Data Storage Converter
Data Storage Converter — KB, MB, GB, KiB, MiB, GiB & 42+ Units
Convert data storage units across 5 categories: decimal bytes (KB, MB, GB), binary bytes (KiB, MiB, GiB), bits (Mb, Gb), storage media (CD, DVD, Blu-ray), and specialized units. Understand the decimal vs binary distinction!
Foundations of Data Storage
Decimal (SI) Bytes
Base 10 system. KB, MB, GB, TB using powers of 1000. 1 KB = 1000 bytes, 1 MB = 1000 KB. Used by hard drive manufacturers, ISPs, marketing. Makes numbers look bigger!
- 1 KB = 1000 bytes (10^3)
- 1 MB = 1000 KB (10^6)
- 1 GB = 1000 MB (10^9)
- Drive manufacturers use this
Binary (IEC) Bytes
Base 2 system. KiB, MiB, GiB, TiB using powers of 1024. 1 KiB = 1024 bytes, 1 MiB = 1024 KiB. Used by operating systems, RAM. True computer math! ~7% larger than decimal.
- 1 KiB = 1024 bytes (2^10)
- 1 MiB = 1024 KiB (2^20)
- 1 GiB = 1024 MiB (2^30)
- OS & RAM use this
Bits vs Bytes
8 bits = 1 byte. Internet speeds use bits (Mbps, Gbps). Storage uses bytes (MB, GB). 100 Mbps internet = 12.5 MB/s download. Lowercase b = bits, Uppercase B = Bytes!
- 8 bits = 1 byte
- Mbps = megabits/sec (speed)
- MB = megabytes (storage)
- Divide bits by 8 for bytes
- Decimal: KB, MB, GB (base 1000) - marketing
- Binary: KiB, MiB, GiB (base 1024) - OS
- 1 GiB = 1.074 GB (~7% larger)
- Why '1 TB' shows as 931 GiB in Windows
- Bits for speed, Bytes for storage
- Lowercase b = bits, Uppercase B = Bytes
The Storage Systems Explained
Decimal System (SI)
Powers of 1000. Easy math! 1 KB = 1000 B, 1 MB = 1000 KB. Standard for hard drives, SSDs, internet data caps. Makes capacities look larger in marketing.
- Base 10 (powers of 1000)
- KB, MB, GB, TB, PB
- Used by manufacturers
- Marketing friendly!
Binary System (IEC)
Powers of 1024. Computer native! 1 KiB = 1024 B, 1 MiB = 1024 KiB. Standard for OS file systems, RAM. Shows true usable capacity. Always ~7% larger at GB level.
- Base 2 (powers of 1024)
- KiB, MiB, GiB, TiB, PiB
- Used by OS & RAM
- True computer math
Media & Specialized
Storage media: Floppy (1.44 MB), CD (700 MB), DVD (4.7 GB), Blu-ray (25 GB). Specialized: nibble (4 bits), word (16 bits), block (512 B), page (4 KB).
- Historical media capacities
- Optical disc standards
- Low-level CS units
- Memory & disk units
Why Your Drive Shows Less Space
The Missing Storage Myth
Buy 1 TB drive, Windows shows 931 GiB. NOT a scam! Manufacturer: 1 TB = 1000^4 bytes. OS: counts in 1024^4 bytes (GiB). Same bytes, different labels! 1 TB = 931.32 GiB exactly.
- 1 TB = 1,000,000,000,000 bytes
- 1 TiB = 1,099,511,627,776 bytes
- 1 TB = 0.909 TiB (91%)
- NOT missing, just math!
The Gap Grows
At KB level: 2.4% difference. At MB: 4.9%. At GB: 7.4%. At TB: 10%! Higher capacity = bigger gap. 10 TB drive shows as 9.09 TiB. Physics hasn't changed, just units!
- KB: 2.4% difference
- MB: 4.9% difference
- GB: 7.4% difference
- TB: 10% difference!
Bits for Speed
Internet: 100 Mbps = 100 megaBITS/sec. Download shows MB/s = megaBYTE/sec. Divide by 8! 100 Mbps = 12.5 MB/s actual download speed. Always lowercase b for bits!
