====== Billing Terminology ====== ===== Storage Billing Modes ===== Storage Billing Modes determine how the billable storage quantity is calculated during a billing period. Storage charges can be based on either: * The number of actual Volumes stored. * The number of storage slots used or allocated. The selected mode determines whether billing uses accumulated daily quantities, the highest recorded quantity, or the lowest recorded quantity. ===== Storage Modes ===== ^ Mode ^ Meaning for Billing ^ | **Storage** | The general billing category for Volumes held in a Repository during the billing period. The selected Storage Billing Mode determines how the billable quantity is calculated. | | **Daily Total** | The sum of the actual inventory count recorded for each day. The resulting quantity is measured in Volume-days and is normally used for per-Volume, per-day billing. | | **Real High-Water** | The highest number of actual Volumes stored at any point during the billing period. | | **Real Low-Water** | The lowest number of actual Volumes stored at any point during the billing period. | | **Slot Total** | The sum of the daily storage-slot counts. The resulting quantity is measured in slot-days and is used when the Customer is charged for storage capacity. | | **Slot High-Water** | The highest number of storage slots used or allocated at any point during the billing period. | | **Slot Low-Water** | The lowest number of storage slots used or allocated at any point during the billing period. | ===== Real and Slot Measurements ===== Real and Slot measurements use different methods to determine the billable storage quantity. ^ Measurement Type ^ Counts ^ Typical Use ^ | **Real** | Actual tape Volumes present in the Repository. | Billing the Customer for each physical Volume stored. | | **Slot** | Storage positions occupied, allocated or required for the Customer's inventory. | Billing the Customer for storage capacity rather than individual Volumes. | A Slot quantity may be different from the actual Volume inventory when: * Some slots are empty but remain allocated to the Customer. * Storage is sold in fixed blocks of slots. * Inventory quantities are rounded up to the next storage-unit size. * A container or storage position represents more than one Volume. * The Customer reserves more capacity than is currently being used. ===== Daily Total Example ===== The following example shows the actual number of Volumes stored over five days. ^ Day ^ Actual Volumes ^ | 1 | 101 | | 2 | 108 | | 3 | 104 | | 4 | 115 | | 5 | 110 | The Real Storage measurements are: ^ Mode ^ Result ^ | **Daily Total** | 538 Volume-days | | **Real High-Water** | 115 Volumes | | **Real Low-Water** | 101 Volumes | If storage is charged at $0.01 per Volume per day, the Daily Total charge is: 538 × $0.01 = $5.38 ===== Real High-Water Example ===== Real High-Water uses the highest actual Volume count recorded during the billing period. From the previous example: Real High-Water = 115 Volumes If the High-Water quantity is applied to all five days: 115 × 5 days × $0.01 = $5.75 The Billing Rules must define whether the High-Water value is charged once or multiplied by the number of days in the billing period. ===== Real Low-Water Example ===== Real Low-Water uses the lowest actual Volume count recorded during the billing period. From the previous example: Real Low-Water = 101 Volumes If the Low-Water quantity is applied to all five days: 101 × 5 days × $0.01 = $5.05 Real Low-Water may be used to: * Apply a minimum storage charge. * Identify the Customer's base storage usage. * Compare minimum and maximum inventory levels. * Support contract-specific storage calculations. ===== Slot Total Example ===== Assume storage is allocated in blocks of 10 slots. Each daily actual inventory count is rounded up to the next block of 10. ^ Day ^ Actual Volumes ^ Billable Slots ^ | 1 | 101 | 110 | | 2 | 108 | 110 | | 3 | 104 | 110 | | 4 | 115 | 120 | | 5 | 110 | 110 | The Slot Storage measurements are: ^ Mode ^ Result ^ | **Slot Total** | 560 slot-days | | **Slot High-Water** | 120 slots | | **Slot Low-Water** | 110 slots | If storage is charged at $0.01 per slot per day, the Slot Total charge is: 560 × $0.01 = $5.60 ===== Slot High-Water Example ===== Slot High-Water uses the highest slot quantity recorded during the billing period. From the previous example: Slot High-Water = 120 slots If the Slot High-Water quantity is applied to all five days: 120 × 5 days × $0.01 = $6.00 Slot High-Water may be used when the Customer is charged for the maximum storage capacity used during the billing period. ===== Slot Low-Water Example ===== Slot Low-Water uses the lowest slot quantity recorded during the billing period. From the previous example: Slot Low-Water = 110 slots If the Slot Low-Water quantity is applied to all five days: 110 × 5 days × $0.01 = $5.50 Slot Low-Water may be used when the Customer is charged for a minimum level of allocated or reserved storage capacity. ===== Comparison ===== ^ Mode ^ Measurement ^ Result Type ^ Typical Billing Use ^ | **Daily Total** | Sum of daily actual Volume counts. | Volume-days | Per-Volume, per-day storage billing. | | **Real High-Water** | Highest actual inventory count. | Volumes | Maximum actual storage usage. | | **Real Low-Water** | Lowest actual inventory count. | Volumes | Minimum actual storage usage. | | **Slot Total** | Sum of daily slot quantities. | Slot-days | Per-slot, per-day capacity billing. | | **Slot High-Water** | Highest slot quantity. | Slots | Maximum storage capacity used or allocated. | | **Slot Low-Water** | Lowest slot quantity. | Slots | Minimum storage capacity used or allocated. | ===== Inventory ===== ^ Term ^ Description ^ | **Inventory** | The number of items held at a particular point in time, usually the current inventory or the inventory recorded on a specified date. | | **Total inventory** | The accumulated inventory across the billing period. For daily billing, this is normally the sum of each day’s inventory count and represents **item-days** rather than a single physical count. | | **Inventory high-water** | The highest inventory count recorded at any point during the billing period. This can be used when billing the customer for their maximum storage usage. | | **Inventory low-water** | The lowest inventory count recorded at any point during the billing period. This shows the minimum storage level and may be used for minimum-usage billing or analysis. | Example Suppose a customer’s inventory over five days is: ^ Day ^ Inventory count ^ | 1 | 100 | | 2 | 110 | | 3 | 105 | | 4 | 120 | | 5 | 115 | On day 5, the Inventory is 115 Volumes. Total Inventory, the sum of the number of Volumes over the 5 days, 550 Volume days. Billing on the total inventory number at $0.05 per Volume per day or 550 * 0.05 = $27.50 Inventory High-water, the highest Volume daily count, 120 Volumes. Billing off the high-water mark at $0.05 per Volume per day or 5 days * 120 * 0.05 = $30.00 Inventory Low-water, the lowest Volume daily count, 105 Volumes. Inventory low-water mark is usually used to assess the minimum amount of storage a Customer uses over a certain time frame. The important distinction is that inventory, high-water, and low-water are point-in-time counts, while total inventory usually accumulates counts across time. {{tag> billing}}