Last time I checked, Google offered 7.39GB of Gmail storage to all users for free. I am using 64% of that total, or 4.79GB. If you're a real email hog, you can buy 20GB of additional storage for just $5 per year. The same applies to Picasa Web Albums.Google has offered Gmail storage upgrades since as far back as 2007. The initial prices weren't all that expensive, but today's price drop makes it a no-brainer to pay for more storage if it's needed. Gmail offers 7.39GB of storage for free. If you've used all that, you can purchase another 20GB of storage for just $5 per year. That's pretty cheap.

Of course, if you need more than 20GB, Google offers extra storage up to 16 terabytes. Here's the cost breakdown:

20GB = $5/year 80GB = $20/year 200GB = $50/year 400GB = $100/year 1TB = $256/year 2TB = $512/year 4TB = $1,024/year 8TB = $2,048/year 16TB = $4,096/year

If you need 16TB of storage space for your email, you have some serious problems. Personally, I have been on Gmail since day 1. I have over 50,000 email conversations in my inbox, which only total 4.79GB. I haven't deleted a single email since joining Gmail. My Gmail account is my single most valuable resource, and acts as a time machine if/when I need to reach back several years to see what was said about a certain subject.

The same storage increases apply to Picasa Web Albums, as well. Google says that 20GB is enough space for more than 10,000 full resolution pictures taken with a five megapixel camera. That would be quite a lot of images.

Anyone want to figure out how many full resolution pictures will fit in a 16TB drive? I don't. Have fun with the math. (OK, it's 8 million.)