What is a byte?
A byte is a unit of computer storage. 1 Byte equals 8 bits and 1024 bytes equals 1 Kilobyte (KB). Hard drives storage capacity is measured in bytes, millions and billions of bytes. For example an 80 Gigabyte (GB) hard drive is 80,000,000,000 billion bytes, so a byte is quite small. Computer memory is also measured in bytes (again millions of bytes).
Other computer storages such as flash drives, and CDs are measured in bytes. A floppy disk holds 1.44 MB (1,440,000 bytes) and a common CD holds 700MB (700,000,000 bytes), while DVD disks can hold up to 4.7GB (4,700,000,000 bytes).
Hopefully the table below will make clear how much a byte is actually worth.
| Byte = | 1 Byte | 0.001 KB | 0.000001 MB |
| Kilobyte = | 1,000 Bytes | 1 KB | 0.001 MB |
| Megabyte = | 1,000,000 Bytes | 1,000 KB | 1 MB |
| Gigabyte = | 1,000,000,000 Bytes | 1,000,000 KB | 1,000 MB |