IIoT, SCADA & Edge Connectivity worked example

Data Historian Storage Cost at 86% compression and retention efficiency factor: a worked example

What does the result look like when compression and retention efficiency factor reaches 86%? The full calculation is worked below with real intermediate numbers. Use it when a historian admin or plant IT lead is sizing storage for an OSIsoft PI, AVEVA Historian, Inductive Tag Historian, or InfluxDB OT deployment before the next budget cycle.

The inputs for this scenario

  • Tags written to historian: 45,000 tags (unchanged)
  • Storage cost per tag-year: 0.3 $ / tag-year (unchanged)
  • Compression and retention efficiency factor: 86 % (raised for this scenario; the documented default is 75)
  • Fixed historian server and license cost: 38,000 $ (unchanged)

Working through the calculation

  • Applying the documented formula (Variable historian storage cost = tags written × storage cost per tag-year × compression and retention efficiency) to the inputs above produces each figure below.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 49,610 $ for total historian storage cost, the number this scenario is built around.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 1.1 $ / piece for historian storage cost per tag.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 11,610 $ for variable historian storage cost.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 38,000 $ for fixed historian server and license cost.

How this compares with the baseline

  • Against the tool's baseline example, where compression and retention efficiency factor sits at 75% and the headline result is 48,125 $, this scenario comes in 3.09% above the baseline at 49,610 $.
  • A figure at this level is achievable when compression and retention efficiency factor is genuinely sustained, not just peaked for a shift. The efficiency factor scales the variable cost as a fraction retained after compression and pruning, so it lowers modeled spend — it assumes your storage rate is for raw, uncompressed tag-years and won't double-count savings already baked into your $/tag-year.

Results at a glance

  • Total historian storage cost: 49,610 $ (headline result)
  • Historian storage cost per tag: 1.1 $ / piece
  • Variable historian storage cost: 11,610 $
  • Fixed historian server and license cost: 38,000 $

Run it with your numbers

  • Every input above is editable in the live Data Historian Storage Cost calculator, which recalculates instantly and can be shared with the inputs intact.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.