Bits and bytes count
Ever wondered why the hard disk says X GB, but always stores less than X GB. A good read which blew my mind.
| units | usage | comments |
|---|---|---|
| b = bit. | register or register size/width | as of today this is the basic unit of computing |
| B = byte or 8 bits or 8b | register or register size. | |
| kb = kilobit or 1000 bits | dial up speed or baud rate | dial up speed or baud rate |
| kB = kilobyte or 1000 bytes | storage unit for disks | kB notice the 'k' is lowercase signifies the kilo and 'B' signified the byte i.ie 1000 bytes. reason for 'actual' disk storage always being lesser than the marketing size mentioned. A hard disk of 1 kB would store 1000 bytes and not 1024 bytes. |
| Kb = Kibit = kibibit or 1024 bytes. | notice the uppercase 'K' | |
| KB = KiB = kibibyte or 1024 bytes | KB = KiB = kibibyte or 1024 bytes |
| units | usage | comments |
|---|---|---|
| Mb = megabit = 1000^2 bits or 125 kB | network bandwidth | Mb/s is used for network bandwidth. Notice the 'b' i.e 1 Mb/s would mean 1000^2 bits per second which is 1000000 bits per second which is (1000000/8) bytes per second which is 125000 bytes per second which is 125kB per second which is *mind blown* |
| MB = megabyte = 1000^2 bytes | HDD bandwidth | MB/s is used for disk bandwidth. |
| MiB = mebibyte = 1024^2 bytes | Often referred to as MB or Megabyte for memory. | |
| mb = millibits = 0.001 bits | never use correctly. | |
| mB = millibytes = 0.008 bits | could be used for compression, but isn't |