Ch.2.4 Helpdesk: Understanding Bits and Bytes

What does a kilobyte indicate?

A kilobyte (KB) is a unit of measure. It equals about 1,000 bytes.

What exactly is a byte?

A byte is a term used to represent eight bits of data. One byte can hold about one letter, one number, or one special character.

What is a gigabyte?

A gigabyte is about one billion bytes.

What factors determine the processing power of a CPU?

Processing power is determined by the speed of the processor, the number of cores, as well as other factors such as cache memory and FSB.

How many bytes are there in a megabyte?

A megabyte is about a million bytes

Computer Processing

Strictly defined, a computer is a data processing device that performs four major functions, including processing data into information. Processor speed is measured in units of hertz (Hz). Hertz means "machine cycles per second." A machine cycle is the process of the CPU getting the data or information from RAM and decoding the instructions into something the computer can understand. After decoding, the CPU executes and stores the results back into system memory as the last step of the machine cycle. Besides processor speed, other considerations such as the number of cores a processor has, as well as cache memory and front side bus (FSB), determine the overall power of the processor.

Units of Measure: KB, MB, GB, and Beyond

Bits and bytes not only are used as the language that tells the computer what to do but also are what the computer uses to represent the data and information it inputs and outputs. Word processing files, digital pictures, and even software are represented inside a computer as a series of bits and bytes. To make it easier to measure the size of these files, larger units of measure are used. A kilobyte or KB is approximately 1,000 bytes, a megabyte or MB is about one million bytes, and a gigabyte or GB is about one billion bytes. Today, personal computers store terabytes (TB) of data (about 1 trillion bytes), and many business computers can store up to a petabyte (PB) of data (1,000 terabytes).

Binary Language

Computers work only with numbers (not words). In order to process data, computers need to work in a language they understand. This language, called binary language, consists of just two digits: 0 and 1. Everything a computer does, such as process data or print a report, is broken down into a series of 0s and 1s. Each 0 and 1 is a binary digit, or bit for short. Eight binary digits (or bits) combine to create one byte. In computers, each letter of the alphabet, each number, and each special character (such as the @ sign) consists of a unique combination of eight bits, or a string of eight 0s and 1s. So, for example, in binary (or computer) language, the letter K is represented as 01001011. This equals eight bits, or one byte.

Data vs. Information

Data is the representation of a fact, a figure, or an idea. Data can be a number, a word, a picture, or even a recording of sound. Computers are excellent at processing data into information. Information is data that has been organized or presented in a meaningful fashion. Here, the data supplied to the computer (name, phone number, address, photo) has been processed appropriately so that it could be printed on an ID card. This organized output of data on an ID card is useful information. This information can be stored as digital data on the computer for later use.