PB to EB converter

What is a petabyte and exabyte?

A petabyte (PB) and exabyte (EB) are units of digital information storage. They belong to the International System of Units (SI), which uses base-10 (decimal) prefixes. Here’s how they compare:

• 1 petabyte (PB) = $10^{15}$ bytes = 1,000,000,000,000,000 bytes.
• 1 exabyte (EB) = $10^{18}$ bytes = 1,000,000,000,000,000,000 bytes.

In contrast, pebibytes (PiB) and exbibytes (EiB) follow the binary system (base-2), standardized by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC):

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

Understanding these two systems is critical for accurate conversions, as mixing base-10 and base-2 units can lead to significant discrepancies.

Formula for converting PB to EB and PiB to EiB

SI (base-10) system:

To convert petabytes (PB) to exabytes (EB), use:

Binary (base-2) system:

To convert pebibytes (PiB) to exbibytes (EiB), use:

Examples of conversions

Example 1: Converting 5 PB to EB

Using the SI system formula:

Interpretation: 5 petabytes equal 0.005 exabytes.

Example 2: Converting 2,048 PiB to EiB

Using the binary system formula:

Interpretation: 2,048 pebibytes equal 2 exbibytes.

Example 3: Converting 3.5 PiB to EiB

Using the binary system formula:

Practical use case: A data center with 3.5 PiB of storage has approximately 0.0034 exbibytes of capacity.

Why do two systems exist?

The SI system (base-10) is commonly used by storage manufacturers and telecommunications companies because it simplifies marketing and aligns with decimal-based measurement systems. However, computers operate in binary (base-2), which led to the creation of the IEC standard (base-2) to avoid confusion. For example:

• A “1 TB” hard drive marketed using SI units contains $10^{12}$ bytes, but a computer recognizes it as approximately 0.9095 tebibytes (TiB).

Historical context of data measurement

The terms “petabyte” and “exabyte” emerged in the late 20th century as data storage needs exploded. The IEC introduced binary prefixes (e.g., pebi-, exbi-) in 1998 to resolve ambiguity between decimal and binary interpretations. Before this, terms like “petabyte” were sometimes used ambiguously, causing errors in fields like computer engineering and data science.

Notes on data unit conversions

• Check the context: Always confirm whether a value uses SI (base-10) or IEC (base-2) units. For instance, cloud storage providers like Google Cloud or AWS typically use SI units, while RAM manufacturers use IEC units.
• Magnitude matters: An exabyte is 1,000 times larger than a petabyte in SI units, but an exbibyte is 1,024 times larger than a pebibyte in binary units.
• Real-world scale:
  • 1 EB could store about 500 billion pages of standard text.
  • Global internet traffic reached approximately 3.4 EB per month in 2023.

Frequently asked questions

How many PB are in 1 EB?

There are 1,000 petabytes (PB) in 1 exabyte (EB) under the SI system. For example:

Why is there a difference between PB and PiB?

Petabytes (PB) use base-10, while pebibytes (PiB) use base-2. This means:

• $1\ \text{PB} = 10^{15}\ \text{bytes}$,
• $1\ \text{PiB} = 2^{50}\ \text{bytes} \approx 1.1259\ \text{PB}$.

How to convert 7.5 PiB to EiB?

Apply the binary system formula:

This is useful for calculating server storage in enterprise environments.

Are exabytes commonly used today?

Exabytes are primarily used in contexts involving massive datasets, such as global cloud storage or scientific research. For instance, the Large Hadron Collider generates about 1 EB of data annually.

Is 1 EB equal to 1 EiB?

No. Since 1 EB uses base-10 and 1 EiB uses base-2:

• $1\ \text{EB} = 10^{18}\ \text{bytes}$,
• $1\ \text{EiB} = 2^{60}\ \text{bytes} \approx 1.1529\ \text{EB}$.
  Thus, 1 EiB is roughly 15.29% larger than 1 EB.