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Understanding the digital units for data storage.

The basic unit used in computer data storage is called a bit (binary digit). Computers use these little bits, which are composed of ones and zeros, to do things. This two number system, is called a "binary number system" since it has only two numbers in it. The decimal number system in contrast has ten unique digits, zero through nine.

But although computer data and file size is normally measured in binary code using the binary number system (counted by factors of two 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, etc), the prefixes for the multiples are based on the metric system! The nearest binary number to 1,000 is 2^10 or 1,024; thus 1,024 bytes was named a Kilobyte. So, although a metric "kilo" equals 1,000 (e.g. one kilogram = 1,000 grams), a binary "Kilo" equals 1,024 (e.g. one Kilobyte = 1,024 bytes). Not surprisingly, this has led to a great deal of confusion.
Unit NameAbbreviationSize in bitsSize in bytes
bitb or bit1
byteB81
KilobyteKB8,1921,024
MegabyteMB8,388,6081,048,576
GigabyteGB8,589,934,5921,073,741,824
TerabyteTB8,796,093,022,2081,099,511,627,776
PetabytePB9,007,199,254,740,9921,125,899,906,842,624
ExabyteEB9,223,372,036,854,775,8081,152,921,504,606,846,976
ZettabyteZB9,444,732,965,739,290,427,3921,180,591,620,717,411,303,424
Additional Note:
Although data storage capacity is generally expressed in binary code, many hard drive manufacturers use a decimal system to express capacity.
Example, a 30 gigabyte drive is usually 30,000,000,000 bytes (decimal) not the 32,212,254,720 binary bytes you would expect.
That's it, I hope this has simplified the digital unit a little.