A BYTE is typically a string of 8 BITs. To understand what a BYTE is, we must first explain what a BIT is. Data storage devices store data in the form of BITs. This is because at this level, the device only needs to store a 0 or a 1. For magnetic storage devices like Hard Drives, Tape and Floppy Disks this is simply a magnetic + or -. For Flash devices, this is an electronic high or low. The 0’s and 1’s make up a binary, or base-2, numbering system.
These bits are grouped together for use in a hex numbering system. Hex is a base 16 numbering system much like decimal is a base 10 numbering system. Hex numbers are typically prefaced by an x in front of them. The BITs that are read from the actual media are put into groups of 4 bits. This is called a nibble, which can then be converted into hex. See chart below.
| Numbering systems – equivalent values |
| Decimal |
Binary nibble
(contains 4 bits – 0s and 1s) |
Hex |
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15 |
0000
0001
0010
0011
0100
0101
0110
0111
1000
1001
1010
1011
1100
1101
1110
1111 |
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
A
B
C
D
E
F |
Now that the BITs have been converted to nibbles in hex form, the next thing is the nibbles are put into groups of two. These two nibbles together are what make a BYTE. There are 256 different BYTEs possible when using an ASCII character set.
| Examples of Bits to Bytes to Character – conversion table |
| 1st Binary nibble |
2nd Binary nibble |
Byte
(the two nibbles together) |
Byte in Hex values
(two hex values beside each other) |
ASCII Character |
0100
0110
0110
0111
0111
0110
0110 |
0001
1110
0001
0000
0000
1100
0101
|
01000001
01101110
01100001
01110000
01110000
01101100
01100101 |
41
6E
61
70
70
6C
65
|
A
n
a
p
p
l
e
|
Notice capital A and small case a have different binary and hex values to represent the different characters.
BYTEs are represented with a capital B, as in KB for kilobyte or 1,000 BYTEs, MB for megabyte or 1,000,000 BYTEs, etc. KB, MB, GB, etc, are terms typically used to describe the size of something in BYTES. i.e. the size of files or the capacity of a storage device.
BITs on the other hand are represented with a small b, as in Kbs for kilobits per second or 1,000 BITs per second, Mbs for megabits per second or 1,000,000 BITs per second, etc. Kbs, Mbs, Gbs, etc, are terms typically used to describe the speed at which data is transferred.
Although your storage device stores data in the form of BITs and transfers data in the form of BITS, a BYTE is the unit most computers use to represent a character. For successful recovery of your data, you need your Bytes Back!
Learn about our Successful Recoveries Methodology