- Mbps = megabits per second
- MB/s = megabytes per second
- Divide Mbps by 8
- 100 Mbps = 12.5 MB/s
Decimal vs Binary Comparison
| Level | Decimal (SI) | Binary (IEC) | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kilo | 1 KB = 1,000 B | 1 KiB = 1,024 B | 2.4% larger |
| Mega | 1 MB = 1,000 KB | 1 MiB = 1,024 KiB | 4.9% larger |
| Giga | 1 GB = 1,000 MB | 1 GiB = 1,024 MiB | 7.4% larger |
| Tera | 1 TB = 1,000 GB | 1 TiB = 1,024 GiB | 10% larger |
| Peta | 1 PB = 1,000 TB | 1 PiB = 1,024 TiB | 12.6% larger |
Storage Media Timeline
| Year | Media | Capacity | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1971 | Floppy 8" | 80 KB | First floppy disk |
| 1987 | Floppy 3.5" HD | 1.44 MB | Most common floppy |
| 1994 | Zip 100 | 100 MB | Iomega Zip disk |
| 1995 | CD-R | 700 MB | Optical disc standard |
| 1997 | DVD | 4.7 GB | Single-layer |
| 2006 | Blu-ray | 25 GB | HD optical disc |
| 2010 | USB Flash 128 GB | 128 GB | Portable solid-state |
| 2023 | microSD 1.5 TB | 1.5 TB | Smallest form factor |
Real-World Applications
Internet Speeds
ISPs advertise in Mbps (bits). Downloads show MB/s (bytes). 1000 Mbps 'gigabit' internet = 125 MB/s download. File downloads, streaming all use bytes. Divide advertised speed by 8!
- ISP: Mbps (bits)
- Download: MB/s (bytes)
- 1 Gbps = 125 MB/s
- Divide by 8 always!
Storage Planning
Plan server storage? Use binary (GiB, TiB) for accuracy. Buy drives? Marketed in decimal (GB, TB). 10 TB raw becomes 9.09 TiB usable. RAID overhead reduces more. Always plan with TiB!
- Planning: use GiB/TiB
- Purchasing: see GB/TB
- 10 TB = 9.09 TiB
- Add RAID overhead!
RAM & Memory
RAM always binary! 8 GB stick = 8 GiB actual. Memory addresses are powers of 2. CPU architecture based on binary. DDR4-3200 = 3200 MHz, but capacity in GiB.
- RAM: always binary
- 8 GB = 8 GiB (same!)
- Powers of 2 native
- No decimal confusion
Quick Math
TB to TiB
Multiply TB by 0.909 to get TiB. Or: TB x 0.9 for quick estimate. 10 TB x 0.909 = 9.09 TiB. That's the 'missing' 10%!
- TB x 0.909 = TiB
- Quick: TB x 0.9
- 10 TB = 9.09 TiB
- Not missing!
Mbps to MB/s
Divide Mbps by 8 for MB/s. 100 Mbps / 8 = 12.5 MB/s. 1000 Mbps (1 Gbps) / 8 = 125 MB/s. Quick: divide by 10 for estimate.
- Mbps / 8 = MB/s
- 100 Mbps = 12.5 MB/s
- 1 Gbps = 125 MB/s
- Quick: divide by 10
Media Math
CD = 700 MB. DVD = 4.7 GB = 6.7 CDs. Blu-ray = 25 GB = 35 CDs = 5.3 DVDs. Floppy = 1.44 MB = 486 floppies per CD!
- 1 DVD = 6.7 CDs
- 1 Blu-ray = 35 CDs
- 1 CD = 486 floppies
- Historical perspective!
How Conversions Work
- Step 1: Identify system (decimal vs binary)
- Step 2: Multiply by appropriate power
- Step 3: Bits? Divide by 8 for bytes
- Step 4: Media has fixed capacity
- Step 5: Use TiB for OS, TB for marketing
Common Conversions
| From | To | Factor | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| GB | MB | 1000 | 1 GB = 1000 MB |
| GB | GiB | 0.931 | 1 GB = 0.931 GiB |
| GiB | GB | 1.074 | 1 GiB = 1.074 GB |
| TB | TiB | 0.909 | 1 TB = 0.909 TiB |
| Mbps | MB/s | 0.125 | 100 Mbps = 12.5 MB/s |
| Gb | GB | 0.125 | 8 Gb = 1 GB |
| byte | bit | 8 | 1 byte = 8 bits |
Quick Examples
Worked Problems
Missing Storage Mystery
Bought 4 TB external drive. Windows shows 3.64 TiB. Where did storage go?
