IoT Data Volume Calculator

Data storage from sensor count, sample rate, and retention.

Inputs

Number of sensors

Samples per hour

Payload size (bytes)

Data retention (days)

Compression ratio

Protocol overhead (%)

Tab to move between fields

Results

Daily raw data (MB)

10.55

Daily compressed (MB)3.52

Total storage (GB)0.31

Avg bandwidth (kbps)1.02

Monthly transfer (GB)0.31

Messages/second1.67

How to Use This Calculator

Enter the number of sensors in your deployment.
Set samples per hour per sensor (e.g., 60 = one reading per minute).
Enter the payload size in bytes per reading and your data retention period in days.
Adjust compression ratio and protocol overhead percentage for your stack.
Read Daily compressed data (MB), Total storage (GB), and Avg bandwidth (kbps) to size your infrastructure.

How the result changes with Number of sensors

Number of sensors	Daily raw data (MB)
100,001	10,546.98
350,001	36,914.17
650,000	68,554.69
900,000	94,921.88

What each input means

Number of sensors: Total sensors reporting data in your deployment.
Samples per hour: How many readings each sensor sends per hour. 60 = one per minute.
Payload size (bytes): Raw bytes per sensor reading. Temperature float = 4 B, full JSON packet = 50-200 B.
Data retention (days): How many days of historical data to store.
Compression ratio: Data compression factor. 1 = none, 3 = typical gzip on sensor data, 5-10 = columnar/time-series DB.
Protocol overhead (%): MQTT/CoAP headers, TLS framing, packet headers. Typically 10-30%.

What each result means

Daily raw data (MB): Total uncompressed data generated per day across all sensors.
Daily compressed (MB): Daily data after compression.
Total storage (GB): Storage required for the full retention period (compressed).
Avg bandwidth (kbps): Sustained average network bandwidth needed.
Monthly transfer (GB): Raw data egress per month for cloud billing estimates.
Messages/second: Average MQTT/CoAP message rate across all sensors.

How this is calculated

Worked example, using the default values

Identify Input Parameters
4 parameters
Number of sensors = 100, Samples per hour = 60, Payload size (bytes) = 64, Data retention (days) = 90 = 6 input(s) provided
Calculate Daily raw data
Daily raw data = rawBytesPerDay / (1024 * 1024)
10.55 = 10.55
Calculate Daily compressed
Daily compressed = compressedBytesPerDay / (1024 * 1024)
3.52 = 3.52
Calculate Total storage
Total storage = totalStorageBytes / (1024 * 1024 * 1024)
0.31 = 0.31

Engine last updated July 28, 2026.

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