When someone talks about data transfer rates, upload speeds, download speeds, or bandwidth, they’re probably measuring it in bits per second (bps). This erratic flow of data isn’t always easy to divide into bytes, so the speed at which data moves is usually measured using bits per second. This is why computer memory is generally measured in bytes.Ī bit is used to determine your internet speed, but measuring data in motion (downloading and streaming) is trickier than measuring data at rest (files, programs, etc.).įor instance, the websites you visit and the emails you send are broken up into packets and sent in several different directions, often arriving at your computer out of order that must be rearranged. A single byte is just big enough to store the data for one standard character, so storing the word “hello” would need five bytes of memory, one for each letter.
Your hard drives, SSDs, USB sticks, and system memory are always measured in bytes. In terms of memory, a byte is the smallest storage slot.
Both terms describe a measurement in size, but the term “bit” is also used to measure speed.
We tend to use the terms “bits” and “bytes” in different settings.
