Unit Multiples
See also: Binary prefixConsiderable confusion exists about the meanings of the SI (or metric) prefixes used with the unit byte, especially concerning prefixes such as kilo (k or K) and mega (M) as shown in the chart Prefixes for bit and byte. Computer memory is designed with binary logic, multiples are expressed in powers of 2. The software and computer industries often use binary approximations of the SI-prefixed quantities, while producers of computer storage devices prefer the SI values. This is the reason for specifying computer hard drive capacities of, say, 100 GB, when it contains 93 GiB of storage space.
While the numerical difference between the decimal and binary interpretations is relatively small for the prefixes kilo and mega, it grows to over 20% for prefix yotta, illustrated in the linear-log graph (at right) of difference versus storage size.
Read more about this topic: Byte
Famous quotes containing the words unit and/or multiples:
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