{
    "name": "Database Storage Growth Calculator",
    "url": "https://calculators.geekmidst.com/calculators/database-storage-growth-calculator",
    "markdown": "https://calculators.geekmidst.com/calculators/database-storage-growth-calculator.md",
    "category": "Software, cloud & AI",
    "description": "Project database size months ahead from today’s size and a fixed GB-per-month or percentage growth rate, and see when it will reach a capacity limit.",
    "summary": "Project storage forward with steady growth (a fixed number of GB a month) or compound growth (a percentage a month), and find when it hits your disk or plan limit.",
    "also_called": [
        "Storage growth forecast calculator"
    ],
    "applies_to": "Worldwide",
    "last_updated": "2026-10-29",
    "computation": "Results are computed in the visitor’s browser on the HTML page. This API describes the calculator; it does not compute results.",
    "inputs": [
        {
            "name": "initial_gb",
            "label": "Current size",
            "type": "number",
            "default": "200",
            "unit": "GB"
        },
        {
            "name": "mode",
            "label": "Growth type",
            "type": "segmented",
            "default": "linear",
            "options": {
                "linear": "GB per month",
                "percent": "% per month"
            }
        },
        {
            "name": "growth",
            "label": "Growth",
            "type": "number",
            "default": "25"
        },
        {
            "name": "months",
            "label": "Months ahead",
            "type": "number",
            "default": "12",
            "unit": "months"
        },
        {
            "name": "capacity_gb",
            "label": "Capacity limit",
            "type": "number",
            "default": "1000",
            "unit": "GB",
            "optional": true
        }
    ],
    "outputs": [
        {
            "key": "projected_gb",
            "label": "Projected size",
            "format": "number"
        },
        {
            "key": "added_gb",
            "label": "Growth over the period",
            "format": "number"
        },
        {
            "key": "projected_gib",
            "label": "Projected size in binary units",
            "format": "number"
        },
        {
            "key": "months_to_capacity",
            "label": "Time until the limit is reached",
            "format": "text"
        }
    ],
    "formula": {
        "text": "Linear: Size(m) = Size₀ + G × m;  Compound: Size(m) = Size₀ × (1 + g)^m;  Months to limit = (Limit − Size₀) ÷ G  or  ln(Limit ÷ Size₀) ÷ ln(1 + g)",
        "variables": {
            "Size₀": "current size",
            "G": "GB added per month",
            "g": "monthly growth rate as a decimal",
            "m": "months ahead"
        }
    },
    "worked_example": {
        "inputs": {
            "initial_gb": "200",
            "mode": "linear",
            "growth": "25",
            "months": "12",
            "capacity_gb": "1000"
        },
        "steps": [
            "Size in 12 months: 200 + 25 × 12 = 500 GB.",
            "Room left: 1,000 − 200 = 800 GB.",
            "Months to fill: 800 ÷ 25 = 32 months."
        ],
        "result": "Growing 25 GB a month from 200 GB, the database reaches 500 GB in a year and a 1,000 GB limit in 32 months."
    },
    "interpretation": "Plan to act well before the limit: many databases slow down or need maintenance headroom before a disk is full, so treat 70–80% of capacity as the practical ceiling.",
    "assumptions": [
        "Growth continues at the entered rate for the whole period."
    ],
    "limitations": [
        "Indexes, write-ahead logs, replicas, backups and fragmentation can make disk use larger than the data size. Measure the total on disk if you can."
    ],
    "rules": null,
    "faqs": [
        {
            "question": "Should I use linear or percentage growth?",
            "answer": "Use GB per month when you add a steady amount of data (logs, orders). Use a percentage when growth tracks a user base that is itself growing."
        },
        {
            "question": "Why are there two sizes?",
            "answer": "Disk vendors use decimal GB (10⁹ bytes); many operating systems and databases report binary GiB (2³⁰ bytes), which is about 7% larger per unit."
        }
    ],
    "sources": [],
    "related": [
        {
            "name": "Cloud Storage Cost Calculator",
            "url": "https://calculators.geekmidst.com/calculators/cloud-storage-monthly-cost-calculator"
        },
        {
            "name": "Cloud Backup Storage Cost Calculator",
            "url": "https://calculators.geekmidst.com/calculators/cloud-backup-storage-cost-calculator"
        },
        {
            "name": "Database Connection Pool Size Calculator",
            "url": "https://calculators.geekmidst.com/calculators/database-connection-pool-size-calculator"
        },
        {
            "name": "Compound Interest Calculator",
            "url": "https://calculators.geekmidst.com/calculators/compound-interest-calculator"
        }
    ],
    "disclaimer": null,
    "publisher": "GM¹X CalcVerse"
}