YB to Gbit converter

What is a yottabyte?

A yottabyte (YB) is one of the largest standardized units of digital storage in the International System of Units (SI). One yottabyte is defined as:
$1\ \text{YB} = 10^{24}\ \text{bytes} = 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000\ \text{bytes}$
This unit is used to measure astronomical data volumes, such as global internet traffic or large-scale scientific datasets. For perspective, storing 1 YB would require approximately 100 billion modern 10TB hard drives.

While the yottabyte is the largest commonly encountered unit, the SI system has been extended to include even larger units:

• Ronnabyte (RB): $10^{27}\ \text{bytes}$
• Quettabyte (QB): $10^{30}\ \text{bytes}$
  These units remain largely theoretical but are officially recognized for future scalability.

What is a gigabit?

A gigabit (Gbit) is a smaller unit used to measure data transfer speeds or storage. One gigabit is equal to:
$1\ \text{Gbit} = 10^9\ \text{bits} = 1,000,000,000\ \text{bits}$
Since 1 byte consists of 8 bits, the conversion is:
$1\ \text{Gbit} = 125,000,000\ \text{bytes} \ (0.125\ \text{GB})$
Gigabits are commonly used to describe network bandwidth (e.g., 1 Gbit/s internet speed).

Decimal (SI) vs. binary (IEC) systems: why two standards?

Digital storage and data transfer can be measured using two different systems:

Decimal (SI) units

• Use base-10 (powers of 10).
• Common prefixes: kilo ($10^3$), mega ($10^6$), giga ($10^9$), tera ($10^{12}$), etc.
• Example:
  $1\ \text{kilobyte (KB)} = 10^3\ \text{bytes}$
  $1\ \text{megabyte (MB)} = 10^6\ \text{bytes}$

Binary (IEC) units

• Use base-2 (powers of 2).
• Common prefixes: kibi ($2^{10}$), mebi ($2^{20}$), gibi ($2^{30}$), tebi ($2^{40}$), etc.
• Example:
  $1\ \text{kibibyte (KiB)} = 2^{10}\ \text{bytes}$
  $1\ \text{mebibyte (MiB)} = 2^{20}\ \text{bytes}$

Key differences:

• SI units are used by storage manufacturers (e.g., hard drives, SSDs).
• IEC units are used by operating systems (e.g., Windows, macOS) for memory allocation.
• A 1 TB drive (SI) will display as ≈931 GiB (IEC) in an OS due to the conversion factor.

Conversion formulas

SI units (decimal) conversion

To convert yottabytes (YB) to gigabits (Gbit):
$\text{Gbit} = \text{YB} \times \frac{10^{24}\ \text{bytes}}{1} \times \frac{8\ \text{bits}}{1\ \text{byte}} \times \frac{1\ \text{Gbit}}{10^9\ \text{bits}} = \text{YB} \times 8 \times 10^{15}$

IEC units (binary) conversion

To convert yobibytes (YiB) to gibibits (Gibit):
$\text{Gibit} = \text{YiB} \times \frac{2^{80}\ \text{bytes}}{1} \times \frac{8\ \text{bits}}{1\ \text{byte}} \times \frac{1\ \text{Gibit}}{2^{30}\ \text{bits}} = \text{YiB} \times 8 \times 2^{50}$

Important notes:

• 1 YiB (yobibyte) is precisely $2^{80}\ \text{bytes}$, which approximates to $1.2089258 \times 10^{24}\ \text{bytes}$.
• 1 Gibit (gibibit) is exactly $2^{30}\ \text{bits} = 1,073,741,824\ \text{bits}$.

Step-by-step conversion examples

Example 1 (SI conversion): Convert 3 YB to Gbit

Using the SI formula:
$3\ \text{YB} \times 8 \times 10^{15} = 24 \times 10^{15}\ \text{Gbit} = 24,000,000,000,000,000\ \text{Gbit}$

Example 2 (IEC conversion): Convert 0.2 YiB to Gibit

First, calculate $2^{50}$:
$2^{50} = 1,125,899,906,842,624$
Now apply the formula:
$0.2 \times 8 \times 1,125,899,906,842,624 = 1,801,439,850,948,198.4\ \text{Gibit}$

Example 3 (Mixed comparison): 1 YB vs. 1 YiB in Gbit

• 1 YB in Gbit (SI):
  $1\ \text{YB} = 8 \times 10^{15}\ \text{Gbit} = 8,000,000,000,000,000\ \text{Gbit}$

• 1 YiB in Gbit (IEC):
  $1\ \text{YiB} = 8 \times 2^{50}\ \text{Gibit} \approx 9,007,199,254,740,992\ \text{Gibit}$

Why is 1 YiB larger than 1 YB?
Because binary scaling ($2^{80}$) grows faster than decimal scaling ($10^{24}$).

Frequently asked questions

Why does my hard drive show less capacity than advertised?

Storage manufacturers use SI units (1 TB = 1,000 GB), while operating systems use IEC units (1 TiB = 1,024 GiB). A 1 TB drive will display as ≈931 GiB in Windows:
$1\ \text{TB} = 10^{12}\ \text{bytes} = \frac{10^{12}}{2^{30}} \approx 931.32\ \text{GiB}$

How to convert 5,000,000,000 Gbit to YB?

Using the SI formula:
$\text{YB} = \frac{\text{Gbit}}{8 \times 10^{15}} = \frac{5 \times 10^9}{8 \times 10^{15}} = 6.25 \times 10^{-7}\ \text{YB}$
Result: 0.000000625 YB.

Why do networking standards use bits instead of bytes?

Bits simplify digital transmission calculations, as data is transmitted serially. For example:

• 1 Gbit/s = 125,000,000 bytes/s.
• Using bytes would introduce fractions (e.g., 0.125 GB/s), causing confusion.

Can I convert directly between SI and IEC units?

No, due to differing bases (10 vs. 2). First convert within the same system:

1. Convert YiB to YB:
   $\text{YB} = \text{YiB} \times \frac{2^{80}}{10^{24}}$
2. Convert YB to Gbit:
   $\text{Gbit} = \text{YB} \times 8 \times 10^{15}$

What is the largest approved data unit beyond yottabyte?

The SI system defines:

• Ronnabyte (RB): $10^{27}\ \text{bytes}$
• Quettabyte (QB): $10^{30}\ \text{bytes}$
  Binary equivalents (robi-, quebi-) exist but remain theoretical.