answer: ~350 MB compressed
Who Uses This Calculator?
Size log storage for observability stack.
Capacity plan ELK/OpenSearch clusters.
Log management infrastructure sizing.
Log storage cost optimization.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
❌ Logs compress extremely well
Log text compresses 85-95% with gzip/zstd. Always calculate compressed size for planning. Raw size is only relevant for ingest bandwidth.
❌ Log retention must balance cost and compliance
Compliance requirements (PCI: 1yr, HIPAA: 6yrs, SOC2: varies) may dictate minimum retention. Use cold storage for old logs.
Frequently Asked Questions
Log volume by application type?
High-traffic web app: 1-10 GB/day. Database server: 100-500 MB/day. Load balancer: 5-20 GB/day. Application logs vary widely.
Reduce log volume?
Structured logging (JSON). Sample trace logs. Log levels (ERROR only in prod vs DEBUG in dev). Aggregate metrics instead of logging every event.
Log storage tiers?
Hot (Elasticsearch): last 7-30 days. Warm (S3 Standard): 30-90 days. Cold (S3 Glacier): 90 days to compliance limit.