Hardware Reference
In-Depth Information
Thissectiondetailsthedifferencesbetweenthevarioussector-addressingmethodsandthe
limitations incurred by using them.
Prefixes for Decimal and Binary Multiples
Many readers are unfamiliar with the MiB (mebibyte), GiB (gibibyte), and so on designa-
tions I am using in this section and throughout the topic. These are part of a standard de-
signed to eliminate confusion between decimal- and binary-based multiples, especially in
computer systems. Standard SI (system international or metric system) units are based on
multiples of 10. This worked well for most things, but not for computers, which operate
in a binary world where most numbers are based on powers of 2. This has resulted in dif-
ferent meanings being assigned to the same prefix—for example, 1KB (kilobyte) could
mean either 1,000 (10 3 ) bytes or 1,024 (2 10 ) bytes. To eliminate confusion, in December
1998 the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) approved as an international
standard the prefix names and symbols for binary multiples used in data processing and
transmission. Some of these prefixes are shown in Table 7.13 .
Table 7.13 Standard Prefix Names and Symbols for Decimal and Binary Multiples
 
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