Nothing missing! Manufacturer: 4 TB = 4,000,000,000,000 bytes. Windows uses TiB: 4 TB / 1.0995 = 3.638 TiB. Exact math: 4 x 0.909 = 3.636 TiB. Always ~10% difference at TB level. It's all there, just different units!
Download Speed Reality
ISP promises 200 Mbps internet. Download speed shows 23-25 MB/s. Am I getting cheated?
No! 200 Mbps (megaBITS) / 8 = 25 MB/s (megaBYTES). You're getting exactly what you paid for! ISPs advertise in bits (looks bigger), downloads show bytes. 23-25 MB/s is perfect (overhead = 2 MB/s). Always divide advertised Mbps by 8.
Server Storage Planning
Need to store 50 TB of data. How many 10 TB drives in RAID 5?
50 TB = 45.52 TiB actual. Each 10 TB drive = 9.09 TiB. RAID 5 with 6 drives: 5 x 9.09 = 45.45 TiB usable (1 drive for parity). Need 6 x 10 TB drives. Always plan in TiB! Decimal TB numbers mislead.
Common Mistakes
- **Confusing GB and GiB**: 1 GB ≠ 1 GiB! GB (decimal) is smaller. 1 GiB = 1.074 GB. OS shows GiB, manufacturers use GB. That's why drives look smaller!
- **Bits vs Bytes**: Lowercase b = bits, Uppercase B = Bytes! 100 Mbps ≠ 100 MB/s. Divide by 8! Internet speeds use bits, storage uses bytes.
- **Assuming linear difference**: Gap grows! At KB: 2.4%. At GB: 7.4%. At TB: 10%. At PB: 12.6%. Higher capacity = bigger percentage difference.
- **Mixing units in calculation**: Don't mix! GB + GiB = wrong. Mbps + MB/s = wrong. Convert to same unit first, then calculate.
- **Forgetting RAID overhead**: RAID 5 loses 1 drive. RAID 6 loses 2 drives. RAID 10 loses 50%! Plan for this when sizing storage arrays.
- **RAM confusion**: RAM marketed as GB but actually GiB! 8 GB stick = 8 GiB. RAM manufacturers use same units as OS (binary). Drives don't!
Fun Facts
Floppy's True Size
3.5" floppy 'formatted' capacity: 1.44 MB. Unformatted: 1.474 MB (30 KB more). That's 512 bytes per sector x 18 sectors x 80 tracks x 2 sides = 1,474,560 bytes. Lost to formatting metadata!
DVD-R vs DVD+R
Format war! DVD-R and DVD+R both 4.7 GB. BUT DVD+R dual-layer = 8.5 GB, DVD-R DL = 8.547 GB. Tiny difference. Plus won for compatibility, minus won for capacity. Both work everywhere now!
CD's 74 Minute Mystery
Why 74 minutes? Sony president wanted Beethoven's 9th Symphony to fit. 74 min x 44.1 kHz x 16 bit x 2 channels = 783,216,000 bytes ≈ 747 MB raw. With error correction: 650-700 MB usable. Music dictated tech!
Binary's IEC Standard
KiB, MiB, GiB official since 1998! International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) standardized binary prefixes. Before: everyone used KB for both 1000 and 1024. Confusion for decades! Now we have clarity.
Yottabyte Scale
1 YB = 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 bytes. All data on Earth: ~60-100 ZB (as of 2020). Would need 60-100 YB for ALL data humanity ever created. Total: 60 yottabytes to store everything!
Hard Drive Evolution
1956 IBM 350: 5 MB, weight 1 ton, cost $50,000/MB. 2023: 20 TB SSD, weight 50g, cost $0.025/GB. Million times cheaper. Billion times smaller. Same data. Moore's Law + manufacturing magic!
The Storage Revolution: From Punch Cards to Petabytes
Mechanical Storage Era (1890-1950s)
Before magnetic storage, data lived on physical media: punch cards, paper tape, and relay systems. Storage was manual, slow, and measured in characters, not bytes.
