Chapter 3. How Computers Measure and Transfer Data
In this chapter
Measurement: Bits, Bytes, and Beyond
How do computers measure information? By the byte. It's the basic unit of measurement for all parts of the computer that involve the storage or management of information (RAM, storage, ROM). Here are a few examples:
Software stored on a floppy or hard disk occupies a finite number of bytes.
RAM is measured in megabytes (1MB = 1,000,000 bytes).
Drive capacity is measured in gigabytes (1GB = 1,000,000,000 bytes).
Understanding bytes and the other measurements derived from bytes is essential to choosing the correct sizes for RAM configurations, storage media, and much ...
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