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Data Unit Conversion

This section of LinuxScrew contains various conversions and calculations for converting between different data units, such as bytes, kilobytes, megabytes, gigabytes, terabytes, and others.

If you’re looking to convert between common data units, this section of the provides links to all the conversion tables and calculators that you’ll need. We also allow users to convert between various data transfer rates, including Mbps and Gbps. Decimal and binary calculations are included in all conversions.

Below, you can find a table of the common data units and their conversion to bytes. If you click the subheading, you will be taken to a page that includes a calculator to convert the unit into other data units,

Decimal Data Unit Conversion

The decimal system is the most common way of representing data. One byte contains 8 bits; one kilobyte (KB) equals 1,000 bytes or 103; a megabyte (MB) equals 1 million bytes or 106.

Data Unit

Information

Bytes (B)
  • Byte is the SI (International System of Units) base unit for data
  • 1 Byte = 8 bits (bits are the binary base unit for data)
  • One word is around 2 Bytes
Kilobytes (KB)
  • The prefix “kilo,” from the Greek word for “thousand,” means 1,000 in SI units
  • 1 kilobyte = 1,000 bytes in decimal (1,0001)
  • 1 kilobyte = 1,024 bytes in binary (210)
  • A small image might be around 100 kilobytes (100 KB)
Megabytes (MB)
  • The prefix “mega,” from the Ancient Greek word for “great, large, mighty,” means 1,000,000 in SI units
  • 1 megabyte (1 MB)= 1,000 kilobytes (1,000KB) = 1,000,000 bytes in decimal (1,0002)
  • 1 megabyte (1 MB) = 1,024 kilobytes = 1,048,576 bytes in binary (1,0242 or 220)
  • A digital music file might be around 5 to 10 megabytes (5 – 10 MB)
Gigabytes (GB)
  • The prefix “giga,” is derived from the Ancient Greek word for “giant” and means 1 billion in SI units
  • 1 gigabyte (1 GB) = 1,000 megabytes (1,000 MB) = 1,000,000,000 bytes in decimal (1,0003)
  • 1 gigabyte (1 GB) = 1,024 megabytes (1,024 MB) = 1,073,741,824 bytes in binary (1,0243or 230)
  • A typical movie file in DVD quality might be around 4 gigabytes (4 GB)
  • A laptop might have a hard drive with around 500GB of storage capacity
Terabytes (TB)
  • The prefix “tera,” is derived from the Greek word for “monster” or “beast,” and means 1 trillion in SI units
  • 1 terabyte (1 TB) = 1,000 gigabytes (1,000 GB) = 1,000,000,000,000 bytes in decimal (10004)
  • 1 terabyte (1 TB) = 1,024 gigabytes (1,024 GB) = 1,099,511,627,776 bytes in binary (10244 or 240)
  • A desktop computer’s hard drive might have 1 to 2 terabytes (1 – 2 TB) of storage capacity
Petabytes (PB)
  • The prefix “peta,” is derived from the Greek word for the number five and means 1 quadrillion in SI units
  • 1 petabyte (1 PB) = 1,000 terabytes (1,000 TB) = 10005 bytes in decimal
  • 1 petabyte (1 PB)= 1,024 terabytes (1,024 TB) = 10245 (or 250) bytes in binary
  • One petabyte of data would be enough to store over 200,000 DVD-quality movies
  • Facebook generates around 4 petabytes (4 PB) of data per day
Bits (b)
  • Bits are the binary base unit for data
  • A bit can only be one of two values: 0 or 1
  • 1 bit = 1/8 byte (0.125 B) in decimal
  • 4 bits make up a nibble, sometimes called a half-byte or a tetrade
  • A small image might be around 800,000 bits (100 KB)
Kilobits (Kbit or Kb)
  • The prefix “kilo,” from the Greek word for “thousand,” means 1,000 in SI units
  • 1 kilobit = 1,000 bits = 125 bytes in decimal
  • An old floppy disk controller would be rated to around 250 kbps (250 kilobits per second)
Megabits (Mbit or Mb)
  • The prefix “mega,” from the Ancient Greek word for “great, large, mighty,” means 1,000,000 in SI units
  • 1 megabit = 1,000,000 bits = 125,000 bytes = 125 kilobytes in decimal
  • Cat 5 cable should support speeds of up to 100 Mbps (100 megabits per second)
Gigabits (Gbit or Gb)
  • The prefix “giga,” is derived from the Ancient Greek word for “giant” and means 1 billion in SI units
  • 1 gigabit = 1,000,000,000 bits = 125,000,000 bytes = 125 megabytes in decimal
  • An SSD hard disk drive can transfer data at a speed of around 6 Gbps (6 gigabits per second)

Binary Data Unit Conversion

Binary data units are based on powers of two rather than ten, like decimal units. These binary data units are known as IEC Prefix data units.

One kibibyte (KiB) equals 1,024 bytes or 210; one mebibyte (MiB) equals 1,048,576 bytes or 220.

