Data Storage Converter
Convert between different digital storage units including bits, bytes, kilobytes, megabytes, gigabytes, terabytes, and more. These units are essential for understanding file sizes, storage capacity, and data transfer rates.
Note: There are two standards for measuring digital storage: binary (powers of 2) and decimal (powers of 10). In this converter, we use the decimal standard (SI prefixes) where 1 KB = 1,000 bytes, 1 MB = 1,000,000 bytes, etc. The binary standard uses 1 KiB = 1,024 bytes, 1 MiB = 1,048,576 bytes, etc.
Conversion Formula:
1 byte = 0.000001 megabytes
Common Data Storage Conversions
1 Byte = 8 Bits
1 Kilobyte (KB) = 1,000 Bytes
1 Megabyte (MB) = 1,000 KB
1 Gigabyte (GB) = 1,000 MB
1 Kibibyte (KiB) = 1,024 Bytes
1 Mebibyte (MiB) = 1,024 KiB
Binary vs Decimal Storage Units
| Decimal (SI) | Value | Binary (IEC) | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kilobyte (KB) | 10³ = 1,000 bytes | Kibibyte (KiB) | 2¹⁰ = 1,024 bytes |
| Megabyte (MB) | 10⁶ = 1,000,000 bytes | Mebibyte (MiB) | 2²⁰ = 1,048,576 bytes |
| Gigabyte (GB) | 10⁹ = 1,000,000,000 bytes | Gibibyte (GiB) | 2³⁰ = 1,073,741,824 bytes |
| Terabyte (TB) | 10¹² = 1,000,000,000,000 bytes | Tebibyte (TiB) | 2⁴⁰ = 1,099,511,627,776 bytes |
| Petabyte (PB) | 10¹⁵ = 1,000,000,000,000,000 bytes | Pebibyte (PiB) | 2⁵⁰ = 1,125,899,906,842,624 bytes |
Interesting Data Storage Facts
- The first hard drive (IBM 350 Disk Storage Unit, 1956) had a capacity of just 3.75 MB and was the size of a large refrigerator.
- A modern smartphone typically has 128-512 GB of storage, which is millions of times more than the computers used for the Apollo moon landing.
- The total amount of data created, captured, copied, and consumed globally is projected to reach 175 zettabytes (175 trillion GB) by 2025.
- A single DVD can store about 4.7 GB of data, equivalent to approximately 9 hours of standard definition video.
- The confusion between binary and decimal units has led to lawsuits against hard drive manufacturers, as consumers received less storage than expected.
- DNA data storage is an emerging technology that could potentially store all of the world's digital data in just a few kilograms of DNA.
Common File Size Examples
| Content Type | Typical Size |
|---|---|
| Plain text document (1 page) | 4 KB |
| Digital photo (high resolution) | 2-10 MB |
| MP3 song (3 minutes) | 3-5 MB |
| 1 hour of HD video | 2-4 GB |
| 4K movie (2 hours) | 100-150 GB |
| Modern video game | 50-150 GB |