- **Hollerith Punch Card** (1890) - 80 columns x 12 rows = 960 bits (~120 bytes). 1890 US Census used 62 million cards! Weighed 500 tons.
- **Paper Tape** (1940s) - 10 characters per inch. ENIAC programs on paper tape. One roll = few KB. Fragile, sequential access only.
- **Williams Tube** (1946) - First RAM! 1024 bits (128 bytes) on a CRT. Volatile. Had to be refreshed 40 times/second or data vanished.
- **Delay Line Memory** (1947) - Mercury delay lines. Sound waves stored data! 1000 bits (125 bytes). Acoustic computing!
Storage was the bottleneck. Programs were tiny because storage was scarce. A 'big' program fit on 50 punch cards (~6 KB). The concept of 'saving' data didn't exist—programs ran once.
Magnetic Storage Revolution (1950s-1980s)
Magnetic recording changed everything. Tape, drums, and disks could store megabytes—thousands of times more than punch cards. Random access became possible.
- **IBM 350 RAMAC** (1956) - First hard disk drive. 5 MB on 50x 24" platters. Weighed 1 ton. Cost $35,000 ($50,000/MB in 2023 dollars). Random access in <1 second!
- **Magnetic Tape** (1950s+) - Reel-to-reel. 10 MB per reel initially. Sequential access. Backups, archives. Still used for cold storage today!
- **Floppy Disk** (1971) - 8" floppy: 80 KB. First portable magnetic media. Could mail programs! 5.25" (1976): 360 KB. 3.5" (1984): 1.44 MB.
- **Winchester Drive** (1973) - Sealed platters. 30 MB. Basis for all modern HDDs. "30-30" (30 MB fixed + 30 MB removable) like Winchester rifle.
Magnetic storage made personal computing viable. Programs could be >100 KB. Data could persist. Databases became possible. The era of 'save' and 'load' began.
Optical Storage Age (1982-2010)
Lasers reading microscopic pits in plastic discs. CD, DVD, Blu-ray brought gigabytes to consumers. Read-only → writable → rewritable evolution.
- **CD (Compact Disc)** (1982) - 650-700 MB. 74-80 minutes audio. 5000x floppy capacity! Killed floppy for software distribution. $1-2/disc peak.
- **CD-R/RW** (1990s) - Writable CDs. Home recording. Mix CDs, photo archives. '$1 per 700 MB' era. Felt infinite compared to 1.44 MB floppies.
- **DVD** (1997) - 4.7 GB single-layer, 8.5 GB dual-layer. 6.7x CD capacity. HD video possible. Format war: DVD-R vs DVD+R (both survived).
- **Blu-ray** (2006) - 25 GB single, 50 GB dual, 100 GB quad-layer. Blue laser (405nm) vs DVD red (650nm). Shorter wavelength = smaller pits = more data.
- **Decline** (2010+) - Streaming killed optical. USB flash drives cheaper, faster, rewritable. Last laptop with optical drive: ~2015. RIP physical media.
Optical storage democratized large files. Everyone had a CD burner. Mix CDs, photo archives, software backups. But streaming and cloud killed it. Optical is now archival only.
Flash Memory Revolution (1990s-Present)
Solid-state storage with no moving parts. Flash memory went from kilobytes in 1990 to terabytes by 2020. Speed, durability, and density exploded.
- **USB Flash Drive** (2000) - 8 MB first models. Replaced floppies overnight. By 2005: 1 GB for $50. By 2020: 1 TB for $100. 125,000x price drop!
- **SD Card** (1999) - 32 MB initially. Cameras, phones, drones. microSD (2005): thumbnail-sized. 2023: 1.5 TB microSD—equals 1 million floppies!
- **SSD (Solid State Drive)** (2007+) - Consumer SSDs arrive. 2007: 64 GB for $500. 2023: 4 TB for $200. 10-100x faster than HDD. No moving parts = silent, shock-proof.
- **NVMe** (2013+) - PCIe SSDs. 7 GB/s read speed (vs 200 MB/s HDD). Game loading: seconds instead of minutes. OS boots in <10 seconds.
- **QLC Flash** (2018+) - 4 bits per cell. Cheaper but slower than TLC (3 bits). Enables multi-TB consumer SSDs. Trade-off: endurance vs capacity.