Data Unit

Information

Kibibytes (KiB)
  • Kibibyte is a unit of information or computer storage equal to 1,024 bytes (210)
  • Kilobytes are sometimes confused with kibibytes because both units have the “kilo” prefix.
  • But kilobytes refer to 1,000 bytes in decimal, while kibibytes refer to 1,024 bytes in binary.
Mebibytes (MiB)
  • Mebibyte is a unit of information or computer storage equal to 1,048,576 bytes (220)
  • Mebibytes are sometimes confused with megabytes because both units have the “mega” prefix.
  • But megabytes refer to 1 million bytes in decimal while mebibytes refer to 1,048,576 bytes in binary
Gibibytes (GiB)
  • Gibibyte is a unit of information or computer storage equal to 1,073,741,824 bytes (230)
  • Gigabytes are sometimes confused with gibibytes because both units have the “giga” prefix.
  • But gigabytes refer to 1 billion bytes in decimal while gibibytes refer to 1,073,741,824 in binary
Tebibytes (TiB) Tebibyte is a unit of information or computer storage equal to 1,099,511,627,776 bytes (240)
  • Terabytes are sometimes confused with tebibytes, but terabytes refer to 1 trillion bytes in decimal while tebibytes refer to 1,099,511,627,776 in binary

Data Transfer Rates

Data transfer rates are the speeds at which data can be moved from one location to another. Common data transfer rates are kbps (Kilobits per second) and Mbps (Megabits per second). It is more common to refer to transfer rates as units of bits, rather than units of bytes.

Data Unit

Information

kbps (Kilobits per second)
  • kbps stands for “kilobits per second” and is a unit of data transfer rate
  • One kilobit equals 1,000 bits (decimal) or 1,024 bits (binary).
  • So, if you see something like “128 kbps,” that means the transfer speed is 128 Kilobits per second.
Mbps (Megabits per second)
  • Mbps stands for “megabits per second” and is a unit of data transfer rate
  • One megabit equals 1,000 kilobits (decimal) or 1,024 kilobits (binary).
  • So if you see something like “12 Mbps,” that means the transfer speed is 12 Megabits per second.
Gbps (Gigabits per second)
  • Gbps stands for “gigabits per second” and is a unit of data transfer rate
  • One gigabit equals 1,000 megabits (decimal) or 1,024 megabits (binary).
  • So if you see something like “1 Gbps,” that means the transfer speed is one Gigabit per second.
KB/s (Kilobytes per second)
  • KB/s stands for “kilobytes per second” and is a unit of data transfer rate
  • One kilobyte equals 8 kilobits.
  • So if you see something like “128 KB/s,” that means the transfer speed is 128 Kilobytes per second.
MB/s (Megabytes per second)
  • MB/s stands for “megabytes per second” and is a unit of data transfer rate
  • One megabyte equals 8 megabits
  • So if you see something like “12 MB/s,” that means the transfer speed is 12 Megabytes per second.
GB/s (Gigabytes per second)
  • GB/s stands for “gigabytes per second” and is a unit of data transfer rate
  • One gigabyte equals 8 gigabits
  • So if you see something like “2 GB/s,” that means the transfer speed is 2 Gigabytes per second.

The Most Common Data Units

The three most common data units are kilobytes, megabytes, and gigabytes. Each of these is explained in further detail below:

Kilobytes (KB)

Kilobytes (KB) refer to a unit of digital information that equals 1,024 bytes in a computer’s binary system. It is often used as a measurement for the size of computer files such as images and text files.

You can use our tool if you are hoping to convert Kilobytes to Bytes.

Megabytes (MB)

Megabytes (MB) refers to a unit of digital information that equals 1,024 kilobytes or 1,048,576 bytes in a computer’s binary system. It is commonly used as a measurement for file sizes, especially video and audio files, as well as smaller hard drive capacities.

For example, an MP3 song typically requires about 5 megabytes of storage space on your device’s memory or disk-based music player in order to be stored properly without losing quality during playback.

If you are hoping to convert from Megabytes to Kilobytes, then please check out our tool.

Gigabytes (GB)

Gigabytes (GB) refers to 1024 megabytes in a computer’s binary system. It is used commonly to measure data storage capacity. For example, a standard 4 GB USB flash drive can store around 2 hours of high-definition video footage or approximately 800 high-resolution digital photos.

You can convert Gigabytes to Megabytes easily using our special tool.

Our Most Popular Calculators & Convertors

From Bytes

  • Bytes to MB (bytes to megabytes)
  • Bytes to GB (bytes to gigabytes)
  • Bytes to KB (bytes to kilobytes)
  • Bytes to TB (bytes to terabytes)

From Kilobytes

  • KB to MB (kilobytes to megabytes)
  • KB to b (kilobytes to bytes)
  • KB to GB (kilobytes to gigabytes)
  • KB to TB (kilobytes to terabytes)

From Megabytes

  • MB to GB (megabytes to gigabytes)
  • MB to KB (megabytes to kilobytes)
  • MB to TB (megabytes to terabytes)
  • MB to Bytes (megabytes to bytes)
  • MB to Mbps (megabytes to megabits per second)

From Gigabytes

  • GB to MB (gigabytes to megabytes)
  • GB to TB (gigabytes to terabytes)
  • GB to KB (gigabytes to kilobytes)
  • GB to Bytes (gigabytes to bytes)

From Terabytes

  • TB to MB (terabytes to megabytes)
  • TB to GB (terabytes to gigabytes)

From Petabytes

  • PB to TB (petabyte to terabytes)

From Megabits Per Second

  • Mbps to MB (megabits per second to megabytes)
  • Mbps to kbps (megabits per second to kilobits per second)
  • Mbps to GB (megabits per second to gigabytes)
  • Mbps to Gbps (megabits per second to Gigabits per second)

From Kilobits Per Second

  • kbps to Mbps (kilobits per second to megabits per second)

From Gigabits Per Second

  • Gbps to Mbps (Gigabits per second to megabits per second)