Units of Memory

The quantity of data stored in a unit of memory is called a memory unit. Furthermore, we quantify its storage capacity in bytes. Multiple memory units are available depending on the situation. Before we go into the memory units, let’s look at what memory is all about. The smallest unit of memory is Bit, and the largest is Petabyte.

Classification of memory :-

Primary Memory

The primary memory of a computer system consists of semiconductors and serves as the system’s main memory. It is commonly used to store data or information on which the computer is presently working; therefore, we can call it a temporary storage device. When the systems are turned off, data and information are lost. Types of primary memory:

• RAM: Random Access Memory
• ROM: Read-only memory

Secondary Memory 

Programs and data are stored in secondary memory. This is also referred to as the auxiliary unit of memory. It differs from primary memory because it is non-volatile and not directly accessible by the CPU. Secondary storage devices, often known as external storage devices, have substantially more storage space and are less expensive than primary memory.

System of units

Bit (B) is the smallest unit.

A byte is a unit of data in computer systems with 8 binary digits. A byte is a computing unit that represents a character like a number, letter, or typographic symbol such as “7,” “h”, or “$”. A byte can also hold a group or string of bits required in larger application operations, such as the stream of bits that denote the visual picture of a program that represents a picture or a string of bits that make up the machine code of a computer program.

Nibble is equal to the collection of 4 bit

A Byte is equal to 8 bit

Kilobyte (KB) is equal to 1,024 Bytes.

Kilobyte is the smallest unit of memory measuring but larger than a byte. Kilobyte (abbreviated as ‘Kor ‘KB’) is 1,000. It predates the MB, which has a capacity of one million bytes. Because one kilobyte is actually 1,000 bytes, kibibytes, containing almost 1,024 bytes, are frequently used interchangeably.

Megabyte (MB) is equal to 1,024 Kilobytes.

A megabyte (MB) is 103 KBs and predates the Gigabyte (GB) as a memory measuring unit. A megabyte (abbreviated as “MB”) is 106 bytes. Megabytes are basically used interchangeably with mebibytes, containing exactly 1, 048, 576 bytes, even though 1 MB is 220.

Gigabyte (GB) is equal to 1,024 Megabytes.

A gigabyte is 1,000 megabytes and comes before the terabyte (TB) unit of memory measurement. A gigabyte (GB) is 109 bytes (1012 bytes) & it is abbreviated as “GB.” Because 1 GB = 109 bytes, gigabytes are interchangeable with gibibytes, which hold 230.

Terabyte (TB) is equal to 1,024 Gigabytes.

A terabyte is 1,000 gigabytes, and it comes before the Petabyte (PB) memory measurement. The terabyte is 1012 bytes. Since 1 TB is around 1 trillion bytes, tebibytes and terabytes are interchangeable, with 1, 024 GB.

The capacity of the huge storage machines is basically calculated in TeraBytes. Consumer hard disks attained the capacity of 1 TB around 2007. HDDs are now measured in Terabytes, with a typical internal HDD holding 2 Terabytes of data and some servers and high-end workstations with several hard drives having a combined storage capacity of over 10 Terabytes.

Petabyte (PB) is equal to 1,024 Terabytes

Petabytes are 1,000 terabytes, which precedes the storage exabytes. It is the largest storage unit. Petabytes (abbreviated as “PB”) are 1015 bytes. Petabytes are smaller than pebibytes and have the same number of bytes of 1, 125, 899, 906, 842, 624 (250). Most storage devices can only store a few TB of data. PetaBytes, on the other hand, is used to measure the total amount of data stored in a large network or server farms. For example, internet giants like Facebook and Google store over 100 petabytes of data on their data servers.

Conclusion

In the above notes, we have read about the types of memories: Bit, Nibble, Byte, Word, Kilobyte, Megabyte, Gigabyte, Terabyte, and Petabyte. The Bit is the smallest unit of memory, and PB is the largest unit of memory. The size of memories evolves with time. Initially, the floppy of 2MB was sufficient to store data, but with the advancement of technology, people now prefer Gigabyte or terabyte to store high volume data. This topic is crucial if you want to pursue your future in the IT field.