Flash won. HDDs still used for bulk storage (cost/GB advantage), but all performance storage is SSD. Next: PCIe 5.0 SSDs (14 GB/s). CXL memory. Persistent memory. Storage and RAM converge.
Cloud & Hyperscale Era (2006-Present)
Individual drives < 20 TB. Datacenters store exabytes. Amazon S3, Google Drive, iCloud—storage became a service. We stopped thinking about capacity.
- **Amazon S3** (2006) - Pay-per-GB storage service. First 'infinite' storage. $0.15/GB/month initially. Now $0.023/GB/month. Commoditized storage.
- **Dropbox** (2008) - Sync everything. 'Forget about saving.' Auto-backup. 2 GB free changed behavior. Storage became invisible.
- **SSD Price Collapse** (2010-2020) - $1/GB → $0.10/GB. 10x cheaper decade. SSDs went from luxury to standard. Every laptop ships with SSD by 2020.
- **100 TB SSDs** (2020+) - Enterprise SSDs hit 100 TB. Single drive = 69 million floppies. $15,000 but $/GB continues falling.
- **DNA Storage** (experimental) - 215 PB per gram. Microsoft/Twist Bioscience demo: encode 200 MB in DNA. Stable for 1000+ years. Future archival?
We rent storage now, not own it. '1 TB iCloud' sounds like a lot, but it's $10/month and we use it without thinking. Storage became a utility like electricity.
The Storage Scale: From Bits to Yottabytes
Storage spans an incomprehensible range—from a single bit to the sum of all human knowledge. Understanding these scales contextualizes the storage revolution.
Sub-Byte (1-7 bits)
- **Single Bit** - On/off, 1/0, true/false. Fundamental unit of information.
- **Nibble (4 bits)** - Single hexadecimal digit (0-F). Half a byte.
- **Boolean + State** (3 bits) - Traffic light states (red/yellow/green). Early game sprites.
- **7-bit ASCII** - Original character encoding. 128 characters. A-Z, 0-9, punctuation.
Byte-Scale (1-1000 bytes)
- **Character** - 1 byte. 'Hello' = 5 bytes. Tweet ≤ 280 characters ≈ 280 bytes.
- **SMS** - 160 characters = 160 bytes (7-bit encoding). Emoji = 4 bytes each!
- **IPv4 Address** - 4 bytes. 192.168.1.1 = 4 bytes. IPv6 = 16 bytes.
- **Small Icon** - 16x16 pixels, 256 colors = 256 bytes.
- **Machine Code Instruction** - 1-15 bytes. Early programs: hundreds of bytes.
Kilobyte Era (1-1000 KB)
- **Floppy Disk** - 1.44 MB = 1440 KB. Defined 1990s software distribution.
- **Text File** - 100 KB ≈ 20,000 words. Short story or essay.
- **Low-Res JPEG** - 100 KB = decent photo quality for web. 640x480 pixels.
- **Boot Sector Virus** - 512 bytes (one sector). First computer viruses tiny!
- **Commodore 64** - 64 KB RAM. Entire games fit in <64 KB. Elite: 22 KB!
Megabyte Era (1-1000 MB)
- **MP3 Song** - 3-5 MB for 3-4 minutes. Napster era: 1000 songs = 5 GB.
- **High-Res Photo** - 5-10 MB from modern smartphone camera. RAW: 25-50 MB.
- **CD** - 650-700 MB. 486 floppies worth. Held 74 minutes audio.
- **Installed App** - Mobile apps: 50-500 MB typical. Games: 1-5 GB.
- **Doom (1993)** - 2.39 MB for shareware. Full game: 11 MB. Defined 90s gaming on limited storage.
Gigabyte Era (1-1000 GB)
- **DVD Movie** - 4.7 GB single-layer, 8.5 GB dual-layer. 2-hour HD film.
- **DVD** - 4.7 GB. 6.7 CDs worth. Enabled HD video distribution.
- **Blu-ray** - 25-50 GB. 1080p movies + extras.
- **Modern Game** - 50-150 GB typical (2020+). Call of Duty: 200+ GB!
- **Smartphone Storage** - 64-512 GB common (2023). Base model often 128 GB.
