【Information Units of Measurement】What is it? + History ▷ 2022

We often hear or read about the speed of the Internet, bandwidth or capacity of a flash drive or . ButWhat are they those units of measurement that are mentioned? do you really know which represent?

It may happen that you want to buy a storage disk and do not know how to choose between the different varieties. Or what confuse a Bit with a Byte. The best thing for these cases is that you learn about it before taking a decision.

Through the content of this post, you will be able to know everything about these values. From its origins to the present. Continue reading to find out more.

What is a unit of measurement of information in computing and what is it for?

Like values ​​like the meter or the gram that we use to measure objectsthere are also measures for the storage of digital information. And just like the others, it has a minimum unit which is called Bit. This value (Binary Digit) represents a 1 or a 0 in the binary system. This way of measuring is used for computing since its inception. But to better understand what it is about it is necessary to know a little more about its history.

History and origin When and why were the information measurement systems established?

Binary systems have been used for many years.. From the Egyptians, through the telegraph and to the fathers of the digital age Touring and Shannon. The latter being the one that unites electronics with Boole’s algebraic logic. transforming decimal information systems to a simpler one for machines.

However, it was not until late fifties with machine design IBM 7030 Stretch that the byte with 8-bit structure is chosen as the standard model. Due to the success of this computer, subsequent devices continued to use this architecture. So the use of other number of bits it became unnecessary.

List of all measures of information in computing and their equivalencies

In a similar way, the scale of units of the computer system uses the prefixes of the international system. However, those of the SI use a system based on 10 unitswhile the binaries do it in base 2. To understand this a little better, continue with the following table. (We will take the decimal definition to express the multiples of bitssince it is the most used to express Internet speeds).

Let’s see next:

• Bit (b). Equals a 1 or a 0.
• Byte (B). Is equal to 8 Bit y is the size of, for example, a single letter.
• kilobit (kb). Is equal to 1000 bits (103). It is the most widely used unit of measurement when indicating a Transfer speed from Internet. Not to be confused with kB which is 8 times larger.
• Kilobyte (KB). Is equal to 1024 Bytes (210) can be the size of a very short text.
• megabit (mb). Is equal to 1000 kilobits (106). At present and thanks to the increase in transfer speeds through the web, It is possible to observe this unit of measurement per second in the downloads.
• Megabyte (mB). Is equal to 1024 kilobytes (220). Continuing with the theme, it could be a short novel.
• gigabit (gb). Equals 1000mb (109). The appearance of fiber optic As a method of connecting to the web, it has allowed speed values ​​to increase drastically. That is why, thanks to the fact that it allows 2gb per secondwe can enjoy Internet, telephone and cable television services through the same cable.
• gigabytes (gB). Is equal to 1024 megabytes (230). What would mean a huge shelf full of books.
• terabit (tb). Equals 1000gb (1012) or a trillion bits. The difference between this unit and the tebibit (binary system) is 10%. The latter being the largest.
• TeraByte (tB). Is equal to 1024 gigabytes (240). Being corresponded to a large library.

Information measures on the speed of connections What are the differences between MB and Mb?

as international standard the Mb is used as a factor in time to indicate the transfer speed. However, it can be easy to confuse it with the MB, that is, megabyte which is eight times greater (1 Byte = 8 bit). That’s why it’s important always check this difference. Above all, in contracts with the internet providers. For example, when purchasing a line of 400Mbps (Megabits per second) will mean a rate of 50MBps (Megabytes per second). A rather smaller number if it has led to confusion.