Tech Planning Tools
The planning desk · Four additional tools
Plan the space,
power and time you need.
Work out storage headroom, backup duration, charging limits and a software-support timeline. Each tool explains its assumptions and runs locally in your browser.
No device scan, account or live policy lookup. Example values are illustrative. Use your own measurements and verified specifications. Back to the original free toolkit →
Storage headroom planner
Project file growth before choosing a drive or starting a project. Use the actual capacity available to your working volume, not the drive’s advertised capacity.
Formula, worked example and limits
Future used = current used + monthly net growth × months. Desired free space = capacity × margin ÷ 100. Minimum usable capacity = future used ÷ (1 − margin ÷ 100).
Example: 480 GiB usable, 220 GiB used and 8 GiB monthly growth for 24 months produce 412 GiB used and 68 GiB free (14.17%). A chosen 20% margin requires 96 GiB free on that volume, so the margin is missed by 28 GiB. A volume of 515 GiB would retain the selected margin under the same future usage.
This linear plan excludes unexpected projects and temporary export or update space. Growth is net growth after normal archiving. The tool does not assess SSD health or identify files that are safe to delete.
Backup and transfer-time calculator
Estimate a file transfer at a chosen rate. For a cloud backup, use upload speed. For an external drive, use end-to-end transfer speed rather than the connector’s advertised maximum.
Formula, worked example and limits
Ideal seconds = data bytes × 8 ÷ rate in bits/second. Planned seconds = ideal seconds ÷ (usable share ÷ 100). Decimal MB/s is multiplied by 8 to obtain Mbps. MiB/s uses 1,048,576 bytes per second.
50 decimal GB at 100 Mbps take 4,000 seconds ideally (1 h 6 min 40 sec). At an assumed 80% usable rate, the estimate becomes 5,000 seconds (1 h 23 min 20 sec).
Results assume a constant rate and round up to whole seconds. Pauses, service limits, small-file processing and verification add time. No speed test or file upload runs here. A completed upload does not establish that every needed file can be restored.
Microsoft: transfer-speed factors · NIST: byte and binary units
USB-C charging power budget
Find the theoretical wattage ceiling of one charging path. Enter the power allocated to this port with your actual combination of connected devices, not the charger’s total marketing wattage.
Formula, worked example and limits
Theoretical input ceiling = minimum of available port output, cable rating and device input limit. When operating demand is supplied, arithmetic headroom = that ceiling − demand.
A 100 W port, 60 W cable and 65 W device limit produce a 60 W ceiling. Against an illustrative 45 W demand, the arithmetic margin is 15 W. If port sharing reduces the port to 30 W, the ceiling becomes 30 W and demand exceeds it by 15 W.
A positive margin is an upper bound before internal losses, not a measured battery charge rate. Negotiated voltage/current profiles, temperature, battery state and vendor restrictions may reduce delivery or prevent charging. This tool cannot certify compatibility, electrical safety, actual charging speed or charge time.
USB-IF: USB Power Delivery · Apple: a documented power-sharing example
Software-support calendar
Compare a manufacturer-confirmed security-support end date with your planned use. Allow a migration buffer before that date for transfer and recovery checks.
Date method, worked example and limits
Planned-use end = start plus calendar months, clamped to the target month’s last valid day. Migration target = entered support end minus the buffer. Day counts use calendar-date boundaries, not remaining clock hours.
Start 27 October 2026, support end 27 October 2029, 24 months of planned use and a 30-day buffer produce a planned-use end of 27 October 2028 and a migration target of 27 September 2029.
The planner does not look up or validate a vendor policy, check installed patches, guarantee future updates or certify a device secure. Security maintenance and OS upgrades can have different policies. Recheck the official terms and your installed update level.
Google: Pixel update policies · How to verify remaining support
Visible working
Your assumptions.
A clearer plan.
These tools calculate from the values on this page. They do not scan devices, transfer files or verify manufacturer policies. Input values are not saved after a reload.
For ownership cost, repair comparisons, battery capacity, electricity cost and a downloadable inspection record, use the original free toolkit. Report an error or correction.