Bytes do not fit into the metric system

In 1991, the XIX General Conference on Weights was supplemented into the International System of Units (SI). Experts approved a new decimal prefix yotta- (yotta-). Today it is the largest prefix for 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.



In the meantime, the volume of IP traffic is approaching yottabyte. Cisco has announced the advent of the "Zettabyte era" and predicts the amount of global IP traffic at 1.3 zettabyte (1.3 * 10 ^ 21 bytes) by the end of 2016. The next step will be 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, apart from computer science, it is practically not 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 observable Universe is estimated to be approximately 880 yta meters, but such designations are rarely found in the scientific literature.

')

Sooner or later, but the decimal prefixes will 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 yota, respectively .





^Wikipedia