Exbibyte (EiB)

What Is Exbibyte (EiB)?

An exbibyte is a unit used to measure very large amounts of digital data. It belongs to the binary system that computers use. One exbibyte is equal to 2 raised to the power of 60 bytes. In simple words, it is a number so large that it is mainly used for talking about huge data centers, cloud storage, and traffic across the whole internet.

Definition

An exbibyte is a binary unit of digital information.

• Base unit byte
• Exact size 1 exbibyte = 2⁶⁰ bytes
• As a number 1 exbibyte = 1,152,921,504,606,846,976 bytes
• Compared with exabyte 1 exbibyte is about 1.15 exabytes in the decimal system

The word exbibyte is made from two parts. Exbi shows the power of 2 used. Byte is a basic unit of data, usually 8 bits. The binary part is important because computers store and count data in powers of 2, not in powers of 10.

History / Origin

Before the late 1990s, people often used units like kilobyte, megabyte, gigabyte, and exabyte in a confusing way. Sometimes those words meant powers of 10, and sometimes they meant powers of 2. For example, 1 gigabyte might mean 1,000,000,000 bytes or 1,073,741,824 bytes, depending on who was speaking. This made it hard to compare storage sizes clearly.

To fix this, the International Electrotechnical Commission, also called IEC, created new binary prefixes in the late 1990s. They introduced names like kibibyte, mebibyte, gibibyte, tebibyte, pebibyte, and exbibyte. Each one is exactly a power of 2. The exbibyte, with the prefix exbi, stands for 2⁶⁰ bytes. This change helped separate binary units from decimal units such as kilobyte and exabyte, which use powers of 10.

Symbol & Abbreviation

• Full name exbibyte
• Official symbol EiB

Important details about the symbol.

• The E is capital.
• The i is lower case and stands for binary.
• The B is capital and stands for byte.

Using EiB clearly shows that you are talking about a binary unit, not a decimal exabyte, which uses the symbol EB.

Current Use Around the World

The exbibyte is not something you use for normal files on your personal computer. It is mainly used when talking about very large data systems. Here are some common uses.

• Data centers Large cloud providers and companies might measure total storage in exbibytes.
• Backups and archives Long term storage for big science projects or business records can be counted in EiB.
• Internet traffic Global monthly or yearly data flow across the internet can be measured in exbibytes.
• Technical documents Standards, research papers, and system design texts often use EiB to be exact.

Some operating systems and tools follow the IEC rules and show sizes in binary units. Others still use old style labels and might show a binary size but write it with decimal symbols. For clear communication, many experts prefer to write EiB when they mean 2⁶⁰ bytes.

Example Conversions

Here are some simple example conversions to help you imagine how big one exbibyte is.

• To bytes 1 EiB = 2⁶⁰ bytes = 1,152,921,504,606,846,976 bytes
• To bits 1 EiB = 8 × 2⁶⁰ bits = 9,223,372,036,854,775,808 bits

Conversions to other binary units.

• To pebibytes 1 EiB = 1024 PiB
• To tebibytes 1 EiB = 1,048,576 TiB
• To gibibytes 1 EiB = 1,073,741,824 GiB

Approximate conversions to decimal units.

• To exabytes 1 EiB is about 1.15 EB
• To petabytes 1 EiB is about 1152.9 PB

Small worked examples.

• Example 1 If a cloud company has 3 EiB of total storage, that is about 3.45 EB of data.
• Example 2 If worldwide internet traffic in one month is 10 EB, that is a bit less than 9 EiB.

Related Units

Binary units related to the exbibyte.

• Bit the smallest unit of data, either 0 or 1.
• Byte (B) usually 8 bits.
• Kibibyte (KiB) 2¹⁰ bytes.
• Mebibyte (MiB) 2²⁰ bytes.
• Gibibyte (GiB) 2³⁰ bytes.
• Tebibyte (TiB) 2⁴⁰ bytes.
• Pebibyte (PiB) 2⁵⁰ bytes.
• Exbibyte (EiB) 2⁶⁰ bytes.
• Zebibyte (ZiB) 2⁷⁰ bytes.
• Yobibyte (YiB) 2⁸⁰ bytes.

Decimal units that sound similar but are different.

• Kilobyte (kB) 10³ bytes.
• Megabyte (MB) 10⁶ bytes.
• Gigabyte (GB) 10⁹ bytes.
• Terabyte (TB) 10¹² bytes.
• Petabyte (PB) 10¹⁵ bytes.
• Exabyte (EB) 10¹⁸ bytes.

The main idea is that binary units like EiB use powers of 2, while decimal units like EB use powers of 10.

FAQs

What does exbibyte mean in simple words
It is a name for a very huge amount of digital data. It is so large that only giant systems, such as big cloud services or global networks, reach this size.

Is an exbibyte bigger than an exabyte
Yes. One exbibyte is about 1.15 times bigger than one exabyte. The exbibyte uses the binary system, while the exabyte uses the decimal system.

Why do we need both EiB and EB
We need both so people know exactly how many bytes are being talked about. EiB always means 2⁶⁰ bytes. EB always means 10¹⁸ bytes. This avoids confusion.

Will normal computer users ever see exbibytes
Most home users will not. You are more likely to see gigabytes or terabytes for your phone or laptop. Exbibytes are mainly used for very large systems, research, and global statistics.

How do you write exbibyte correctly
You write the full word as exbibyte and the short symbol as EiB. The E and B are capital letters, and the i is lower case.

How many pebibytes are in one exbibyte
There are exactly 1024 pebibytes in one exbibyte, because each step in the binary prefix list is multiplied by 1024.

Is exbibyte an official standard unit
Yes. The exbibyte and its symbol EiB are defined by the IEC, and the unit is widely accepted in technical standards and scientific writing.