As in any other aspect of life, in the field of computing there are also units of measurement to quantify the available space or the used space, whether of disk storage or RAM.
From the smallest ...
The smallest unit of information storage is the bit, which can store information in binary (yes / no, true / false, black / white, ...). Two possible states that originally depended on magnetic polarization, but that with the advancement of new technologies, may already depend on other factors.
With only one bit, there is little we can do. It's like a light switch that turns it on or off, it doesn't store much more information. On the other hand, if we join this bit to others, then we can encode a greater number of information in the resulting set.
For example, if we have two bits, we can store four different values, the result of the different combinations that we have between the two bits. If each of them can have two states, let's say 0 and 1 (to call them in some way), then we will have as possible combinations 00, 01, 10 and 11. If we increase to three digits, then they will be 000, 001, 010, 100, 011, 101, 110, and 111, eight possible pieces of information in total.
Note that with each new bit, we multiply by two the number of possible combinations with respect to the same number of bits minus one: with 1 bit, 2; with 2 bits, 4; with 3 bits, 8; with 4 bits, 16; with 5 bits, 32, ... and so on.
Thanks to Boolean algebra, which establishes a whole system of operations using values of 0 and 1 (binary), computer systems can function and work on stored information.
... to the greater
But going back to storage units, it is obvious that we need to standardize measurements, so starting from a set of eight bits that make up a byte, the following units have been made:
1 bit = 1 binary position (value 0/1)
1 bytes = 8 bits
1,024 bytes = 1 kilobyte (abbreviated KB)
1,024 KB = 1 Megabyte (abbreviated MB. Although, for simplicity, it is often explained as “approximately 1,000 KB and popularly known as "mega”)
1,024 MB = 1 Gigabyte (GB, jig)
1,024 GB = 1 Terabyte (TB, tera)
1,024 TB = 1 Petabyte (PB, peta)
1,014 PB = 1 Exabyte (EB)
1,014 EB = 1 Zettabyte (ZB)
1,014 ZB = 1 Yottabyte (YB)
Thus, if they tell us that our hard drive has 500 gigabytes, or 1 tera, we can be calm because we have the right thing today, while if they tell us that it is 20 MB we can be sure that it is an error or an antique, and that if it is 1 Yottabyte, someone has not understood it well and is exaggerating ...
Photos: iStock - MF3d / Calamusdesign
