How To Convert Data Sizes
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Bits and bytes
The IEC introduced these prefixes in 1998 specifically to disambiguate. “Kibi,” “mebi,” “gibi” sound awkward but they’re unambiguous. Linux distributions, some server tools, and a growing number of software vendors use them. Windows and Apple still show binary values with the decimal names (GB meaning GiB), which is the primary source of confusion.
Decimal prefixes (SI / storage marketing)
The gap grows with scale:
Binary prefixes (IEC 60027-2)
At the gigabyte scale, the “missing 7%” of your new hard drive is the decimal-vs-binary gap, not a manufacturer cheat. At terabyte scale, it’s 10% of the label.
The KB vs KiB discrepancy
To estimate download time, divide file size by bandwidth after converting both to the same unit. A 4 GB movie on a 50 Mbps connection: 4 GB × 8 = 32 Gb; 32 Gb / 0.05 Gbps = 640 s = 10.7 minutes. Real-world throughput is typically 60–80% of advertised bandwidth due to protocol overhead, so plan on 14 minutes.
Memory uses binary; storage uses decimal
When binary data is Base64-encoded for text transport, it inflates by 33%. A 1 MB image becomes a 1.33 MB string. JSON-encoded binary (via Base64) in a web API carries this tax. For large payloads, use binary transport (gRPC, multipart) instead.
Bandwidth vs storage
Specify your base explicitly if the audience might care: “500 GB (500,000,000,000 bytes)” or “512 GiB (binary)” removes ambiguity. Software vendors increasingly use IEC prefixes (KiB, MiB, GiB) in documentation but still show decimal prefixes to users because “MB” is more recognizable.