- **Laptop SSD** - 256 GB-2 TB typical. 512 GB sweet spot for consumers.
Terabyte Era (1-1000 TB)
- **External HDD** - 1-8 TB common. Backup drives. $15-20/TB.
- **Desktop NAS** - 4x 4 TB drives = 16 TB raw, 12 TB usable (RAID 5). Home media server.
- **4K Movie** - 50-100 GB. 1 TB = 10-20 4K movies.
- **Personal Data** - Average person: 1-5 TB (2023). Photos, videos, games, documents.
- **Enterprise SSD** - 15-100 TB single drive. Datacenter workhorse.
- **Server RAID Array** - 100-500 TB common. Enterprise storage array.
Petabyte Era (1-1000 PB)
- **Datacenter Rack** - 1-10 PB per rack. 100+ drives.
- **Facebook Photos** - ~300 PB uploaded per day (est 2020). Growing exponentially.
- **CERN LHC** - 1 PB per day during experiments. Particle physics data firehose.
- **Netflix Library** - ~100-200 PB total (est). Entire catalog + regional variants.
- **Google Photos** - ~4 PB uploaded per day (2020). Billions of photos daily.
Exabyte & Beyond (1+ EB)
- **Global Internet Traffic** - ~150-200 EB per day (2023). Streaming video = 80%.
- **Google Total Storage** - Estimated 10-15 EB (2020). All services combined.
- **All Human Data** - ~60-100 ZB total (2020). Every photo, video, document, database.
- **Yottabyte** - 1 YB = 1 septillion bytes. Theoretical. Would hold all Earth's data 10,000x over.
A single 1 TB SSD today holds more data than the entire internet in 1997 (~3 TB). Storage doubles every 18-24 months. We've gained 10 billion times capacity since 1956.
Storage in Action: Real-World Use Cases
Personal Computing & Mobile
Consumer storage needs exploded with photos, videos, and games. Understanding your usage prevents overpaying or running out of space.
- **Smartphone**: 64-512 GB. Photos (5 MB each), videos (200 MB/min 4K), apps (50-500 MB each). 128 GB holds ~20,000 photos + 50 GB apps.
- **Laptop/Desktop**: 256 GB-2 TB SSD. OS + apps: 100 GB. Games: 50-150 GB each. 512 GB covers most users. 1 TB for gamers/creators.
- **External Backup**: 1-4 TB HDD. Full system backup + archives. Rule of thumb: 2x your internal drive capacity.
- **Cloud Storage**: 50 GB-2 TB. iCloud/Google Drive/OneDrive. Auto-sync photos/documents. $1-10/month typical.
Content Creation & Media Production
Video editing, RAW photos, and 3D rendering demand enormous storage and speed. Professionals need TB-scale working storage.
- **Photography**: RAW files: 25-50 MB each. 1 TB = 20,000-40,000 RAWs. JPEG: 5-10 MB. Backup critical!
- **4K Video Editing**: 4K60fps ≈ 12 GB per minute (ProRes). 1-hour project = 720 GB raw footage. 2-4 TB NVMe SSD minimum for timeline.
- **8K Video**: 8K30fps ≈ 25 GB per minute. 1-hour = 1.5 TB! Requires 10-20 TB RAID array.
- **3D Rendering**: Texture libraries: 100-500 GB. Project files: 10-100 GB. Cache files: 500 GB-2 TB. Multi-TB workstations standard.
Gaming & Virtual Worlds
Modern games are massive. Texture quality, voice acting in multiple languages, and live updates inflate sizes.
- **Game Sizes**: Indies: 1-10 GB. AAA: 50-150 GB. Call of Duty/Warzone: 200+ GB!
- **Console Storage**: PS5/Xbox Series: 667 GB usable (of 825 GB SSD). Holds 5-10 AAA games.
- **PC Gaming**: 1 TB minimum. 2 TB recommended. NVMe SSD for load times (5-10x faster than HDD).
- **Updates**: Patches: 5-50 GB each. Some games require redownloading 100+ GB for updates!
Data Hoarding & Archival
Some preserve everything: movies, TV shows, datasets, Wikipedia. 'Data hoarders' measure in tens of terabytes.
- **Media Server**: Plex/Jellyfin. 4K movies: 50 GB each. 1 TB = 20 movies. 100-movie library = 5 TB.
