Understanding Digital Storage
Digital storage is measured in units of information. The smallest unit is a bit, which can hold a single 0 or 1. A Byte consists of 8 bits and is the standard unit for measuring a character of text. As data needs grow, we use larger prefixes based on powers of 1024 (Binary).
Base Units
- Bit ($b$): The most basic unit of data. It represents a binary digit, either 0 or 1.
- Byte ($B$): A string of 8 bits. Historically, a byte is the number of bits used to encode a single character of text.
Binary vs. Decimal
In computer operating systems (like Windows), data storage is calculated using the binary system (base 1024). For example, 1 KB is 1024 Bytes, not 1000. This converter uses the Binary standard (1024), which is how most hard drives and file systems display space.
- Kilobyte ($KB$): 1024 Bytes.
- Megabyte ($MB$): 1024 Kilobytes. Roughly the size of a 3-minute MP3 song.
- Gigabyte ($GB$): 1024 Megabytes. Commonly used for smartphone storage and movies.
- Terabyte ($TB$): 1024 Gigabytes. Commonly used for external hard drives and server storage.