Data transfer is expressed in bits per second.

Kb (Kilobit) = 1,000 bits

Mb (Megabit ) = 1,000,000 bits

Gb (Gigabit ) = 1,000.000,000 bits

Tb (Terabit) = 1,000,000,000,000 bits

Pb (Petabit) = 1,000,000,000,000,000 bits

Eb (Exabit) = 1,000,000,000,000,000,000 bits

Zb (Zettabit) = 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 bits

Yb (Yottabit) = 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 bits

 

File and memory sizes are expressed in Bytes

1 bit

Bit: The basic unit of information in a binary numbering system.
The electronic circuitry in computers detect the difference between two states (high current and low current) and represents these two states as one of two numbers 1 or 0.
These basic high/low, either/or, yes/no units of information are called bits.

1 Byte | 8 bits

Eight bits comprise what is called an octet, sometimes referred to as a byte.
# 1 Byte: A single character (8 bits)

1 KB (Kilobyte) | 1,024 Bytes | 8192 bits

2 Kilobytes: A Typewritten page.
5 Kilobytes: The page you are currently reading (less the above image)
50 Kilobytes: A typical one page Word Document
300 Kilobytes: A typical high resolution digital photograph saved as a JPG

1 MB (Megabyte) | 1,048,576 Bytes | 8,388,608 bits

One 3.5 inch floppy disk (actually holds about 1.38Mb)
2 Megabytes: A very high resolution photograph
5 Megabytes: 30 seconds of TV-quality video
(imagine how big a 2 hour movie is)
10 Megabytes: A minute of high-fidelity sound
20 Megabytes: Our entire web site including all images and databases.
700 Megabytes: A Typical CD-ROM. Approximately 80 minutes of music

1 GB (Gigabyte) | 1024 MB | 1,073,741,824 Bytes | 8,589,934,592 bits

1 Gigabyte: A pickup truck filled with paper
-or- A movie at TV quality
2 Gigabytes: 20 meters of shelved books
# 4.6 Gigabyte: a full DVD CD
40 Gigabytes: A large hard drive for a home PC (2000-2001)
80 Gigabytes: A large hard drive for a home PC (2002-2003)
120 Gigabytes: A large hard drive for a home PC (2003-2004)
100 Gigabytes: A floor of academic journals

1 TB (Terabyte) | 1024 GB | 1,048,576 MB | 8,388,608 KB | 1,099,511,627,776 Bytes | 8,796,093,022,208 bits.

1 Terabyte: All the X-ray films in a large technological hospital
10 Terabytes: The printed collection of the US Library of Congress

1 PB (Petabyte) | 1024 TB | 1,048,576 GB | 1,073,741,824 MB | 1,099,511,627,776 KB | 1,125,899,906,842,624 Bytes | 9,007,199,254,740,992 bits.

1 Petabyte: 3 years of EOS data (2001)
200 Petabytes: All printed material
500 Petabytes: All online data by the year 2000

1 EB (Exabyte) | 1024 PB | 1,048,576 TB | 1,073,741,824 GB | 1,099,511,627,776 MB | 1,125,899,906,842,624 KB | 1,152,921,504,606,846,976 Bytes | 9,223,372,036,854,775,808 bits.

# 5 Exabytes: All words ever spoken by human beings

1 ZB (Zettabyte) | 1024 EB | 1,048,576 PB | 1,073,741,824 TB | 1,099,511,627,776 GB | 1,125,899,906,842,624 MB | 1,152,921,504,606,846,976 KB | 1,180,591,620,717,411,303,424 Bytes | 9,444,732,965,739,290,427,392 bits

1 YB (Yottabyte) | 1024 ZB | 1,048,576 EB | 1,073,741,824 PB | 1,099,511,627,776 TB | 1,125,899,906,842,624 GB | 1,152,921,504,606,846,976 MB | 1,180,591,620,717,411,303,424 KB | 1,208,925,819,614,629,174,706,176 Bytes | 9,671,406,556,917,033,397,649,408 bits

ASCII | Bandwidth | Bits and Bytes | Base Conversion Table | Numbers

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