Data examples

Ramrod · 26-07-2005, 08:44

I found this informative......

Quote:

Whenever we discuss quantities of data, we tend to do it in the abstract. We speak of a kilobyte, or a megabyte or a gigabyte without really knowing what it represents.

The following table shows various quantities of bytes, in each power of ten. Usually, they are shown with multiples of 2 and 5 also. For example, 1 Kilobyte, 2 Kilobytes, 5 Kilobytes.

All the examples are approximate and are rounded. For example, a computer card has 80 columns. If 50 columns contain data on a card, then two cards will be 100 bytes. Also, a 3-1/2 inch diskette can contain 1.4 Megabytes. Showing it as 1 Megabyte reflects both (a) the diskette not typically being filled and (b) rounding. Finally, a CD-ROM can hold more than 500 Megabytes. However, it is listed at that level as "typical" and as the closest match.

Bytes (8 bits)

* 0.1 bytes: A single yes/no decision (actually 0.125 bytes, but I rounded)
* 1 byte: One character
* 2 bytes:
* 5 bytes
* 10 bytes: One word (a word of language, not a computer word)
* 20 bytes:
* 50 bytes:
* 100 bytes: Telegram; two punched computer (Hollerith) cards
* 200 bytes:
* 500 bytes:

Kilobyte
1,024 bytes; 210;
approx. 1,000 or 103

* 1 Kilobyte: Joke; (very) short story
* 2 Kilobytes: Typewritten page
* 10 Kilobytes: Page out of an encyclopedia
* 20 Kilobytes:
* 50 Kilobytes: Image of a document page, compressed
* 100 Kilobytes: Photograph, low-resolution
* 200 Kilobytes: Two boxes (4000) punched computer (Hollerith) cards
* 500 Kilobytes: Five boxes, one case (10,000 of punched computer (Hollerith) cards

Megabyte
1,048,576 bytes; 220;
approx 1,000,000 or 106

* 1 Megabyte: Small novel; 3-1/2 inch diskette
* 2 Megabytes: Photograph, high resolution
* 5 Megabytes: Complete works of Shakespeare; 30 seconds of broadcast-quality video
* 10 Megabytes: Minute of high-fidelity sound; digital chest X-ray; Box of 3-1/2 inch diskettes
* 20 Megabytes: Two boxes of 3-1/2 inch diskettes
* 50 Megabytes: Digital mammogram
* 100 Megabytes: Yard of books on a shelf; two encyclopedia volumes
* 200 Megabytes: Reel of 9-track tape; IBM 3480 cartridge tape
* 500 Megabytes: CD-ROM

Gigabyte
1,073,741,824 bytes; 230;
approx 1,000,000,000 or 109

* 1 Gigabyte: Paper in the bed of a pickup; symphony in high-fidelity sound; broadcast quality movie
* 2 Gigabytes: 20 yards of books on a shelf
* 5 Gigabytes: 8mm Exabyte tale
* 10 Gigabytes:
* 20 Gigabytes: Audio collection of the works of Beethoven; five Exabyte tapes; VHS tape used to store digital data
* 50 Gigabytes: Library floor of books on shelves
* 100 Gigabytes: Library floor of academic journals on shelves; large ID-1 digital tape
* 200 Gigabytes: 50 Exabyte tapes

Terabyte
1,099,511,627,776 or 240;
approx. 1,000,000,000,000 or 1012

* 1 Terabyte: Automated tape robot; all the X-ray films in a large technological hospital; 50,000 trees made into paper and printed; daily rate of EOS (Earth Orbiting System) data (1998)
* 2 Terabytes: Academic research ligrary
* 10 Terabytes: Printed collection of the U. S. Library of Congress
* 50 Terabytes: Contents of a large mass storage system

Petabyte
1,125,899,906,842,624 bytes or 250
approx. 1,000,000,000,000,000 or 1015

* 1 Petabyte: 3 years of EOS data (2001)
* 2 Petabytes: All U. S. academic research libraries
* 20 Petabytes: 1995 production of hard-disk drives
* 200 Petabytes: All printed material; 1995 production of digital magnetic tape

Exabyte
1,152,921,504,606,846,976 bytes or 260
approx. 1,000,000,000,000,000,000 or 1018

* 5 Exabytes: All words ever spoken by human beings.

Zettabyte
1,180,591,620,717,411,303,424 bytes or 270
approx. 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 or 1021

Yottabyte
1,208,925,819,614,629,174,706,176 bytes or 280
approx. 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 or 1024

(Taken from "James S. Huggins' Refrigerator Door"-http://www.jamesshuggins.com/h/tek1/how_big.htm)

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