Prefixes for Binary Multiples

Prefixes for Binary Multiples

The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) in 1998 approved as an IEC International Standard names and symbols for prefixes for binary multiples for use in the fields of data processing and data transmission.

Factor	Name	Symbol	Origin	Derivation
2¹⁰	kibi	Ki	kilobinary: (2¹⁰)¹	kilo: (10³)¹
2²⁰	mebi	Mi	megabinary: (2¹⁰)²	mega: (10³)²
2³⁰	gibi	Gi	gigabinary: (2¹⁰)³	giga: (10³)³
2⁴⁰	tebi	Ti	terabinary: (2¹⁰)⁴	tera: (10³)⁴
2⁵⁰	pebi	Pi	petabinary: (2¹⁰)⁵	peta: (10³)⁵
2⁶⁰	exbi	Ei	exabinary: (2¹⁰)⁶	exa: (10³)⁶

Note: The new prefixes for binary multiples are not part of the International System of Units (SI). However, for ease of understanding and recall, they were derived from the SI prefixes for positive powers of ten. As shown in the table, the name of each new prefix is derived from the name of the corresponding SI prefix by retaining the first two letters of the SI prefix and adding the letters bi.

Source: National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)