What is the difference between Gigabyte, Terabyte and Petabyte?

Gigabyte (GB), Terabyte (TB) and Petabyte (PB) are digital storage units used to measure the capacity of devices such as hard drive, SSDs, USB sticks and servers. Each represents a volume of data and follows a progressive scale: 1 pt is greater than 1 tb, and 1 tb is greater than 1 gb.

But it all starts with the Bit (b)which is the smallest unit of digital information and represents only two states: 0 or 1. The Byte (B)which we use to measure storage, is formed by 8 bits. From it, multiple units such as Kilobyte (KB), Megabyte (MB), Gigabyte (GB) and so on.

But what does this mean in practice? Let’s better understand how these units relate and how they influence the storage of the devices we use every day.

Bytes and their multiple units: How does this scale work?

Digital storage follows a progression based on the Byte (B)which is the fundamental unit to measure space on devices such as computers, cell phones and servers. But why the numbers always follow the base 1.024 And not simply 1,000?

This is because computers work with a binary system, where everything is represented by combinations of 0s and 1s. Different from our decimal system (base 10), computers operate in base 2.

As 1,024 is the closest number than 1,000 within this binary logic (2¹⁰ = 1,024), this became the standard unit to measure digital storage.

Thus, the conversion between each unit follows the following scale:

To simplify: Each unit is 1,024 times larger than the previous. This pattern is followed by virtually all storage devices we use, from a simple flash to giant technology companies servers.

Therefore:

• Um Byte (B) It is the basis of digital storage.
• UM Kilobyte (KB) It’s bigger than a byte.
• At Megabyte (MB) It’s bigger than a kilobyte.
• To gigabyte (GB) It’s bigger than a megabyte.
• Um TeraByte (TB) It’s bigger than a gigabyte.
• UM Petabyte (PB) It is larger than a terabyte.
• UM Exabyte (EB) It’s bigger than a petabyte.
• Um Zettabyte (ZB) It is larger than an exabyte.
• Um Yottabyte (YB) It is larger than a Zettabyte.

How to convert between gigabyte, terabyte and other units?

To convert between storage units, just remember the Rule of 1,024:

• To rise a unit (from gb to tb, for example), just divide by 1,024.
• To to descend a unit (from TB to GB), just Multiply by 1,024.

To convert between units, use these formulas:

• Convert a larger unit to a minor: Multiply by 1,024
  • Example: 2 tb → gb → 2 × 1.024 = 2.048 GB
• Convert a smaller unit to a larger one: Divide by 1,024
  • Example: 5,000 GB → TB → 5.000 ÷ 1.024 = 4,88 TB

This makes it easy to calculate any conversion and understand the actual size of the data we use every day.

What fits in a gigabyte, terabyte and beyond? See how big they are

With the amount of data we generate daily, it is hard to imagine what each storage dimension really means, especially when they grow.

To facilitate this view, see below practical examples of what each storage unit may contain:

Comparative storage table

To better view these differences:

• With 1 gigabyte (GB) were a glass of water, 1 TeraByte (TB) It would be an Olympic pool and 1 PetaByte (PB)an ocean.
• Com 1 petabyteit would be possible to store All photos posted on Instagram in a year.
• 1 ExaByte equals about 5 million modern laptops full of data.
• 1 ZettaByte it would be like fill 250 billion 4 GB Pen Drives each.
• 1 yottabyte It represents more data than all humanity has been able to store to this day.

Where are terabytes and petabytes used in practice?

Now that we understand the digital storage scale, the question arises: Where are these units applied in the real world? From the smartphone in your pocket to supercomputers and large servers, each storage level has its role.

No dia a dia: GigaBytes e TeraBytes

• Cell phones and tablets: Most modern smartphones come with 128 GB or 256 GB of internal storage. Premium models come to 1 TB.
• Notebooks e PCs: hard drives (hard drives) and SSDs usually vary between 256 GB E 2 TB.
• Games and Digital Media: current games can occupy more than 100 GB each. 4K movies and series come to 30 GB by movie.
• Cloud storage services: free plans offer among 5 GB E 15 GBwhile paid accounts can reach 2 TB or more.

In the corporate and scientific world: petabytes and beyond

• Large companies servers: Google, Amazon and Facebook store Examytes (EB) of user data.
• Streaming and social networks: Platforms like Netflix and Youtube generate Video Petabytes (PB) daily.
• Big Data and Artificial Intelligence: data analysis companies deal with Zettabytes (ZB) to train algorithms.
• Astronomy and Science: The James Webb Space Telescope generates Terabytes per day in images of the universe.

Curiosities about large storage

• O CERNthat operates the Large Hádrons Collision; do About 1 PB of data per second.
• In 2016, the Wayback Machinewhich archives internet pages, already stored more than 15 PB.
• One Unique exabyte You can store All world traffic world for a month.
• Companies like Google and Amazon deal with ZettaBytes data in your data centers.

Not yet reached, with the advancement of technology we are moving towards an era where YottaBytes They will be a necessity, not a futuristic concept. Cool and scary at the same time, isn’t it?

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