


Streaming or hosting large amounts of video, for example, requires far more bandwidth than simply browsing the Internet. The amount of bandwidth a person or company needs is entirely dependent on how they plan to use the Internet. In terms of memory or a hard disk, 8GB of capacity would mean that 8 Giga bytes of information could be stored, which is equivalent to 64 Giga bits. In relation, the unit of information storage is the byte. The bit is the unit of data transfer, meaning that a communications device or system with a bandwidth of 8 MB has a transfer rate of 8 Mega bits per second, which is equivalent to 1 Mega byte per second. A byte can represent values from 0 to 255. A byte is a unit that consists of 8 bits. It can hold only one of two values-0 or 1. In information technology, a bit is the smallest unit of information. Due to factors such as protocols and encryption, such as transmission control protocol (TCP), which is largely used in internet traffic, a channel stated to have a bandwidth of X bits per second may not actually transmit data at X rate. However, one of the most common ways in which the term bandwidth is used relates to the Internet, as "the volume of information per unit of time that a transmission medium can handle." Note that channel bandwidth, or the stated channel capacity, is not necessarily equal to the maximum amount of data that the channel can handle. Even within computing, bandwidth can be differentiated between network bandwidth, data bandwidth, and digital bandwidth. In terms of computing, bandwidth is defined as the bit-rate of available or consumed information and is typically expressed in units of bits per second (along with its metric multiples). Related IP Subnet Calculator | Binary Calculatorīandwidth is a term that has different meanings within different contexts.