- **TV Shows**: Full series: 10-100 GB (SD), 50-500 GB (HD), 200-2000 GB (4K). Breaking Bad complete: 35 GB (720p).
- **Data Preservation**: Wikipedia text dump: 20 GB. Internet Archive: 70+ PB. /r/DataHoarder: individuals with 100+ TB home arrays!
- **NAS Arrays**: 4-bay NAS: 16-48 TB typical. 8-bay: 100+ TB. RAID protection essential.
Enterprise & Cloud Infrastructure
Businesses operate at petabyte scale. Databases, backups, analytics, and compliance drive massive storage needs.
- **Database Servers**: Transactional DB: 1-10 TB. Analytics/data warehouse: 100 TB-1 PB. Hot data on SSD, cold on HDD.
- **Backup & DR**: 3-2-1 rule: 3 copies, 2 media types, 1 offsite. If you have 100 TB data, you need 300 TB backup capacity!
- **Video Surveillance**: 1080p camera: 1-2 GB/hour. 4K: 5-10 GB/hour. 100 cameras 24/7 = 100 TB/month. Retention: 30-90 days typical.
- **VM/Container Storage**: Virtual machines: 20-100 GB each. Clustered storage: 10-100 TB per cluster. SAN/NAS critical.
Scientific Research & Big Data
Genomics, particle physics, climate modeling, and astronomy generate data faster than it can be analyzed.
- **Human Genome**: 3 billion base pairs = 750 MB raw. With annotations: 200 GB. 1000 Genomes Project: 200 TB!
- **CERN LHC**: 1 PB per day during operation. 600 million particle collisions per second. Storage challenge > computing challenge.
- **Climate Models**: Single simulation: 1-10 TB output. Ensemble runs (100+ scenarios): 1 PB. Historical data: 10+ PB.
- **Astronomy**: Square Kilometre Array: 700 TB per day. Single telescope session: 1 PB. Lifetime: exabytes.
Key Milestones in Storage History
Pro Tips
- **Always specify units**: Don't say '1 TB drive shows as 931 GB'. Say '931 GiB'. Windows shows GiB, not GB. Precision matters!
- **Plan storage in TiB**: For servers, databases, RAID arrays. Use binary (TiB) for accuracy. Purchasing uses TB, but planning needs TiB!
- **Internet speed division**: Mbps / 8 = MB/s. Quick: divide by 10 for rough estimate. 100 Mbps ≈ 10-12 MB/s download.
- **Check RAM carefully**: 8 GB RAM stick = 8 GiB actual. RAM uses binary. No decimal/binary confusion here. Unlike drives!
- **Media conversions**: CD = 700 MB. DVD = 6.7 CDs. Blu-ray = 5.3 DVDs. Quick mental math for media!
- **Lowercase vs Uppercase**: b = bits (speed), B = Bytes (storage). Mb ≠ MB! Gb ≠ GB! Case matters in data storage.
- **Scientific notation auto**: Values ≥ 1 billion bytes (1 GB+) or < 0.000001 bytes automatically display in scientific notation (e.g., 1.0e+9) for readability!
