A unit of data measurement usually equal to one billion bytes. It is commonly abbreviated GB in writing and 'gig' in speech. However, there are two slightly different definitions of the size of a gigabyte in use:
- 1,000,000,000 bytes (10 to the power 9).
This is the decimal definition used in telecommunications (such as network speeds) and some computer storage manufacturers (such as hard disks and flash drives). This usage is compatible with SI.
- 1,073,741,824 bytes (20 to the power of 3).
This is the definition used for computer memory sizes, and most aspects of computer operating systems. It has been recommended that this unit should instead be called a gibibyte (abbreviated GiB) to avoid confusion. See also Bit, Byte, Kilobyte and Megabyte.
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