According to an embodiment, storage configurations are identified for storing items, such as database tables, partitions, or any other types of objects or data structures, within a desired storage area, such as an in-memory data store or any other limited storage resource. Each of the storage configurations is assigned to a particular item of the items. Each of the storage configurations associates the assigned particular item with one or more storage configuration options. Storage recommendations are generated for at least a set of the storage configurations. A different storage recommendation exists for each storage configuration in the set of the storage configurations. The storage recommendation associates the storage configuration with a range of possible storage sizes for a particular storage area of a system. Based on the storage recommendations, recommended system configurations a generated for different possible storage sizes of the particular storage area.