EB to PB converter

What is an EB to PB converter?

An EB to PB converter is a specialized digital tool that facilitates conversions between different units of digital information storage, specifically focusing on the extremely large-scale units of exabytes (EB) and petabytes (PB), along with their binary counterparts exbibytes (EiB) and pebibytes (PiB). In our data-driven world where information volumes grow exponentially, professionals in fields like data science, cloud computing, and enterprise storage regularly work with these massive units. This converter eliminates manual calculation errors by instantly translating values between these units according to established international standards, enabling accurate capacity planning, storage allocation, and data management decisions.

Data storage units: two measurement systems

Digital information storage uses two distinct measurement systems with different base values:

1. SI (decimal) system: Based on powers of 10 (1 kilobyte = 10³ bytes = 1,000 bytes). Units include:

   • Petabyte (PB) = $10^{15}$ bytes = 1,000,000,000,000,000 bytes
   • Exabyte (EB) = $10^{18}$ bytes = 1,000,000,000,000,000,000 bytes

2. Binary (IEC) system: Based on powers of 2 (1 kibibyte = $2^{10}$ bytes = 1,024 bytes). Units include:

   • Pebibyte (PiB) = $2^{50}$ bytes = 1,125,899,906,842,624 bytes
   • Exbibyte (EiB) = $2^{60}$ bytes = 1,152,921,504,606,846,976 bytes

The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) introduced the binary prefixes (kibi-, mebi-, gibi-, tebi-, pebi-, exbi-) in 1998 to eliminate confusion between the two systems. This distinction matters significantly at large scales where the numerical differences become substantial.

Conversion formulas and calculations

SI (decimal) system conversions

Binary (IEC) system conversions

To convert between systems (e.g., EB to PiB):

Practical examples of conversions

Cloud storage expansion

A cloud provider needs to expand its storage from 5.8 EB to petabytes for infrastructure planning. Using the SI system:

Data center migration

A data center reports 42.5 PiB of stored data. To express this in exbibytes for a technical report:

Scientific research data

A particle physics experiment generates 1.2 EB of raw data annually. Converting to pebibytes reveals the actual storage requirements:

This 65.81 PiB difference between EB and PiB demonstrates why system distinction is crucial for physical storage procurement.

Historical comparison

In 1995, global internet traffic was approximately 30 TB monthly. Converting to 2025’s projected 1,772 EB monthly traffic:

This represents a 59-million-fold increase compared to 1995’s 0.03 PB monthly traffic.

Practical applications of large-unit conversions

• Cloud storage billing: Providers like AWS and Azure use PB and PiB for storage pricing tiers. Understanding conversions helps optimize costs.
• Big data analytics: Hadoop clusters and data lakes are measured in PB/PiB. Converting to EB helps forecast infrastructure needs.
• Video surveillance: City-wide systems generate ~2.5 PB daily. Converting to EB:

helps compare with global data generation.

Factors affecting storage measurements

• File system overhead: NTFS and ext4 add 2-5% metadata, reducing available space.
• RAID configurations: Parity data in RAID 5/6 decreases usable capacity by 12-25%.
• Data compression: Modern algorithms typically achieve 2:1 compression for text, but only 1.1:1 for encrypted data.
• Manufacturing standards: Storage devices use decimal capacities (1TB = 1,000GB) while operating systems use binary (1TiB = 1,024GiB).

Frequently asked questions

How many PB are in an EB?

There are exactly 1,000 petabytes (PB) in one exabyte (EB) in the SI (decimal) system. This conversion is straightforward because both units follow the base-10 standard where each step up represents 1,000 times the previous unit. For example:

In the binary system, 1 exbibyte (EiB) contains 1,024 pebibytes (PiB), but it’s crucial not to mix the measurement systems.

Why do storage devices show less capacity than advertised?

Storage manufacturers use SI decimal units (1GB = 1,000³ bytes), while operating systems use binary interpretation (1GiB = 1,024³ bytes). A 1TB drive contains:

This discrepancy appears as “missing” space to users.

How does compression affect storage capacity calculations?

Compression reduces physical storage requirements but doesn’t change the logical data size. If 10 PB of uncompressed data compresses to 4 PB physically, it still represents 10 PB of logical information. Conversion calculations should always use the logical size for consistency.

When should I use pebibytes instead of petabytes?

Use pebibytes (PiB) when:

1. Working with file systems that allocate storage in binary blocks.
2. Configuring RAID arrays or storage area networks.
3. Programming memory allocation or low-level systems.
4. Following technical specifications that mandate IEC units.

Use petabytes (PB) for:

1. Storage device specifications.
2. Network bandwidth calculations.
3. High-level storage planning.
4. Public communications and marketing materials.