What is Data Size Conversion?
The Data Size Converter is a free browser-based tool for converting between digital storage and data-transfer units. It supports both the decimal (SI, base-10) standard used by manufacturers and network providers, and the binary (IEC, base-2) standard used by operating systems and RAM specifications — showing both side-by-side so you never have to guess which one applies. Beyond simple unit conversion, it includes a transfer-time calculator (accounting for the bit-to-byte difference between network speed and file size) and reference guidance for storage planning, RAID capacity, and backup sizing.
How It Works
- Enter a numeric value and choose its unit (for example, 500 GB).
- The tool converts that value across all supported units simultaneously, showing decimal and binary results together.
- To estimate transfer time, enter a file size and your connection speed in Mbps or Gbps — the tool automatically converts bits to bytes before calculating the estimated time.
- Adjust decimal precision (0–6 places) depending on whether you need a rounded summary or exact technical figures.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
❌ Confusing Mbps with MB/s.
✓ Solution:
Network speed is in bits per second; file size is in bytes. Divide Mbps by 8 to get real MB/s throughput.
❌ Assuming "GB" always means the same thing
✓ Solution:
A manufacturer's GB (decimal) and your OS's GB (often actually binary GiB) can differ by roughly 7%, growing larger at bigger scales.
❌ Ignoring filesystem overhead
✓ Solution:
when storing large numbers of small files — actual disk usage runs higher than the simple sum of file sizes.
❌ Sizing storage for today's needs only
✓ Solution:
without planning for realistic data growth over the life of a project.
❌ Forgetting RAID and backup overhead
✓ Solution:
usable capacity after redundancy and backup copies is always less than raw purchased storage.
Frequently Asked Questions
Decimal (SI) units use base-10, so 1 KB = 1,000 bytes and 1 GB = 1,000,000,000 bytes; this is the standard used by hard drive manufacturers, network speed ratings, and most cloud providers. Binary (IEC) units use base-2, so 1 KiB = 1,024 bytes and 1 GiB = 1,073,741,824 bytes; this is the standard used internally by operating systems, RAM specifications, and file explorers.
Divide the Mbps value by 8, since 1 byte equals 8 bits. A 100 Mbps connection equals 12.5 MB/s of real throughput. To estimate transfer time, divide your file size in megabytes by that MB/s value to get seconds.
Manufacturers advertise capacity using decimal units, so a "1 TB" drive equals 1,000,000,000,000 bytes. Operating systems typically calculate and display storage using binary units internally, so that same drive appears as roughly 931 GiB. No capacity is missing — it's the same physical storage measured with a different divisor.
RAID 0 offers 100% usable capacity but no redundancy. RAID 1 (mirroring) gives roughly 50% usable capacity. RAID 5 gives (n−1)/n usable capacity across n drives. RAID 6 gives (n−2)/n usable capacity, trading some capacity for greater fault tolerance. The right choice depends on how much redundancy your use case requires.
It depends heavily on codec and resolution — compressed formats like H.264 4K use far less space per minute than high-bitrate formats like ProRes or RAW. Check your specific camera or software's documented bitrate, multiply by your expected shoot duration and shooting ratio, and add capacity for backups on top of that.
Yes — the tool applies the standard decimal (1,000-based) and binary (1,024-based) definitions precisely, so results are suitable for technical specs, storage planning, and IT documentation, as long as you select the correct standard for your context.
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