From the course: CompTIA Tech+ (FC0-U71) Cert Prep

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Bits and bytes

Bits and bytes

- What is a bit or a byte? Have you ever heard these before, I bet you have. Most are familiar with bit or byte when discussing internet speed. So let's break it down so you can better understand bits and bytes and how they're relevant in data transfer. A bit is the smallest unit of information in a computer, representing either a zero or one. Though small, it's fundamental to all digital data. When we combine four bits, we get what's called a nibble, and then when we combine eight bits, we get a byte. Imagine taking a byte of data. With eight bits in a byte, we have 256 possible combinations calculated as two to the eighth power. Let's go over storage units, which represents stored data. At the smallest level, we have the bit, a single zero one. Next is a byte, which is made up of eight bits. From there, a kilobyte or KB contains 1,024 bytes. Then a megabyte or MB has 1,024 kilobytes. Moving up a gigabyte or GB consists of 1,024 megabytes and a terabyte or TB holds 1,024 gigabytes…

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