Data Storage Converter
Example 1
A video editor compares a 2 TB (decimal) drive vs a 2 TiB (binary) drive. What is the difference in bytes?
Solution
2 TiB = 2 × 2⁴⁰ = 2,199,023,255,552 bytes.
Difference: 199,023,255,552 bytes (about 199 GB).
Answer
A 2 TB (decimal) drive has 2.0 × 10¹² bytes vs 2 TiB with 2.2 × 10¹² bytes — a 9.95% difference. Windows shows the 2 TB drive as 1.82 TB.
Source: IEC 80000-13: Quantities and Units — Information Science and Technology
Published:
Updated:
References
- [1]International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), IEC 80000-13: Quantities and Units – Part 13: Information Science and Technology, 2008.
- [2]JEDEC Solid State Technology Association, JEDEC Standard JESD100B.01 – Terms, Definitions, and Letter Symbols for Microcomputers and Memory Integrated Circuits, 2002.
- [3]National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), NIST SP 330: The International System of Units (SI) – Prefixes for Binary Multiples, 2023. https://www.nist.gov/pml/owm/metric-si-prefixes
Glossary
- Byte – A unit of digital information consisting of 8 bits, the fundamental addressable unit in computer memory. File sizes and storage capacities are typically expressed in bytes.
- Bit – The most basic unit of information in computing, representing a binary value of 0 or 1. Data transfer speeds are measured in bits per second (bps), while storage uses bytes.
- Kilobyte (KB) – 1,024 bytes in binary notation, though historically used to mean 1,000 bytes in some contexts. Files of a few KB include plain text documents and small HTML pages.
- Megabyte (MB) – 1,024 KB or approximately 1 million bytes. Common file sizes in MB include high-resolution photos (3–10 MB), MP3 songs (3–8 MB), and PDF documents.
- Gigabyte (GB) – 1,024 MB or approximately 1 billion bytes. GB is the standard unit for RAM capacity, smartphone storage, USB drives, and SSD/HDD storage.
- Terabyte (TB) – 1,024 GB or approximately 1 trillion bytes. TB is used for hard drive capacities, backup storage, and large database sizes in enterprise environments.
- Petabyte (PB) – 1,024 TB or approximately 1 quadrillion bytes. Data centres and cloud providers measure storage in PB for large-scale infrastructure.
- Binary prefix – A prefix for multiples of 1,024 (KiB, MiB, GiB, TiB) defined by the IEC to distinguish binary multiples from decimal multiples. A kibibyte (KiB) is exactly 1,024 bytes.
- Decimal prefix – A prefix for multiples of 1,000 (KB, MB, GB, TB) based on the SI decimal system. Hard drive manufacturers typically use decimal prefixes, causing the apparent capacity difference between advertised and formatted storage.
- Data transfer rate – The speed at which data is transmitted, typically measured in bits per second (bps), kilobits per second (kbps), or megabits per second (Mbps). One byte equals 8 bits in transfer rate calculations.
How to Use?
- 1
Enter the data size
Type the numeric value representing the file size or storage capacity into the Storage Value field.
- 2
Select the source unit
Choose the unit of your input from the unit dropdown: B, KB, MB, GB, or TB.
- 3
Choose the display unit
Use the Display Result In dropdown to select which unit appears highlighted as the primary result.
- 4
Review all equivalent values
The result panel shows your value in the chosen display unit, with all other units listed as alternatives below.
- 5
Check binary versus decimal
This converter uses binary (1024-based) factors. If you need decimal equivalents for drive specifications or cloud billing, be aware of the approximately 2.4% difference between the two systems.
- 6
Use related converters
For area, length, or other unit conversions, use the related calculators linked on this page for additional calculation needs.
Frequently Asked Questions
MB (megabyte) can mean 1,000,000 bytes (decimal) or 1,048,576 bytes (binary). MiB (mebibyte) always means 1,048,576 bytes (binary). This converter uses binary MB = 1,048,576 bytes. The IEC recommends MiB for binary and MB for decimal, but most operating systems still use MB to mean the binary value.
Yes, the converter handles values up to several petabytes through its internal floating-point arithmetic. The primary result displays up to four decimal places, and alternative units use appropriate precision for each scale.
Manufacturers advertise using decimal units: 1 TB = 1,000,000,000,000 bytes. Operating systems report using binary units: 1 TB = 1,099,511,627,776 bytes. Converting 1,000,000,000,000 bytes to binary GB gives approximately 931 GiB. The drive contains exactly the advertised number of bytes; it is the unit definition that differs. This converter uses binary (1024-based) factors throughout.
A bit is a single binary digit (0 or 1). A byte is 8 bits. Data storage is measured in bytes, while network speeds are measured in bits per second (Mbps, Gbps). To convert between them, multiply or divide by 8. A 100 Mbps connection can theoretically transfer 12.5 MB per second.
In binary (used by this converter), 1 GB = 1,024 MB. In decimal (used by drive manufacturers), 1 GB = 1,000 MB. The binary value reflects how computers address memory and storage at the hardware level. Always check which standard your application uses.
MB/s (megabytes per second) and Mbps (megabits per second) differ by a factor of 8: 1 MB/s = 8 Mbps. Internet service is advertised in Mbps, but file download speeds in web browsers and download managers typically show MB/s. A 100 Mbps connection delivers approximately 12.5 MB/s under ideal conditions.
In binary (used by this converter and most operating systems): 1 KB = 1,024 bytes. In decimal (used by hard drive manufacturers): 1 KB = 1,000 bytes. The IEC recommends KiB for 1,024 bytes and KB for 1,000 bytes, but adoption is inconsistent across platforms and applications.
A single-layer DVD is advertised as 4.7 GB using decimal units (4,700,000,000 bytes). In binary terms this equals approximately 4.38 GiB. The discrepancy is not unique to DVDs; all optical discs, SSDs, and hard drives follow the same decimal labelling convention.
In binary (used by this converter), 1 TB = 1,024 GB. In decimal (used by storage manufacturers), 1 TB = 1,000 GB. For example, a 1 TB drive in binary is 1,099,511,627,776 bytes, while in decimal it is 1,000,000,000,000 bytes. The difference between these two standards causes the apparent capacity discrepancy noticed by most consumers.
A petabyte (PB) is 1,024 TB or approximately 1.125 quadrillion bytes. Organisations dealing with large-scale data such as video surveillance archives, scientific research datasets, social media platforms, and cloud storage providers operate at petabyte scale. A single petabyte can store about 200,000 DVD-quality movies or 500 billion pages of text.
Divide the file size in bits by your internet speed in bits per second. For a 1 GB file: convert to bits (1,073,741,824 bytes x 8 = 8,589,934,592 bits), then divide by speed. At 100 Mbps (100,000,000 bits/s), the file would take approximately 86 seconds. Always convert file sizes from bytes to bits before dividing by the connection speed.
Three factors reduce usable capacity: the manufacturer uses decimal units while the OS uses binary (a 1 TB drive shows ~931 GiB), the file system reserves space for metadata and journaling (NTFS reserves about 5-10 GB for a 1 TB drive), and SSDs reserve NAND for over-provisioning and wear levelling. Together these reduce a 1 TB drive to approximately 850-930 GiB of usable space depending on the drive type and file system.
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