When I started working with computers in 1990, KB (Kilo Byte) was the unit I was most familiar with. I was very keen on looking at the size of my files and did frequent cleanup activities to make sure that my files were not using too much space. During that period, the software I used most were wordstar, lotus123 and banner. wordstar was best for word processing (I use MS Word today), lotus123 was best for creating spread-sheets (I use MS Excel and Goole spread-sheet today) and banner was good for graphics (I dont work with graphics today).
Then the data grew and requirement for larger storage space made me familiar with MB (Mega Byte) which is 1024 KB. MB was good enough for me for a few years. It was only in 1997 that I could access a hard-disk with 1.2 GB (Giga Byte - 1024 MB)
10 years after I accessed my first Giga Byte (GB) hard disk, today, in 2007, I am still happy with GB. I have an 80 GB hard disk in my laptop. I worked on a few servers which is as big as 500 to 700 GB.
I did not get a chance go beyond GB. I heard a lot about TB (Terra Byte - 1024 GB) but never got a chance to see such a hard-disk. I am sure, in the next few months I would access my first TB hard disk.
I was little excited to see what comes next. So I did some study on the storage terms and here is what I found.
- KB (Kilo Byte - 1024 Bytes)
- MB (Mega Byte - 1024 Kilo Bytes)
- GB (Giga Byte - 1024 Mega Bytes)
- TB (Terra Byte - 1024 Giga Bytes)
- PB (Petta Byte - 1024 Terra Bytes)
- EB (Exa Byte - 1024 Petta Bytes)
- ZB (Zetta Byte - 1024 Exa Bytes)
- YB (Yotta Byte - 1024 Zetta Bytes)
It took me 7 years to reach 1 to 3 (KB to GB). After working with GB of data for 10 years, I have not yet reached TB. I think I wont be able to go beyond PB before I retire.
Some of you must be lucky enough to work with larger volumes of data. I wish some one out there will be able to reach YB before he or she retire. Happy storage!