Units of Storage in Computer

Introduction to Bytes:

In the world of computers, all the bytes are used to describe disk space, data storage space, or system memory. A few years ago, we were describing hard drive space using the term megabytes (millions of bytes)

Diskettes and Floppy disks were described using Kilobyte.

Today, Gigabytes are the most common term used to describe the size of drives, including flash, CD, DVD, and Hard drives.

In a couple of years to come, we will be hearing about Terabytes (trillions of bytes of information space) though modern systems now come in Terabytes.

The memory inside the computer is constructed in terms of Bits, Bytes, Nibbles, and Words.

Bit: A bit stands for Binary digit. It is the smallest unit of data inside one computer.

Nibble: This represents a group of 4 bits.

Byte: This is a collection of eight bits.

Word: A word constitutes the amount of data that a computer can handle in a given operation. The number of bits that constitute a word is called word length. Different computers have different word lengths, varying from 8 bits to 64 bits. Word lengths are 16, 24, 32, and 64 bits.

The larger the word length, the faster the processing speed, the greater the main storage capacity of the computer, and perhaps the greater the price.

Data storage starting from the smallest unit are:

Computer Storage Size | Bytes, KB, MB, GB, TB, PB, EB, ZB, YB:

Unit:	Abbreviation:	Approximate Size:
bit	b	Binary digit 1 or 0
nibble	–	4 bits
byte	B	8 bits
word	–	8, 16, or 32 bits
Kilobyte	KB	1024 bytes or 103 bytes
Megabyte	MB	1024 KB or 106 (1 million) bytes
Gigabyte	GB	1024 MB or 109 (1 billion) bytes
Terabyte	TB	1024 GB or 1012 (1 trillion) bytes
Petabyte	PB	1024 TB or 1015 (1 quadrillion) bytes
Exabyte	EB	1024 PB or 1018 (1 quintillion) bytes
Zettabyte	ZB	1024 EB or 1021 (1 sextillion) bytes
Yottabyte	YB	1024 ZB or 1024 (1 septillion) bytes

Kilogram Vs. Kilometre Vs. Kilobyte:

Name	Symbol	Value	Factor
Kilogram	kg	1000	103
Kilometre	km	1000	103
Kilobyte	kb	1024	210

Distinctions between KB, MB, and GB:

Name	Symbol	Factor	Value
Kilobyte	KB	210	1024
Megabyte	MB	220	1,048,576
Gigabyte	GB	230	1,073,741,824
Terabyte	TB	240	1,009,511,627,776