Bits or Bytes????

[mikemean406]

KB=kilobytes (which is more than kilobits)
kb=kilobits (which is less than kilobytes)
mb=megabits (which is more than kilobits and kilobytes)

---someone please correct me if I am wrong.

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[Beelzebub]

True, some threads really get confusing cuz of people not knowing the diff and using improper terminology.

Idealy, everyone would follow the convention for abbreviations shown here -
http://www.speedguide.net/Cable_modems/bandwidth.shtml

In a nutshell, b = bits & B = bytes

But you will never be able to expect everyone to know and follow this...

http://www.speedguide.net/ubb/biggrin.gif Cest la vie!

[gmcd33]

Kilo bits Kb is usually used to measure connection speed as in 56.6 Kb or 56.6 Kilo bits per second. Or a DSL connection is 786 Kilo bits per second.

Kilo Bytes is usually used to measure file transfer speeds such as uploading ans downloading. I.E. The file is transfering at 85 Kilo Bytes per second.

Example:

You could say, Jimmy is lucky. His office has a T3 line and most of the time when he runs speed tests he is connected at 12 mega BITS per second. He downloads at 1.5 mega Bytes per second with that connection.

I hope I explained this right. If not someone correct me.

[This message has been edited by gmcd33 (edited 01-14-2001).]

[scott26814]

From: NetPerSec Help menu:
Program Here (http://www.zdnet.com/downloads/stories/info/0,,001DUV,.html) PC Mag


NetPerSec displays data throughput using both bits per second and bytes per second in conjunction with the standard metric prefixes G, M, and k. These prefixes have the following definitions:


Decimal Values

kilo (k) = 1,000 or thousand
mega (M) = 1,000,000 or million
giga (G) = 1,000,000,000 or billion

When displaying bits per second, the metric prefixes are interpreted using their decimal values, as show above. However, when displaying bytes per second, the prefixes are interpreted using their binary values.


Binary Values

kilo (K) = 1,024
mega (M) = 1,048,576
giga (G) = 1,073,741,824

Note that the binary prefix for kilo uses the uppercase letter K while the decimal notation uses the lowercase k. An uppercase K is the standard method to indicate binary kilobytes.

By convention, data transmission devices, such as modems and networks, are measured in terms of bits per second and use the decimal metric prefixes. Data storage devices, such as hard drives and memory, are measured in bytes, and use the binary metric prefixes.

NetPerSec uses the following terms and values in its calculations:

Prefix Abbreviation Size
bit b 0 or 1
Byte B 8 bits
kilobit kb 1,000 bits (decimal)
Kilobyte KB 1,024 bytes (binary)
Megabit Mb 1,000,000 bits (decimal)
Megabyte MB 1,048,576 bytes (binary)
Gigabit Gb 1,000,000,000 bits (decimal)
Gigabyte GB 1,073,741,824 bytes (binary)


Therefore, if the current data throughput rate is 56 kbps, the binary equivalent would be displayed as 6.8 KBps. The calculation would be performed using 56000(kbps) divided by 1024(KB) divided by 8(Bytes).

Scott

[MustIDie]

I've been reading the posts on this forum. The things I've noticed is that people keep on switching from bits to bytes and back. It is confusing, well until I have my question answered. When people say kbs, bs, or mbs, do they mean bits or bytes? And this is just applying to the majority of the people here.