Supplemental Reading

for Data Storage

Data Storage Measurements

In this reading, you will learn about the different names for
measurements of data storage capacities and le sizes. Data
storage capacity increases in step with the evolution of computer
hardware technology. Larger storage capacities allow for dynamic
growth in le sizes. These advances make it possible for
companies like Net ix and Hulu to store thousands of feature-
length lms in high video quality formats.

There are standardized sets of terms used to name the ever

expanding sizes of data storage and les. For example, the
common terms used to describe le sizes and hard drive storage
capacity include: bytes, kilobytes, megabytes, gigabytes, and
terabytes. However, if you are a computer engineer, you might
use a different set of terms.
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Data storage measurement nomenclature

• Decimal nomenclature: kilobyte, megabyte, gigabyte,

terabyte, petabyte, exabyte, zettabyte, yottabyte
The decimal naming system for computer storage uses the metric
system of pre xes from the International System of Units: kilo,
mega, giga, tera, peta, exa, zetta, and yotta. These pre xes may
also be referred to as the decimal system of pre xes. The metric/
decimal nomenclature represent a base-10 approximation of the
actual amount of data storage bytes. The metric system pre xes
were selected to simplify the marketing of computer products.
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 • Binary nomenclature: kibibyte, mebibyte, gibibyte, tebibyte,
pebibyte, exbibyte, zebibyte, yobibyte
The binary naming system is a standard set by the International
Organization for Standardization (ISO) in partnership with the
International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). The ISO 80000
and IEC 80000 guides to units of measurement de ne the
International System of Quantities (ISQ). The pre xes kibi-, mebi-,
gibi, -tebi-. pebi-, exbi-, zebi-, and yobi- were created by the IEC
organization. They are a blend of the rst two letters of the metric
pre x fused with the rst two letters of the word “binary” (example:
megabyte + binary + byte= mebibyte).

Binary measurements of computer data are more accurate than

decimal system measurements. While decimal nomenclature is
commonly used to market computers and computer parts to the
general public, binary nomenclature is often used in computer
engineering for numerical accuracy.
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Quantities of storage measurements
As data storage grows, the need for new terminology to describe
the exponentially larger byte quantities grows too. The current
byte nomenclature, mathematical representations, and storage
capacities are as follows:

• One bit: Also called a binary digit, bits store an electric

signal as 1. The absence of an electric signal is stored as 0,
which is also the default value of a bit. One bit can store only
one value, either 1 or 0. These two possible values are the
basis of the binary number system (base-2) that computers
use. All numbers in a base-2 system increase exponentially
as powers of 2.
• One byte: One byte stores eight bits of ones and zeros that
translate to a symbol or basic computer instruction.
Examples: 01101101 is the byte that translates to the letter
“m.” The byte 01111111 tells the computer to delete the
character to the right of the cursor.
• One kilobyte (1 KB):
◦ Kilobyte (KB) decimal format: 103 = 1,000 bytes
◦ Kibibyte (KiB) binary format: 210 = 1,024 bytes
◦ Decimal inaccuracy: Off by -2.4% or -24 bytes
◦ Name origin: “Kilo-” is a French derivation from the
Ancient Greek word for “thousand” A kilobyte is one
thousand bytes.
◦ 1 KB can hold: A short text le or a small icon as a
16x16 pixel .gif le.
• One megabyte (1 MB):
◦ Megabyte (MB) decimal format: 106 = 1,000,000
bytes
◦ Mebibyte (MiB) binary format: 220= 1,048,576 bytes
◦ Decimal inaccuracy: Off by -4.9% or -48,576 bytes
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 ◦ Name origin: “Mega-” is derived from the Ancient
Greek word for “large.” A megabyte is a large number of
bytes.
◦ 1 MB can hold: Approximately one minute of music in
a lossless .mp3 format or a short novel.
• One gigabyte (1 GB):
◦ Gigabyte (GB) decimal format: 109 = 1,000,000,000
bytes
◦ Gibibyte (GiB) binary format: 230 = 1,073,741,824
bytes
◦ Decimal inaccuracy: Off by -7.4% or -73,741,824
bytes
◦ Name origin: “Giga-” is derived from the Ancient Greek
word for “giant.” A gigabyte is a giant number of bytes.
◦ 1 GB can hold: Between 2.5-3 hours of music in .mp3
format or 300 high-resolution images.
• One terabyte (1 TB):
◦ Terabyte (TB) decimal format: 1012 =
1,000,000,000,000 bytes
◦ Tebibyte (TiB) binary format: 240 = 1,099,511,627,776
bytes
◦ Decimal inaccuracy: Off by -10.0%
◦ Name origin: “Tera-” is a shortened form of “tetra-”,
which was derived from the Ancient Greek word for the
number four. The 1012 decimal format can also be
written as 10004 (one-thousand to the 4th power).
“Tera-” in Ancient Greek means “monster.” You might
think of the word “terabyte” as a monstrously large
number of bytes.
◦ 1 TB can hold: Approximately 200,000 songs in .mp3
format or 300 hours of video.
• One petabyte (PB):
◦ Petabyte (PB) decimal format: 1015 =
1,000,000,000,000,000 bytes
 ◦ Pebibyte (PiB) binary format: 250 =
1,125,899,906,842,624 bytes
◦ Decimal inaccuracy: Off by -12.6%
◦ Name origin: “Peta-” is derived from the Ancient Greek
word “penta” meaning ve. The 1015 decimal format
can also be written as 10005 (one-thousand to the 5th
power).
◦ 1 PB can hold: The content from 1.5 million CD-ROM
discs or 500 billion pages of text.
• One exabyte (EB):
◦ Exabyte (EB) decimal format: 1018 =
1,000,000,000,000,000,000 bytes
◦ Exbibyte (EiB) binary format: 260 =
1,152,921,504,606,846,976 bytes
◦ Decimal inaccuracy: Off by -15.3%
◦ Name origin: “Exa-” was derived from the Ancient
Greek word for six. The 1018 decimal format can also
be written as 10006 (one-thousand to the 6th power).
◦ 1 EB can hold: Approximately 11 million movies in 4k
video resolution or 3,000 copies of the entire United
States Library of Congress.
• One zettabyte (ZB):
◦ Zettabyte (ZB) decimal format: 1021 =
1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 bytes
◦ Zebibyte (ZiB) binary format: 270 =
1,180,591,620,717,411,303,424 bytes
◦ Decimal inaccuracy: Off by -18.1%
◦ Name origin: “Zetta” was derived from the Latin word
“septem” which means seven. The 1021 decimal format
can also be written as 10007 (one-thousand to the 7th
power).
◦ 1 ZB can hold: Seagate reports one zettabyte can hold
30 billion movies in 4k video resolution.
• One yottabyte (YB):
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◦ Yottabyte (YB) decimal format: 1024 =
1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 bytes
◦ Yobibyte (YiB) binary format: 280 =
1,208,925,819,614,629,174,706,176 bytes
◦ Decimal inaccuracy: Off by -20.9%
◦ Name origin: “Yotta” is Ancient Greek for eight. The
1024 decimal format can also be written as 10008 (one-
thousand to the 8th power).
◦ 1 YB can hold: In 2011, a cloud storage company
estimated that one yottabyte could hold the data of one
million data centers.