Topics / Data Storage and Compression / Data Storage Capacity
Data Storage Capacity
Data storage capacity is the measurement of how much data can be stored in a storage device.
Bits, bytes and nibbles
Data storage capacities are measured in bytes, where each byte is actually a pattern of 8 bits.
1 byte = 8 bits (e.g. 10011011)
1 nibble = 4 bits (e.g. 1001)
Each bit is represented by either a 1 or a 0 (on or off), also known as binary code.
1 byte can hold 1 character of data, e.g. “p” is 1 byte.
As technology improves, it is becoming cheaper to achieve higher data storage capacities.
International System of Units – data storage capacities
| Name | Bytes |
|---|---|
| 1 kilobyte (1 KB) | 10^3 (or 1 000) |
| 1 megabyte (1 MB) | 10^6 (or 1 000 000) |
| 1 gigabyte (1 GB) | 10^9 (or 1 000 000 000) |
| 1 terabyte (1 TB) | 10^12 (or 1 000 000 000 000) |
| 1 petabyte (1 PB) | 10^15 (or 1 000 000 000 000 000) |
| 1 exabyte (1 EB) | 10^18 (or 1 000 000 000 000 000 000) |
Each unit of measurement is 1000 times bigger than the unit before it.
International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) – data storage capacities
| Name | Bytes |
|---|---|
| 1 kibibyte (1 KiB) | 2^10 (or 1 024) |
| 1 mebibyte (1 MiB) | 2^20 (or 1 048 576) |
| 1 gibibyte (1 GiB) | 2^30 (or 1 073 741 824) |
| 1 tebibyte (1 TiB) | 2^40 (or 1 099 511 627 776) |
| 1 pebibyte (1 PiB) | 2^50 (or 1 125 899 906 842 624) |
| 1 exbibyte (1 EiB) | 2^60 (or 1 152 921 504 606 846 976) |
Each unit of measurement is 1024 times bigger than the unit before it.
