Data sizes have evolved dramatically over the history of computing. In 1956, data was measured in bytes, enough for a single character. By the mid-1990s, kilobytes stored compressed documents, megabytes fit on floppy disks, and gigabytes held movies. Today, terabytes are used for automated tape robots, petabytes archive years of satellite data, and exabytes and zettabytes represent amounts of data not yet realized.

1. Data Size Evolution
The evolution of data size in the history of computer evolution

2. Data Size
1956
mid-1990s

3. Table of Data Size
Name Size Example
Bytes 8 bits Single character
Kilobyte 1000 Bytes A compressed document image page
(50KB)
Megabyte 1000 Kilobytes 20MB : A box of floppy disks
Gigabyte 1000 Megabytes 1GB : A movie at TV quality
Terabyte 1000 Gigabytes 1TB : An automated tape robot
Petabyte 1000 Terabytes 1 PB : 5 years of EOS data
Exabyte 1000 Petabytes ??
Zetabyte 1000 Exabytes ??
Yottabyte 1000 Zetabytes ??

4. Finished