Units Reference
Decimal (SI) - Bytes
| Unit | Symbol | Base Equivalent | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| byte | B | 1 byte (base) | Commonly used |
| kilobyte | KB | 1.00 KB | Commonly used |
| megabyte | MB | 1.00 MB | Commonly used |
| gigabyte | GB | 1.00 GB | Commonly used |
| terabyte | TB | 1.00 TB | Commonly used |
| petabyte | PB | 1.00 PB | Commonly used |
| exabyte | EB | 1.00 EB | Commonly used |
| zettabyte | ZB | 1.00 ZB | — |
| yottabyte | YB | 1.00 YB | — |
Binary (IEC) - Bytes
| Unit | Symbol | Base Equivalent | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| kibibyte | KiB | 1.02 KB | Commonly used |
| mebibyte | MiB | 1.05 MB | Commonly used |
| gibibyte | GiB | 1.07 GB | Commonly used |
| tebibyte | TiB | 1.10 TB | Commonly used |
| pebibyte | PiB | 1.13 PB | — |
| exbibyte | EiB | 1.15 EB | — |
| zebibyte | ZiB | 1.18 ZB | — |
| yobibyte | YiB | 1.21 YB | — |
Bits
| Unit | Symbol | Base Equivalent | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| bit | b | 0.1250 bytes | Commonly used |
| kilobit | Kb | 125 bytes | Commonly used |
| megabit | Mb | 125.00 KB | Commonly used |
| gigabit | Gb | 125.00 MB | Commonly used |
| terabit | Tb | 125.00 GB | — |
| petabit | Pb | 125.00 TB | — |
| kibibit | Kib | 128 bytes | — |
| mebibit | Mib | 131.07 KB | — |
| gibibit | Gib | 134.22 MB | — |
| tebibit | Tib | 137.44 GB | — |
Storage Media
| Unit | Symbol | Base Equivalent | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| floppy disk (3.5", HD) | floppy | 1.47 MB | Commonly used |
| floppy disk (5.25", HD) | floppy 5.25" | 1.23 MB | — |
| Zip disk (100 MB) | Zip 100 | 100.00 MB | — |
| Zip disk (250 MB) | Zip 250 | 250.00 MB | — |
| CD (700 MB) | CD | 700.00 MB | Commonly used |
| DVD (4.7 GB) | DVD | 4.70 GB | Commonly used |
| DVD dual-layer (8.5 GB) | DVD-DL | 8.50 GB | — |
| Blu-ray (25 GB) | BD | 25.00 GB | Commonly used |
| Blu-ray dual-layer (50 GB) | BD-DL | 50.00 GB | — |
Specialized Units
| Unit | Symbol | Base Equivalent | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| nibble (4 bits) | nibble | 0.5000 bytes | Commonly used |
| word (16 bits) | word | 2 bytes | — |
| double word (32 bits) | dword | 4 bytes | — |
| quad word (64 bits) | qword | 8 bytes | — |
| block (512 bytes) | block | 512 bytes | — |
| page (4 KB) | page | 4.10 KB | — |
FAQ
Why does my 1 TB drive show as 931 GB in Windows?
It shows 931 GiB, not GB! Windows displays GiB but labels it 'GB' (confusing!). Manufacturer: 1 TB = 1,000,000,000,000 bytes. Windows: 1 TiB = 1,099,511,627,776 bytes. 1 TB = 931.32 GiB. Nothing missing! Just math. Right-click drive in Windows, check: it shows bytes correctly. The units are just labeled wrong.
What's the difference between GB and GiB?
GB (gigabyte) = 1,000,000,000 bytes (decimal, base 10). GiB (gibibyte) = 1,073,741,824 bytes (binary, base 2). 1 GiB = 1.074 GB (~7% larger). Drive manufacturers use GB (looks bigger). OS uses GiB (true computer math). Both measure same bytes, different counting! Always specify which you mean.
How do I convert internet speed to download speed?
Divide Mbps by 8 to get MB/s. Internet advertised in megaBITS (Mbps). Downloads show megaBYTES (MB/s). 100 Mbps / 8 = 12.5 MB/s actual download. 1000 Mbps (1 Gbps) / 8 = 125 MB/s. ISPs use bits because numbers look bigger. Always divide by 8!
Is RAM in GB or GiB?
RAM is ALWAYS GiB! An 8 GB stick = 8 GiB actual. Memory uses powers of 2 (binary). Unlike hard drives, RAM manufacturers use same units as OS. No confusion! But they label it 'GB' when it's really GiB. Marketing strikes again. Bottom line: RAM capacity is what it says.
Should I use KB or KiB?
Depends on context! Marketing/sales: use KB, MB, GB (decimal). Makes numbers bigger. Technical/system work: use KiB, MiB, GiB (binary). Matches OS. Programming: use binary (powers of 2). Documentation: specify! Say '1 KB (1000 bytes)' or '1 KiB (1024 bytes)'. Clarity prevents confusion.
How many floppies fit on a CD?
About 486 floppies! CD = 700 MB = 700,000,000 bytes. Floppy = 1.44 MB = 1,440,000 bytes. 700,000,000 / 1,440,000 = 486.1 floppies. That's why CDs replaced floppies! Or: 1 DVD = 3,264 floppies. 1 Blu-ray = 17,361 floppies. Storage evolved fast!
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