December 11, 2012 at 16:18Bytes do not fit in the metric system
In 1991, at the XIX General Conference on Weights and Measures, additions were made to the international system of units (SI). Experts have approved a new decimal prefix yotta- (yotta-). Today it is the largest prefix for designating units with a decimal factor, it corresponds to 10 ^ 24. Naturally, googol (10 ^ 100) is not considered, although it is well known thanks to the Google brand.
Meanwhile, the volume of IP traffic is approaching yottabyte. Cisco has announced the advent of the “zettabyte era” and predicts the volume of global IP traffic at 1.3 zettabytes (1.3 * 10 ^ 21 bytes) for 2016. The next step is yottabyte.
General conferences on weights and measures are held every four years, in accordance with the Metric Convention. The next conference will be held in 2014. Probably, experts will have to figure out what to call 10 ^ 27.
It is interesting that in addition to computer science, it is practically never accepted to use these SI prefixes. The mass of the Earth is 5973.6 yottagrams, the power of the Sun is 383 yottawatts, the diameter of the observed Universe is estimated at about 880 yottameters, but such designations are rarely found in scientific literature.
Sooner or later, decimal prefixes have to be supplemented. The next one should have a unique symbol, in addition to the already occupied M, G, T, P, E, Z and Y for mega, giga, tera, peta, exa, zeta and yotta, respectively .
Wikipedia
Meanwhile, the volume of IP traffic is approaching yottabyte. Cisco has announced the advent of the “zettabyte era” and predicts the volume of global IP traffic at 1.3 zettabytes (1.3 * 10 ^ 21 bytes) for 2016. The next step is yottabyte.
General conferences on weights and measures are held every four years, in accordance with the Metric Convention. The next conference will be held in 2014. Probably, experts will have to figure out what to call 10 ^ 27.
It is interesting that in addition to computer science, it is practically never accepted to use these SI prefixes. The mass of the Earth is 5973.6 yottagrams, the power of the Sun is 383 yottawatts, the diameter of the observed Universe is estimated at about 880 yottameters, but such designations are rarely found in scientific literature.
Sooner or later, decimal prefixes have to be supplemented. The next one should have a unique symbol, in addition to the already occupied M, G, T, P, E, Z and Y for mega, giga, tera, peta, exa, zeta and yotta, respectively .
Wikipedia
