Binary (IEC) System: Uses powers of 1024 (2¹⁰). This is the traditional system used in computing and digital storage.
Decimal (SI) System: Uses powers of 1000. This is often used by storage manufacturers and in networking.
Key Relationships:
- 1 Byte = 8 Bits - fundamental conversion
- Network speeds are typically measured in bits per second (bps, Mbps, Gbps)
- Storage sizes are typically measured in bytes (KB, MB, GB, TB)
- Internet providers advertise speeds in Mbps (megabits per second)
- File sizes are measured in MB, GB (megabytes, gigabytes)
Common Use Cases:
- Internet Speed: 100 Mbps = 12.5 MB/s download speed
- Storage: 1 TB HDD = 1000 GB (manufacturer) ≈ 931 GiB (actual usable)
- Memory: 8 GB RAM = 8 × 1024 × 1024 × 1024 bytes
- Video Streaming: 4K video ≈ 15-25 Mbps
Note: This calculator supports both bit-based and byte-based units with accurate conversions between all common data size measurements.