Bits and Bytes of 1000 vs. 1024

So what's the difference you ask? A lot, 2.4% to be specific. In the telecom world, where billions of dollars are spent trying to achieve 5-9s, 2.4% makes a huge difference. It is therefore important to understand the various standards. The main difference is metric numbers vs. binary numbers.

Binary numbers: Binary system uses two basic units ...

• bit: represented as 'b' or simply as 'bit'
• Byte: represented as 'B'. 1B = 8bits

The representation is the first two letters of the unit. So ...

• kilo binary = kibi
• mega binary = mebi
• giga binary = gibi, and so on

The conversion factor is as follows ...

• 1 Kibit = 2^10 b = 1024 bit
• 1 MiB = 2^20 B = 1 048 576 B
• 1 GiB = 2^30 B = 1 073 741 824 B

Metric numbers: The units are represented as the first letter. So ...

• kilo = k
• mega = m
• giga = g, and so on

The conversion factor is as follows ...

• 1 kbit = 10^3 bit = 1,000 bit
• 1 MB = 10^6 B = 1,000,000 B
• 1 GB = 10^9 B = 1,000,000,000 B

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References NIST International System of Units page Here is a handy bit calculator Wikipedia byte page Technorati Tags: NIST , unit , metric , binary , bit , byte