📡 Bandwidth and Data Units Explained

1. Bandwidth

• Definition: Bandwidth is the maximum data transfer rate of a network connection.
• Unit: Measured in bits per second (bps).
• Common multiples:
  • Kbps = kilobits per second (1,000 bps)
  • Mbps = megabits per second (1,000,000 bps)
  • Gbps = gigabits per second (1,000,000,000 bps)
• Example: A home fiber connection might be 100 Mbps, meaning it can transfer 100 million bits every second.

2. Data Units

• Definition: Data refers to the amount of information stored or transferred.
• Unit: Measured in bytes (B).
• 1 byte = 8 bits.
• Common multiples:
  • KB = kilobyte (1,000 bytes)
  • MB = megabyte (1,000,000 bytes)
  • GB = gigabyte (1,000,000,000 bytes)
  • TB = terabyte (1,000,000,000,000 bytes)
• Example: A movie file might be 2 GB in size.

3. Bandwidth vs Data Units

• Bandwidth = speed (how fast data moves).
• Data units = size (how much data you have).
• Relationship:
  • If your bandwidth is 10 Mbps, downloading a 10 MB file takes about 8 seconds (because 10 MB = 80 Mb, and 80 ÷ 10 = 8).

4. Conversion Cheat Sheet

5. Examples

• Streaming video: Netflix HD requires ~5 Mbps bandwidth.
• Downloading a file: A 1 GB file on a 100 Mbps connection takes ~80 seconds.
• Cloud storage: Uploading 10 GB of photos on a 20 Mbps connection takes ~1 hour.

✅ Summary:

• Bandwidth measures speed in bits per second (bps).
• Data units measure size in bytes (B).
• Always remember: 1 byte = 8 bits.
• To calculate transfer time, convert file size into bits and divide by bandwidth.