The term BYTE in some form is probably the tech term you will hear most often, and without even realizing it, because it won\u2019t always be used in it\u2019s solo form or in its full form.<\/p>\n
Let me tell you first why this can get confusing: Because the very same words that describe how BIG something is also describes how FAST something is and how MUCH of it there is. Normally, we have a 2,000 square-foot house, we go 70 miles per hour, and we boil a quart of water. What we actually describe when we get into BIG\/FAST\/MUCH is all actually HOW MUCH. \u00a0We want to know HOW MUCH data will fit on a hard drive, HOW MUCH data can be transferred at a particular pace, and HOW MUCH data can be handled by RAM.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s start with the smallest, most basic unit: <\/b><\/span>BIT<\/i><\/b>.<\/b><\/span> Eight bits make up a BYTE, and from there it gets a lot easier, because each name builds up from a multiple of its predecessor. In other words, a KILOBYTE is 1024 bytes. A MEGABYTE is 1024 kilobytes. A GIGABYTE is 1024 megabytes. A TERABYTE is 1024 gigabytes. \u00a0So far, that\u2019s probably all you have had to deal with; but it does go further:<\/p>\n A PETABYTE is 1024 terabytes. An EXABYTE is 1024 petabytes. A ZETTABYTE is 1024 exabytes. A YOTTABYTE is 1024 zettabytes. A BRONTOBYTE is 1024 yottabytes. And a GEOPBYTE is 1024 brontobytes. \u00a0By the time we got to exabytes, we were talking a good-sized company\u2019s storage needs. \u00a0The zettabyte size is getting close to the NSA\u2019s compound in Utah.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s muddy the water a little more. \u00a0Hard drive manufacturers don\u2019t use the 1024 multiplier. They use the standard multiple of 1000. Otherwise, the sequence is the same. But this will explain why a hard drive that is labeled 100GB may not appear to have 100GB of capacity. Your operating system is not following the 1000-multiplier convention that the hard drive manufacturer is. \u00a0But the difference in the numbers won\u2019t make that much of a difference. If you get to the point where 35MB of storage is free on your hard drive, it\u2019s time to either do some serious cleaning up or buy a bigger hard drive. \u00a0The reality is that today\u2019s hardware is so big that the difference between 1000 and 1024 doesn\u2019t make a \u201cbit\u201d of difference to the average user.<\/p>\n Now let\u2019s look at the applications of BIG, FAST, AND MUCH.<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n You want a nice, BIG hard drive. \u00a0The early days of hard drives were measured in MEGABYTES. \u00a0(The REAL early days of computers didn\u2019t have internal hard drives at all; the programs were run either from tapes or disks.) My first computer that I actually owned had an 8 GB hard drive. I\u2019ve seen growth to 40GB as a reasonable size, then 80GB, then 120, then 250, then\u2026..oh my goodness, now we\u2019re all afraid that a terabyte hard drive isn\u2019t going to be big enough! Well, at today\u2019s prices, a terabyte hard drive can be had inexpensively enough to have one inside the computer and a couple to connect as external storage.<\/p>\n You want a nice FAST processor and bus, and you want a nice FAST transfer rate on your storage devices. That is measured in XXXXXX per second. But they aren\u2019t the same measurement at all. Your processor is measured in HERTZ, which indicates an amount of bits that can be manipulated per second. \u00a0Our modern processors are measuring everything in GHz, or Gigahertz, which is about a billion bits per second. \u00a0That\u2019ll make your head spin, won\u2019t it?<\/p>\n If you look at the label on a hard drive, you\u2019ll see the capacity of the drive, but you\u2019ll also see a designation like this somewhere on it: SATA 6.0 Gb\/s. The SATA is the connection type, but look at that number: 6.0 \u2014that designation is not gigabytes, but gigaBITS. When we mean gigaBYTES, we use an upper case B, when we mean gigaBITS, we use a lower case b. \u00a0Same with kilos and metas. \u00a0 But the designation indicates that the hard drive can transfer 6 gigabits per second. For the most part, when you\u2019re buying a computer you\u2019ll take whatever is there, you can shop the hard drive SIZE but you won\u2019t really need to worry much about the transfer rate. Now, if you replace a hard drive and you\u2019re buying just the drive, pay attention to that number, because more is better. If you can get a terabyte hard drive with a transfer rate of 6.0 Gb\/s, that\u2019s better than a terabyte hard drive with a transfer rate of 4.0 Gb\/s\u2014but not much. The reality is that if you aren\u2019t a heavy gamer, or if you aren\u2019t running serious statistical or geological or graphical programs, you won\u2019t notice a difference.<\/p>\n We also measure network traffic in Mbps and Gbps. Obviously you want a bigger number when you can get it. Most internet speeds are measured in Megabits per second. If you\u2019re luck enough to get an internet connection of a Gigabit or higher, I don\u2019t want to hear about it. You\u2019re going to get what your internet service provider is willing and\/or able to provide, and there won\u2019t be anything you can do to change that. You may be able to select different packages within the ISP\u2019s offering, but you can\u2019t increase their highest speed offering. But knowing the number can give you a frame of reference when selecting a provider.<\/p>\n
\nA bit is actually a shortened term that comes from binary digit<\/i>. It is a visual representation of the position of an electrical circuit, or gate. The gate has two positions, open and closed; you could also call it on or off. If the gate is open, it\u2019s on, if the gate is closed, it\u2019s off. Think of it using a water spigot: If you OPEN the water spigot, you turn the flow of water ON. Got that? \u00a0The visual representation of a bit is either a 1 or a 0. \u00a00 indicates the closed circuit, or a state of OFF. 1 indicates that it is open, and on. \u00a0Have you ever looked into a water spigot at the hardware store? Pick one up and watch what happens inside when you turn the handle. \u00a0You will see the gate change position. \u00a0When it is full open, you will only see the side view of it, and it will look like an upright 1. When you start to close it, you will see the view change from side view to full-on view, and the image will change slowly from a 1 to a 0 inside the spigot, only the 0 will be filled in with whatever material that gate is made of. So one bit of data is an electrical signal that indicates whether a gate should be open or shut. Don\u2019t make the mistake of thinking that one letter on a keyboard is one bit. \u00a0One document with one letter from your keyboard is several thousand bits.<\/p>\n