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File size is a measure of how much data a computer file contains or how much storage space it is allocated. Typically, file size is expressed in units based on byte. A large value is often expressed with a metric prefix (as in megabyte and gigabyte) or a binary prefix (as in mebibyte and gibibyte). [1]
The byte, 8 bits, 2 nibbles, is possibly the most commonly known and used base unit to describe data size. The word is a size that varies by and has a special importance for a particular hardware context. On modern hardware, a word is typically 2, 4 or 8 bytes, but the size varies dramatically on older hardware.
34,359,738,368 bits (4 gibibytes) – maximum addressable memory for the Motorola 68020 (1984) and Intel 80386 (1985), also the volume size limit for the FAT16B file system (with 64 KiB clusters) as well as the maximum file size (4 GiB-1) in MS-DOS 7.1-8.0. 3.76 × 10 10 bits (4.7 gigabytes) – capacity of a single-layer, single-sided DVD: 2 36
With the standard hard disk sector size of 512 bytes, this gives a maximum of 32 KB cluster size, thereby fixing the "definitive" limit for the FAT16 partition size at 2 GB for sector size 512. On magneto-optical media, which can have 1 or 2 KB sectors instead of 0.5 KB, this size limit is proportionally larger.
Some other computer architectures use different modules with a different bus width. In a single-channel configuration, only one module at a time can transfer information to the CPU. In multi-channel configurations, multiple modules can transfer information to the CPU at the same time, in parallel.
On the other hand, a hard disk whose capacity is specified by the manufacturer as "10 gigabytes" or "10 GB", holds 10 × 10 9 = 10 000 000 000 bytes, or a little more than that, but less than 10 × 2 30 = 10 737 418 240 and a file whose size is listed as "2.3 GB" may have a size closer to 2.3 × 2 30 ≈ 2 470 000 000 or to 2.3 × 10 9 = 2 300 ...
Binary interpretation is also used for random-access memory capacity, such as main memory and CPU cache size, due to the prevalent binary addressing of memory. The binary meaning of the kilobyte for 1024 bytes typically uses the symbol KB, with an uppercase letter K. The B is sometimes omitted in informal use. For example, a processor with ...
The term is also used in some fields of computer science and information technology to denote 1 073 741 824 (1024 3 or 2 30) bytes, however, particularly for sizes of RAM. Thus, some usage of gigabyte has been ambiguous. To resolve this difficulty, IEC 80000-13 clarifies that a gigabyte (GB) is 10 9 bytes and specifies the term gibibyte (GiB ...