Reference table
Data volumes: binary versus decimal
Drive manufacturers count in decimal (GB = 10⁹ bytes), operating systems count in binary (GiB = 2³⁰ bytes). That is why a “1 TB drive” shows less than 1 TB in the system. The deviation grows with every step.
| Binary prefix | In bytes | Corresponding decimal | Deviation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 KiB | 1,024 B | 1.024 KB | 2.4 % |
| 1 MiB | 1,048,576 B | 1.048576 MB | 4.8576 % |
| 1 GiB | 1,073,741,824 B | 1.073741824 GB | 7.3742 % |
| 1 TiB | 1,099,511,627,776 B | 1.0995116278 TB | 9.9512 % |
| 1 PiB | 1.1259e15 B | 1.1258999068 PB | 12.59 % |
Each row contrasts a binary prefix with the equivalent decimal prefix: 1 GiB is 1.073741824 GB, not 1 GB. The deviation column shows exactly that difference in percent — it grows with every step because the factor 1024 against 1000 compounds.