componentprices
Search parts

Search by model, socket, speed, capacity or wattage.

Try

Search needs JavaScript. Every category is linked in the menu.

Menu

RAID capacity calculator

Enter the number of drives, the smallest drive capacity and the RAID level to calculate nominal array capacity and drive cost.

Calculate

Example: four 8 TB drives in RAID 6 provide 16 TB before overhead (14.55 TiB).

Your inputs are calculated in this browser and are not submitted to a server.

Formula and limits

Let N be the drive count and S the smallest drive capacity. RAID 0: N × S. RAID 1: S. RAID 5: (N − 1) × S. RAID 6: (N − 2) × S. RAID 10: (N ÷ 2) × S. RAID 10 here uses an even number of drives in two-way mirrors.

RAID 0 and RAID 1 need at least two drives; RAID 5 needs three; RAID 6 and RAID 10 need four. Larger drives contribute only the smallest member's capacity in this calculation. Hot spares, filesystem overhead and vendor-specific layouts are excluded. RAID is not a backup.

Array cost = drive count × entered unit price. The tool assumes the same price per drive; enter a weighted average if your drive prices differ.

Compare current component costs

Hard drive prices250GB Hard drive prices320GB Hard drive prices500GB Hard drive prices750GB Hard drive prices1TB Hard drive prices1.2TB Hard drive prices1.5TB Hard drive prices2TB Hard drive prices3TB Hard drive prices4TB Hard drive prices5TB Hard drive prices6TB Hard drive prices8TB Hard drive prices10TB Hard drive prices12TB Hard drive prices14TB Hard drive prices16TB Hard drive prices18TB Hard drive prices20TB Hard drive prices22TB Hard drive prices24TB Hard drive pricesHard drive prices per TB